Americus times-recorder. [volume] (Americus, Ga.) 1891-current, 1921-06-15
BETTER TRAINED
SALES PEOPLE
NEED OF STORES
Arthur Freeman Makes
.elpful Talk At Ad
Convention

ATLANTA, June 15.-Selling is
teaching. If you induce man,
through persuasion or influence, to
buy what he should not have or can
not use, you make a sale but lose
US Friendship. The ideal situation
-'fould be one in which all store sales
people were teachers, explaining and
demonstrating merchandise so as to
show the prOpcctivc buyer the use
iuihcSS OF the goods, thus creating
demand, while also eliminating the
TlSh OF selling people what they can
mot use with profit, Permanent busi-
ness foundations are built through
sales which result in complete salts
faction.
Arthur Freeman of the Affiliated
Retail Stores, with Headquarters in
New York City, but operating i'm
pCrtant stores in MANY cities, de
cIarcd in an address before the CON
Vcntlon Of the Associated Advertis-
ing clubs of the World here, that
lhlS IS the most modern and best
thought IN selling merchandise
Speaking upon the necessity for
better training OF store sales people
as means for making advertising
more productive, he cited numerous
experiences to show that goods we'll
sold are worth more to the purchaser.
Salesmanship Adds Value.
"A woman enters store to buy
piece goods for a dress" he said,
and is fortunate enough to be greet
ed by a sales girl who knows her
business. She makes suggestions as
to the material most suitable to the
needs of the customer, and the trim
mlngs and other accessories that
would best go with the material Sc
lected She suggests a pattern, and
tells how much material will be need
ed, saving the customer the loss which
50 often comes through the purchase
OF larger piece than necessary, or
the loss Of time and other possible
d1sappoIntments that may result from
buying too little.
Compare that customers expert
ence with that Of another Wfio IS
served by sales girl who does not
know, or does not care to know
how to serve a customer. She
asks for a given number of yards of
piece goods. She buys ana leaves
the store
a
deal more for her money. Because of
information and suggestions the girl
lmparts, the merchandise gives her
greater pleasure, is more profitable
to her. BY following the suggestions
of a capable sales woman, she is saved
from losses and disappontments."
Economists, Mr.. Freeman said, tell
Us how transportation adds to the
value Of goods by creating place util-
ity and how manufacturing adds to
value by creating form utility. A
ton Of coke is of more value on
side-track at the point where it can
be used. A ton of steel is of greater
value when made into watch springs.
Better Use of Goods.
In like manner, advertising creates
information utility, he said. Through
advertising and proper craftsmanship,
the customer is made to understand
the merchandise and to make better
use of it,
-"Some time ago." he said, II resur-
rcctcd at the home Of a friend, a per-
fcctly good washing machiHe that had
been discarded simply because the
store that sold it did not explain its
uses and advantages fully enough.
Many a man is carrying gold pen
ell without knowing that a rubber
eraser is concealed under the cap.
Men abandon safety razors because
they have not been shown how to
properly use them. Information as to
the uses of merchandise adds to its
value"
Bigger, Better, Fuller Lives.
Mr.. Freeman held, in his talk, that
in store educational work, too much
attention is paid to the rote of teach
ing and too little to the idea of show
ing the sales person how to make
his or her work the vehicle through
which may come a bigger, better, full
cr and more successful life.
"When l tell a young woman that
what she learns will be useful. to her
whether she expects to continue in
business or to preside over home
and help some fine young fellow sue
ceed in business" he said, "she sees
the desirability of self-improvement,
and she tries harder than if / should
talk to her merely from the stores
pont Of view If | can interest her
in the fact that her employment can
and should be a very important factor
in her own welfare, she will not have
to be told to sell more goods. That
will be the natural result Some
merchants have hesitated to believe
that. They have feared that their
employees would become too aspiring
if handled in this way, but every
day experience has proved the case
to the contrary"