The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1922-02-21
BETWEEN COURTESY
 AND IMPRESSION
Happenings That Often Have a Great Deal to Do With Purchases At a Store.

Tabulation of the number of per- sons coming in their store was made oy certain owners, who found only 10000 made purchases out of 100000 that visited the establishment in one day. Other concerns which have made similar investigations also find there is large disparity between the number of visitors and the num- Der of purchasers, and the difference is largely attributed to the inefh ciency O. the selling staffs. While store eX- ecutives feel there has been good deal Of progress made in recent years in the of retail selling, nevertheless 1t is the opinon of many that the surface has only been scratched
 Among the local stores. customers are often heard to comment on the speca1 courtesy they usually receive in two large establishments On a recent visit, customer in one of these places witnessed an excellent example of how a cooperative or ganiZation works. The employees of this store draw dividends if the sales exceed expenses by a, certain amount disgruntled salesgirl kept the cus- toner waiting twenty minutes for an article which had to be obtained from the stock room. The question Of the customer as to when the boy might be expected back, was receiv- ed with a shake of the head, a dark look and the sharp words, 'I dunno. You saw me send him, didn't you 9"
 While passing over this reply as the result of some previous encoun- ter, the customer noted that it's eff feet was not lost on other saIespeople near by, who stared at their co-wOrk- CT with evident disfavor. It was obvious to the customer that the other girls resented such an example of poor service. In telling of the incident the customer particularly re- marked on the attitude of the rest of the salespeople, with the remark that it would not be long before the discourteous and inefficient employe would be weeded from that store by the coworkers themselves.
 While a good deal of stress is laid by some stores in obtaining ''atmos- phere,'' so as to convince the pur- chaser that what the concern sells is of the best, the question is brought up whether one local estab- Hshment is not overriding this work. The store in question is in a popular price district, but 1t seems to be cultivating atmosphere a-pIenty. A woman of the doWager type receives all customers in a section facing the entrance, laid out as a reception room. The customer is seated while salesman is called to act as escort to the proper department. The lofty look of condescension" and, while answering all questions do if they pitied the ignorance of the customer concerning the high ideals
 
 is impressive, customers have criti- cized it on several important points.
 The frequent desire of salespeople to have the customer buy something not wanted is more often the mis- take at present than the superior air which belongs rather to the day of the grand floorwalker. Either the customer is urged to take some thing else when the proper article is not in stock, or else the sale of an additional quantity is sought. The latter frequently occurs at the piece goods counter, it is said, where the obvious intention of the clerk is to avoid having remnants.
 But at the head of all the sins of improper selling is put lack of at tention. After many efforts at trying to stem the flood of talk that passes over the counters regarding the do- ings of the evening before one per sonnel manager said he was seriously considering two conference periods a day at which the employees would be asked to indulge themselves in personal "reminiscences to the limit of their capacity, so that customers would not have to be sandwiched in between discussions during work ing hours