The Butler weekly times and the Bates County record. (Butler, Mo.) 1918-1950, 1922-05-11
The Higher Education in Retail
Salesmanship.

This country is entering upon al
era of higher education in retail sales
manship that should prove Of inesti
mable advantage to the public a
we'll as to the stores.
Within one day recently, for ex
ample, announcements were made
that seventeen leading merchants Of
Dayton, O., had responded to the i'll
vitation of the Board of Education to
Cooperate in arranging retail classes
for salespeople OF the local chamber
OF commerce; that Federal voca-
tional instructor would tell OF meth
eds which had proved effective for
instruction of retail salespeople at an
Ohio state meeting of vocational
workers in Columbus; that leading
business men of Atlanta Ca, were
yivi,g lectures on craftsmanship for
the Junior Chamber of Commerce i'll
Atlanta.
1t was about January last that there
.ane a general awakening among dry
goods merchants to the fact that
only good craftsmanship could effect
the sales requisite for year of fair
returns. Prices were falling; econo-
my had become the rule; store costs
were difficult to reduce in view o.
the urgent need for getting business
on large scale. The public must be
sold conspicuously on store service as
we'll as on every price reduction at
forded by the wholesale markets and
passed on to the consumer.
Now, store service is never me-
chanical. 1t is, above all else, poign-
antly human just as every stores Gus
toners are eternally human. Sales
people, women as we'll as men, have
their natural human inclination to re-
lax, to refrain from applying their
thought, to every sale, to
De, in short, human beings when they
ought to be sales experts.
These shortcomings have always
'een recognized as part and parcel of
business under its every aspect. The
Joint with regard to retail business is
hat this year, more than ever, it de-
handed craftsmanship of the highest
uality in order to meet successfully |
he exigencies of the situation.
The answer has been found in the
eneral movement on the part of store
to raise the level Of
alesmanship to heights beyond any
f earlier years. The tendency has
ecome national, with the powerful
'ade bodies OF the large cities taking
ctive part. The great department
lores, the specially shops. the gen
raj dry goods stores al will BERG
t, now and IN the io.ig run
But i'll the long ra;;, the MAJOR ad-
antagc will be derirrI BY the people
S a whole. This newer, higher cd
cation in salesman ship is laying
tless upon those responsibilities OF
lie sales person which inure most di-
,ctly to the good II the public.
Salespeople are being trained i'll
wing time-thc public's time in -.
aking necessary purchases. They
-e learning the basic lesson Of know
G their stocks, so that soon the buy
OF any textile will be dealing with
specialist in the textiles on and be- I
nd the particular counter visited.
hey are acquiring intimately the les
III of selling an article so well that
so well suited to the buyers neei
I'd a wish-that it shall stay sold,
uality OF craftsmanship that means
immense enhancement OF satisfaction
the purchase and use OF all ner-
landise.
These attributes th1vc-bee-t eot4,11- ,
ION to the sales forces of various
Ugh grade stores in every city ard
ave been striven for by others. The
me is at hand when what was an
cal is due to become realized-whcn
lie most difficult. most trying OF ali
lie many services rendered the pub
{ by retailers will be performed in d
tanner SO excellent that the general :
ebt OF appreciation for earnest and
effort will be recog-
lied