New-York tribune., 1922-08-27
Teaching Retail
salespeople Why
And How of Goods
Manufacturers Start Educa-
iional Course to Teach
Clerks More About the
Merchandise They Handle
@ iozz-P-H Corp.

Exceptional interest in educating
salespeople Of retail stores is being
manifested by manufacturers and
wholesalers who are taking unusual
pains to help the stores in this work
by sending demonstrators and Iectur-
ers to teach the employees Of the
stores and having class groups visit
factories where merchandise is actu-
ally produced. An illustration of this
work is the lecture and demonstration
staged by Samstag g. Hilder Brothers,
manufacturers Of Colonial quality no.
tions and novelties, recently held at
Bloomingdale Brothers department
store here.
Harry Schoenfeld, manager of the
leather goods department Of Samstag
& Hilder Brothers, addressed a group
OF salespeopte at Bloomingdale's store,
and with the aid oe demonstrators
from their factory showed how purses
and other leather articles were made,
the interesting points in their manu-
facture, the elements of these articles
that go into the maintenance of quail
ity, and what the sales persons should
be able to tell the customer who wants
to know what constitutes quality
Every process of manufacture was
thoroughly explained and the sales
people were shown the number of
pieces of material and the amount of
One surprise to the salespeople was
the fact that sixty different pieces of
material went into the bag.
This cooperation between Samstag
& Hilder Brothers and Bloomingdale
Brothers is but another manifestation
of a growing desire on the part of
business institutions to have their
merchandise properly presented to the
consumer by the most important fac
tor in the chain of distribution--the
salesperson in the retail store. Large
department. stores have long realized
the necessity of enlightenment on the
part of salespeople and elaborate edu-
cational systems have been installed
in most stores to teach not only the
science of salesmanship but also mer
chandise. The stores executives have
realized that the people engaged in the
capable of giving instruction on quail
ity and manufacturing processes. 1t
is the intention of Samstag & Hilder
Brothers to carry on this work to most
of the stores throughout the country,
for this work has inspired Blooming
dale Brothers to inaugurate a series
of lectures and demonstrations by ex-
perts in many lines and unquestion-
ably will be followed by other mer-
chants throughout the country.
1t is of interest to note that the As
sociated Advertising Clubs of the
world recently inaugurated an exten
sive campaign feducation in the effort
to raise the standard of salesmanship
among retail stores. Advertising men
have realized that in the final analysis
it is the salesperson who comes into
direct contact with the customer and
who can sell or fail to sell a product
But it is really first dawning on the
minds of great many business men
that the knowledge of merchandise is
even more essential than the knowledge
of how to approach customer or the
various stages of making a sale. This
fact was forcibly exemplified recently
in the jewelry department of large
store A salesperson exhibited two
cigarette cases, saying that one cost
twice as much rs the other, even though
they appeared alike, mentioning that
the reason for this was that one was
sterling silver and the other silver
plated.
whats the difference?" asked the
customer.
"Oh, you see, ma'ani, the sterling sill
yer lasts longer" The customer was not
satisfied. She wanted to know why,
the difference between sterling silver
and silver plated. This instance may
be multiplied indefinitely. Given a
knowledge of the merchandise, It's
uses, it's selling qualities. why it is
superior or inferior to higher or
lower priced article of the same line
and the salesperson will be able to sell.