Even with the best of supervision, however, there are weaknesses in the service given by salesmen to their customers. These troubles arc largely a question of the personality of the man behind the counter, and can only be corrected by very close observation of each man's work. There is a natural law which suggests that most men will go off at the line of least resistance, and this very human tendency is most to be dreaded in the shop. One gets the salesman who thinks the customer ought to buy the first thing that is shown, and if he is asked to show further goods displays his resentment. Then there is the salesman who cannot intelligently answer questions, and if he is pressed shows signs of irritation. Again, one finds a salesman with such a slight interest in the business that he does not know where the stock is kept, and makes all sorts of excuses rather than show the goods. If, when excuses have failed, i.s2 feels impelled to find the goods, he wastes time in an unsatisfactory search. Against such types of salesmen the shopkeeper should be on his guard, and when they are found in the course of actual supervision their services should be eliminated. More difficult to handle still is the man with a temper. Sonic salesmen cannot brook any departure from the ordinary routine, and if anything is called for along these lines do not hesitate to show their irritation. For instance, in many shops there is a certain hour for closing, and five or ten minutes before that hour preparations are made. The appearance of a customer who is likely to stop five or ten minutes after that hour is displeasing to many assistants, and they do not hesitate to show their displeasure. With various men it takes many forms, from hesitancy to show the goods desired by the customer to a tendency to hustle him into quick selection, while cases have been known where the customer has been actually insulted by the salesman eager to complete a transaction and get the caller out of the premises. Temper or temperament in a salesman is an illusive quality, sand one might find a man who is an ideal salesman through eleven days out of twelve, but who on the twelfth day becomes difficult to handle, and in the course of his tactless intercourse with the customer does things which are of incalculable damage to the business. In a closely organised and well-supervised business such idiosyncrasies would not pass unchecked, but in a small business, where things are not so closely supervised, such a salesman may remain to do damage for a long period.
The best training for assistants in a small establishment is personal example. Assistants should be taught that the customer is the important factor, and that all personal feelings must be sunk in securing satisfactory attention for each caller. The salesman should be taught the virtues of cheerfulness and promptitude ; his first words should indicate that the appearance of a customer is a pleasure, and so far as the routine of the shop is concerned there should never be an interval of waiting if it can possibly be avoided. Even the treatment of difficult customers should be studied, and the salesman should be so trained as to regard it as a point of honour not to let a difficult customer go out of the shop unsatisfied. The man who is setting the example to the staff should appeal to the sporting interest of his assistants and should educate them to a realisation of the necessity of standing aside from the transaction personally and humouring a difficult customer in every way. The best educating forces
for a stair of salesmen are periodical meetings, when the policy of the house can be outlined, an attempt being made to draw salesmen together in the spirit which will develop their loyalty to the shop itself. It is surprising how a staff of salesmen will respond to an appeal of this type, and how much can be done by taking them into the confidence of the management. Left to themselves, men will develop traits of personality, but educated by intercourse with the directing force and a totally fair system of discipline, they will sink their personalities in the policy of giving satisfactory and prompt service to the customer.
SHOP-SELECTION.—The trader about to start in business on his own account either acquires a shop which is already established, or opens one, and builds up his trade from the first customer.
In the first case, the purchase of a business must be undertaken with due care. In a general way, the services of a trade valuer should be engaged, who will see that everything connected with the shop is in due order and that it is what it has been represented to be. His experience will be at the purchaser's disposal regarding such important matters as the value of the stock-in-trade, the book-debts, the good-will. He will make certain that the lease of the premises is in good order, and will in general advise as to the justness of the price asked for the concern. The valuer is remunerated by the payment of a percentage on the purchase price. It is easy to see that the services of such an intermediary may save the buyer of a business much present and future anxiety.
As to the situation, size, and plan of a shop which it is proposed to open, much depends on (a) the previous experience of the man who is embarking on the venture ; (b) his available capital; (c) the neighbourhood. He who would trade (e.g. as a grocer or a draper) should have had good experience in all departments. He should be acquainted with the goods he handles, with the markets and terms, with the methods' of display, and with the art of selling. It is unwise fa? the man with a provincial experience only to open in London, and vice versfi. He who has only served a low-class trade should remember that different conditions and problems are to be dealt with in a trade. Moreover, some men are most suited by temperament and inclination to one rather than to the other. The man who hopes to trade with success will select his shop with this fact in view.
The possessor of Kid' capital will generally find that a low to medium class trade will best suit his possibilities and pocket. The shop selected must therefore be in a corresponding neighbourhood, in the midst of a large population. The small capitalist should avoid the highly rented main street, where the more ornate and expensive shops will overshadow his own modest venture. Premises may often be found of this kind in streets near factories where many hands are employed. Another reason for the man with small capital cultivating a "popular" trade is, that he will not be able to give much credit—indeed, it will be better to start and maintain a strictly cash trade.