CHAPTER II

RELATION OF THE MAN TO HIS JOB

SERVICE

Why is it that of two salesmen working together in the same store, selling the same goods, at the same prices and under the same conditions, one regularly books twice as much business as the other? “Oh well,” someone says, “he has a following; he has friends who come in year after year and won’t buy from anyone else. He knows what they want, and all he has to do is to take the order. It’s a case of having them drop in his lap. The other man gets only the left-overs.”

“Simple enough,” he says, but is it quite as simple as he says it is? What has the one salesman to sell that the other doesn’t have?

It is that great, everlasting business builder—_service_. It is the salesman’s stock in trade, the thing he has to deliver to the customer, and the thing that stamps him either as a salesman or a mere “order taker.”

In the financial statement of one of the big New York stores is an item called _good-will_ listed along with merchandise, stocks, cash and other property the business owns, and this item is valued at a million dollars. Every successful business enjoys a certain amount of good-will that may be reduced to a basis of dollars and cents. It is not unusual for a well-conducted business to have good-will actually worth several millions of dollars. And this is nothing more than a trade-following the store has built up as a result of satisfactory service given to the customers in the past. It is the same kind of trade-following the salesman must build up if he is steadily to increase his earnings, and it comes only through service—through changing an _occasional_ customer into a _steady_ one.

SELF-ANALYSIS

Considering that the salesman’s work should be about ninety per cent head work and ten per cent leg work it is mighty important for him to know what there is in him “from the neck up.” Successful men in selling have taken time to consider these things and they have increased their earning power as a result.

Every salesman should sit down with himself and actually study what he has to offer in the way of service to the customer. Without prejudice either for or against yourself take an inventory of how you measure up on the following:

Knowledge of the business Love for your work Sincerity with the customer Loyalty to the house Effort toward improvement in the quality of service.

The first step toward progress is to know your strong and weak points; to make the most of the strong ones by using them whenever possible and to build up those that are below the standard. Go over the list and grade yourself on the percentage basis, from one to a hundred, according to your honest opinion. A person might rate one hundred per cent on his knowledge of the business, but what good would it do him if he did not have tact in handling the customer? He might find perhaps that he was only fifty per cent on tact. That would be his cue, to plan at once to learn how to improve his approach to the customer, how to take advantage of suggestion rather than argument, and how to get the customer to agree with him.

Go right down the list, one after another, treat yourself fairly, and find out just how you stand in relation to the qualities of service that make for success. And remember this, that in developing tact, enthusiasm, sincerity, loyalty, and the others, you are not building for success as a shoe salesman alone, but as a buyer, manager, owner, and as far beyond that as you have the courage to go. The qualities of success are the same whether they be for a small success or for a large one; be sure you get them right and then go ahead.

Unless a man can convince himself absolutely that he has in him something worth while he will never be able to get anyone else to believe it. He should be so cock-sure of his own ability to move up that it will never occur to anyone to doubt it. But that does not mean he should be satisfied with himself. Confidence is not self-satisfaction.

CONFIDENCE

Assuming that the salesman thoroughly knows his job and is in a position to give his customer service, he will then have in him that air of assurance that will at once win confidence. He will not, of course, openly “rub it in” on the customer and give him the feeling that his opinion counts for nothing. The success of the sale depends upon the salesman’s ability to make the customer feel that his opinion is of first importance, but that in making his decision he may absolutely rely upon the value of the expert’s suggestion. This impression will “get over” only as the salesman shows a natural sense of confidence in his service to the customer.

On the other hand, self-satisfaction is dangerous. It is one of the chief causes that limit progress. Satisfaction means the taking away of the driving force of success that urges the person to do the task a little better next time. There is no standing still in the shoe business, either for the salesman, the department head, or the company itself. The movement is either forward or backward. The _satisfied_ shoe salesman is drifting backward although he may be booking as much business this week as he did last. His is a case of “dry rot,” and it is only a matter of days before the condition will begin to show in the size of his book.

So do not confuse confidence with self-satisfaction. One is the fountain head and dear flowing stream of life and advancement; the other is the stagnant pool that shows on the surface its story of rot and decay.

CHARACTER

The man who said, “I would rather be right than president,” expressed in seven short words what some other statesmen have required volumes to express—and have done it with less clearness. He expressed to the world that he was a man of character and that he placed above all other things, even the greatest honor the country can give, the importance of holding to a principle of right he had set for himself.

In speaking of business character we mean the sum total of all those uplifting qualities of honesty, ambition, courage, loyalty, courtesy, enthusiasm, and a dozen others that go to make up the moral fiber of a man. Bring these all together, or as many of them as the individual may have, and you get a product which is that man’s _character_. There were times in the pioneer days of the United States when it was possible for a business man to “shade” some of his dealings and still retain his position among his associates. Nathaniel Drew, who was a financial power a few generations ago, was one of the first men to practice stock watering. Driving his cattle from upper New York State to the wholesale market in New York City, he very carefully provided that they should be given no water to drink until about ready to enter the market. Just before being weighed-in, the thirsty animals were given water to their fullest desire. The result was that Drew collected on “watered stock,” and was considered clever.

But those days have passed. No business or any other enterprise can hope to be permanently successful unless it is built upon character. Time was when the traveling salesman could go out on the road with a trunk half filled with samples and the other half filled with cigars and booze. But those days have passed too. Today, with the traveling salesman, it is a matter of open competition on the basis of the worth of the goods plus the service of the salesman. Get right on these factors that make for character—courtesy, ambition, honesty, and the like. Only then will you naturally improve personality and become a real salesman.

PERSONALITY

Almost without exception a man’s nationality is so clearly stamped upon his face that it cannot be mistaken. Just so with personality. It is the outward expression of a man’s or woman’s innermost character. Sometimes we find attempts at forced personality, but these are simply disguises and will soon be recognized. Counterfeits may pass for a while but they will sooner or later find their way to the scrap pile.

There are all kinds of personalities just as there are physical types of men. There are strong and weak, pleasing and disagreeable, depending upon the make-up of the individual and the degree to which he has developed character. To some degree at least every person forms the habit of reading the character of people with whom they come in contact. A child four years old, and much younger too, will size-up a stranger and soon let him know what the impression has been. From some stories we hear of the dog it seems that the faithful animal can, in the twinkling of an eye, tell even the thoughts in a man’s mind.

A man is judged by the impression he makes when met. With the shoe salesman, in approaching the customer, there is almost unconsciously the double “sizing-up” process going on. The salesman will improve his selling ability by being able to size-up the customer so that he may know the likes, dislikes and peculiarities of people upon meeting them. This however, will be discussed later. Here we are considering the qualities of the shoe salesman and the effect they have upon the customer.

Although a man may not have a pleasing personality he is blessed, at least, to the extent that he can improve it as he can improve his muscular development. Notice the expression on the face of the sprinter in a hundred-yard dash. Every particle of determination in his whole being is expressed in the position of that lower jaw. It takes the man a few seconds to cover the hundred yards, but during that time he has summed up everything there was in him. This has made an impression upon his mind and determination, which as part of his character, has been developed to that extent. This is just a simple illustration but it shows the undying power of genuine effort.

Recognize your shortcomings, make some effort every day to correct them. Character and personality will then follow as the rainbow follows the shower.

CARVING OUT A CAREER

In one of the art museums there is a marble carving by an artist who had a big idea that showed his faith in the great truth that _we are what we make ourselves_. He represented a bright, strong, vigorous young man with a chisel in one hand and a mallet in the other, busily engaged in carving himself out of a rough piece of marble. The thought of the whole thing was that the young man’s future, or his career, was before him, and that the finished product would be exactly what he made it himself. In relation to his courage, his confidence and his persistence would be determined the beauty of his future. The world judges and honors him on the basis of what he produces.

To bring the point a little closer home, suppose Marshall Field, John Wanamaker or any other of the great merchants had stopped chiseling after they had become stock boys or clerks; they never would have advanced a step higher. But they did not stop, and we give them credit for chiseling great monuments for the world.

CO-OPERATION

One of the great problems of the time is that of building up a true basis of co-operation or team-work among all workers connected with an organization, and that means everyone from the youngest stock boy up to the president. No business can move forward without co-operation on the part of everyone concerned any more than an army could succeed without a head or without team-work.

It is a well-established fact that no matter how humble or important the job, one is as necessary for success as the other. As an example, a stock boy by placing a pair of shoes in the wrong box may be the means of losing a sale in spite of the most careful planning on the part of the store manager to have the shoe ready for the customer to buy. For this reason, all right-thinking business men recognize the fact and are willing to give the humblest worker his proportionate share of praise and profit in the success that comes from his effort.

SUCCESS THE REWARD OF MERIT

In studying a forest it will be found that there are all kinds of trees, big and little, strong and mighty, as well as the weak; and it is just so among men and women. There are those who are leaders—men who are extraordinary in character and ability, men who have the will to strive for better things. On the other hand, there are those who are so weak that they must be cared for. There are men who show neither will-power nor character. Every _normal_ man, however, has in him the power to shape his own future. It is for him to choose. He will take his place according to the way he measures up to the responsibility.

In considering these things the question of compensation naturally comes up. Are we to reward every man on an equal basis regardless of his own contribution to progress? The answer is emphatically—_No_. Compensation takes two forms; financial and honorary. Some men strive for both; others for money alone and still others for the praise and respect of their fellow-men. Without the incentive that comes to a man when he knows that his extra effort will be rewarded by greater returns either in money or honor, there can be no advancement.

James J. Hill, the great railroad builder, who was responsible more than any one man for developing the wild West of his time; Andrew Carnegie, the lad who arrived here almost penniless and later built one of the largest fortunes ever accumulated; Edward H. Harriman, another railroad builder, who overcame all sorts of physical handicaps and took his place among the men who have made America; Theodore Roosevelt, if you please, who as a boy was so weak and sickly he was not expected to live, and yet later developed into the most vigorous and powerful man in body and mind this country has produced—they all knew that success would come only as a reward of individual merit, and they played the game to win. What could have been more fatal than to have taken from these men their hope of the future? To them it would have been unfair, but to the world’s progress the injustice would have been a thousand times greater.

No one disputes the right of every individual to stand equal with his fellow-man before the law; which means that justice shall be equal in favor of the humble and the great. But you cannot equalize ambition, courage and ability. While the humble are just as needful and important in the world’s work it is necessary also to have leadership with which the less capable must co-operate to produce the best world’s results. The ambition of every individual in the world should be to make the most of himself, strengthen his character day by day, develop his ability, and thus aim for the highest position that God has given him power to attain. No man can be held responsible for the lowly position in which he may have been born, but he can be held responsible for being content to stay there.

THE PRICE OF SUCCESS

Anthony H. Geuting, ex-president of the National Shoe Retailers’ Association, and one of Philadelphia’s successful merchants, has told the story of his early start toward the position he now occupies. The experience dates back about thirty-five years, but it clearly shows that the “going” for the young man or woman is a great deal smoother today than it was then.

Although I started on my first job at $3.50 per week, and paid out of this $3.00 every week for board and room, I was able, when the year was around, to show something saved. Ever since I have kept up this practice and have never spent all that I made; always saving something. But to do this it was necessary in the early days to practice self-denial. I could not patronize pool-rooms, theaters, circuses and many entertainments that were calling young men away from their occupations, and often it was with bitter regret that I could not take part with the other fellows. The temptations were very great, but I knew they could not be followed if I intended to succeed.

Every man of any consequence in the world has had this same experience, and the big, successful business houses of today were built by men who practiced this method of self-denial, through which they gained control over themselves. They learned to say “no,” accumulated money, and above all, built for character and ability.

I remember one winter going without an overcoat—and you can imagine when the weather was below zero, how I longed for the luxurious fur coats so much in use at that time. However, I never felt bitter toward those who had them, but rather I made up my mind that one day I too would own one.

The reader will find in himself a feeling that he is unsatisfied with his present progress in business and that his future is still to be made. Unless he were a man of purpose it is safe to assume that he would not be reading these pages. He is unsatisfied, and that means that no matter how well he may have done up to the present he still sees ahead something better for the future. To be continually dissatisfied stamps a man as a grumbler and a perpetual grouch, but to be unsatisfied is the mark of distinction for the man with a healthy purpose, character and a bedrock foundation of confidence in his own ability to win.