A Storeless Shoe Business

 A Storeless Shoe Business 

    WHEN J. W. Hawkins, of Cleveland, Ohio, who had been representing a wholesale shoe company for twenty years, had his territory taken away from him, he decided to turn his knowledge of the shoe business to his own advantage. He made a connection selling shoes direct to the wearer and five months later he had earned a thousand dollars. “I simply took advantage of a situation with which the trade is familiar,” Hawkins said. “Every experienced shoe salesman knows people have only a vague idea of the size of their shoes. You’d be surprised to know how many times the average person buys ill-fitting shoes in his lifetime, believing he is properly fitted. That’s because it’s impossible for a shoe store to keep a complete stock of sizes, widths, styles and colors of the lines it handles, all of the time. When the store is out of the proper size, the clerk substitutes a size close to it, and the average person doesn’t know the difference. “I have trained myself to tell at a glance if a person is properly fitted. Prospects, wearing ill-fitting shoes, usually complain of being hard to fit and doubt that I can give them shoe satisfaction. I tell them: ‘I guarantee the fit. If they don’t fit, you don’t pay.’ Shipment is made C.O.D. but I make certain to call up my customers about the time their shoes arrive. I know there won’t be a substitution as my orders are filled at a wholesale warehouse.” It took about four weeks before people became fully aware that the shoes Hawkins sells would actually be better fitting than store shoes. He sold his first order to an engineer of a railroad, and the engineer was so pleased that he told his fireman. When Hawkins called back upon the railroad man, he had two orders waiting for him. The fireman bought, so did one of the trainmen. Later he got orders from thirty-three men working in the railroad yards, all traceable to the first order. Meanwhile, he called upon a local foundry and machine company, and got an order there from the foreman. When this man received his shoes, he phoned Hawkins. “I’ve never had a better fitting pair of shoes,” the foreman declared, and Hawkins was told to call back later. He received orders for sixteen pairs of shoes on this one call. Hawkins makes an average commission of one dollar and twenty-five cents on a pair of shoes, which he collects in advance. The shoes retail at less than three dollars. The commission is deducted from this price and the balance is collected on delivery by the mail-carriers. Hawkins carries no stock of shoes, but sells from a sample. A special order blank measure supplied by the company assures accuracy in getting the proper size. “It doesn’t take long to learn the knack of fitting, and when you get the knack and sell a man a pair of shoes that fit him, he will gladly recommend you. Most of my sales come that way. From my first fifteen sales, I have obtained ninety-seven orders. It took about two weeks for my first order to be delivered. After that first two weeks, it was plain sailing. It was almost four weeks before I got a real break in repeat business, and up to that time I only sold twenty-nine pairs of shoes. Then, orders piled up fast.” Hawkins declares it is possible to get orders from women and men on a straight canvass every day. He, however, specializes on selling men’s shoes, and calls only on men who are working in factories, shops and offices. While he makes few calls—about fifteen a day—he does a large volume of business. 

James Horner Became a “Premium Specialist” 

     IT IS human nature for the average person to want something for nothing James C. Horner knew that and decided he could make a thousand dollars easier selling premiums to merchants than he could by doing anything else. And this belief seems to be justified by his results. His success is due to the plan he uses which is so simple and practical that it is surprising others have not tried it. “The plan,” explained Mr. Horner, “is to call upon the best merchant in town. I give him about two hundred coupons to start and also some printed signs for the windows, circulars to he given store customers, and a sample premium for display purposes. The merchant gives out these coupons with five-, tenor twenty-five-cent purchases, and when the customer has saved up a certain number, she is given a premium. The success of the premium as a business stimulator depends upon its quality—it must compare favorably with items of the same sort which are sold in the store and it must be something the housewife wants but feels she can’t afford to buy at the regular retail price. Offering premiums that do not meet these requirements won’t develop much business for you. I usually suggest electric clocks or silverware. The clocks come in radio, mantel and wall-clock styles and have proved to be particularly good business stimulators. “When the clock premium idea gets under way, I secure a surprising amount of repeat business from the stores. Frequently they re-order twenty-five or thirty clocks at a time. After the clock premium has been used for a while, I suggest that it be followed by another premium, such as silverware. A good quality silverplate can be given in the same way as the clocks, and those store customers who have had clock premiums, begin saving for silverware. This keeps them trading at the store and builds up a steady business for the merchant. “I call back upon each merchant several times, not only to keep him friendly but to show him the right way to use the premium. I have found practically no objection to premiums by the merchant. The idea, as every merchant knows, is essentially sound and about the best sales stimulator he can find. Many merchants, I point out in my sales talk, have found that the use of premiums saved their business from suffering serious losses during the worst periods of the depression. The public’s popular acceptance of the premium principle bears out this contention and helps me close orders. I call on the smaller towns exclusively. I don’t object to cities, but it takes too much of my time waiting to see the store manager in a city store.” Horner works in Wisconsin. He calls on the stores in Watertown, Madison, Kenosha, Racine and Janesville. He restricts his premium deals to one store of each kind, and his commissions average seventy dollars weekly from calls on twenty stores a day. Every merchant feels the necessity of increasing his sales, and is ready to listen to you when you call to tell him about a method that will bring in new customers as well as keep old customers coming back. Premiums can be used by the filling station, drug store, small department store, variety store, jeweler, grocery, meat market, hardware dealer and restaurant. You need no capital to start. Companies which make a business of supplying premiums will send you the full details of their plan, and its sales possibilities.