How to Sell “Tailored-to-Measure” Suits

 How to Sell “Tailored-to-Measure” Suits 

IN THREE months, John Gleason “cleaned up” well over a thousand dollars from the sale of men’s tailored-to-measure suits. But Gleason had been making little or no profit from his selling activity in the previous months. Indeed, as he himself put it, he was just another doorbell pusher. He had difficulty overcoming the objections raised by prospects. He had trouble finding men who were in a position to buy suits. And he experienced disappointment when getting in to see prospects. As a salesman, Gleason admits he wasn’t so “hot.” To believe that he suddenly turned over a new leaf would be too much. He didn’t. He did change some of his selling methods, however, and taught himself to be at ease with people. It was due to his willingness to let an older hand show the way, though, which enabled Gleason to climb into the big money-making class. “Living in the apartment above was a salesman I greatly admired,” explained Gleason. “This fellow was a polished, suave chap, who had been selling for years. When I got pretty well acquainted with him, I asked him for pointers on selling. It was difficult for me to understand all the points he made. At first I thought they were only theories so I did not take them seriously. I grew more and more discouraged. I mentioned this to him. ‘I’m awfully sorry,’ he said, ‘I’d like to do something to help you.’ ‘You can if you wish,’ I answered quickly. ‘There’s a lot that you could teach me, if you would make a call or two with me.’ He agreed to do so. “It was arranged to call on some prospects together. I made the first interview but didn’t get very far. It was a call upon a doctor who got rid of me in a hurry. Outside the office, on the way to the next call, my friend was very thoughtful and made no comment. When I lost the second sale, he said softly: ‘Let’s drop down to the lunchroom and talk this over. You’ve made an effort to make two sales, and have avoided letting anyone know what you’re trying to sell.’ He made no further comment on the matter until we faced each other across a table in the lunchroom. Then he pointed out an obvious error in my tactics. ‘When you got in to see those fellows, they knew you came to sell something. Why do you talk about representing a large responsible house selling high quality merchandise? Why not try to sell them a suit? These men are busy. They know what they want, when they see it. Cut the introduction and get down to business.’ “‘You’ve got to begin, you know,’ I said in defense. “‘Sure you do,’ he retorted. ‘That’s my point. Begin at once. When we go to see your next prospect, I’ll give you an idea of what I mean.’ “Half an hour later, we entered the office of a real estate dealer. ‘I’m offering some of the greatest suit bargains you ever saw,’ said my friend, but the realtor shook his head. ‘That’s a fine looking suit you’re wearing. Isn’t it one of our twenty-two fifty line?’ “‘Nope,’ replied the realtor, ‘I bought this in a store.’ “My friend moved over to the prospect and closely examined the man’s coat. ‘Hmm,’ he murmured, ‘that is certainly a fine piece of goods, isn’t it, Gleason?’ “I stepped up and admired it. The realtor smiled. ‘Let me show you the same goods here—’ and my friend held out his hand as a sign for me to show a sample. I opened my case and brought out a sample swatch. Quickly this was placed in the prospect’s hand. A moment later he was fingering it. “‘Do you like your sleeves that short? They seem a trifle short to me,’ my friend said critically. “The prospect admitted the sleeves were a little short. I got my friend’s idea at once. Quickly I measured the prospect’s sleeve and marked it on the order blank. Then I went through the entire measuring series myself. “After taking this prospect’s measure, I asked him if he wanted us to have a suit made up for him. He hesitated, but my friend saved the situation. “‘Here’s a fabric that certainly will make up beautifully, and it’ll look fine on you.’ The prospect was guided back to a consideration of fabrics once more. Finally his choice was narrowed down to two fabrics and soon the sale was closed. “My friend pointed out the following errors in the method I had been using: (1) My opening arguments were not natural or interesting. (2) I did not tie up the prospect with the idea of owning another suit. (3) I did not show how good my suits were in comparison with those being worn. (4) I did not picture the prospect wearing the suit. (5) I was voiding all the previous interview by a negative suggestion at the close, when I should be writing the order. “Closely following the tactics used by my friend brought results. I now sell an average of four suits daily, netting commissions of $12.95 a day which is better than $3,000 a year!” Gleason calls on business men and workers in shop and office; he does not waste time on men who are not working. Calling at the factory entrances of plants about lunch time enables him to make a demonstration to a group of men and arrange evening appointments at the homes of those interested. He sells from a sample. The order blank is so arranged that anyone can easily follow the directions for taking the accurate measure for a suit. The deposit, made by the prospect at the time the order is taken, is the salesman’s commission. The balance is collected C.O.D. by the manufacturer when the shipment is made. To sell clothing successfully does not require selling experience of any nature. It does require a sales plan and some initiative in working the plan. Many made-to-measure tailoring companies, selling their suits through direct salesmen to the wearer, supply detailed instructions for salesmen. 

The Right and Wrong Way to Sell Nursery Stock 

  WILLIAM WERNER got his first thousand dollars from trees. There were financial worries in the Werner household, and the need of additional cash led Werner, who clerked in a men’s furnishing store, to sell nursery stock in his spare time. “One day,” he said, “I happened to mention my nursery line to a teller in the bank. He was building a new home and wanted a few trees and shrubs. But he cooled off when I said that our stock was small and that it took some years for the trees to grow big. ‘What will they look like then?’ he asked. I tried to explain and he said he would think it over. When I called back, he was still in doubt whether to buy from me or from a local greenhouse. ‘The greenhouse man has such a beautiful story about how nice and shady a fir tree would be in one year that he has almost sold my wife. But if you want to tell your story to her, it’s all right with me.’ “When I called at the teller’s home, I asked his wife to step into the yard and look at the old brick wall of the apartment house they were living in. Then I tried to picture to her how much more attractive that bare wall would be with English ivy clinging to it, and the foot of the wall gay with flowers. This seemed to make an impression on her. We talked a lot about the different kinds of bushes and shrubs. She preferred lilacs, it developed, and said she always liked the scent of the lilacs in the air. I kept telling her about the way the place would look when it was finished and the shrubs and bushes planted and fully grown. “I got an order for $207 before I left, but it took me from two that Sunday afternoon until six-thirty to get it. My commission was $29. Elated, I wrote the firm about the way I made this sale, and got back a letter containing some very good advice. This letter complimented me highly, and said: ‘Always remember that when people buy nursery stock, they expect definite results. It’s results they want, not a tree a foot high. Sell them results.’ I’ve thought about that many times since. The other day, when I was talking to a farmer about buying 100 apple trees of a new variety, I knew he wanted to know how many apples the trees would bear. I pictured a whole orchard for him, with fruit hanging on the trees. Of course, he realized as well as I did that the trees would be tiny when he planted them, but he knew they would grow big with the passing of time, and that eventually they would bear fruit. He wanted to see a vision of results, and I helped him see the vision. “Merely to quote prices on berry bushes, fruit trees, shrubs and other nursery stock would never get an order for me. Most people, I’ve discovered, are totally lacking in imagination. They are able to picture a thing only when it is shown to them. It is up to me to do their imagining for them. Orders vary in size, and the commission varies greatly, of course. I sell every kind of shrub, and sell in quantities of from one tree for the backyard of a city dweller to a whole orchard of perhaps a thousand. The first six weeks after I sold that banker’s wife, I earned commissions well over $1,200.” Werner, after this success, left his regular position and devoted all his time to selling nursery stock. He makes many calls, but succeeds in interviewing only seven prospects in an average day. The commission earned on each sale he has made since he started selling nursery stock is $9.10 an order. He averages two orders daily. His commissions are paid to him weekly, as orders are verified, this being the nursery’s established policy. This policy does not apply to all nurseries. Some concerns insist the salesman collect his commission in the form of a deposit, at the time the order is given. Prospects are found everywhere, in small towns and big cities, suburbs, and rural districts. Some nursery salesmen make a practice of calling at regular intervals upon county school boards, playgrounds, churches and like places, where there is frequent demand to replenish or replace trees and shrubs. No money is needed to start in this profitable field.