- informal memos from you to your sales people to tell them about a new purchase, an upcoming ad, a fashion trend
- exhibits that show how goods are produced, or how current apparel and accessories fashions are combined
- publications (trade or consumer) or clippings from them that you post or circulate among the sales people
- fashion shows, live, or on manikins, that help sales people visualize the current looks and the part your merchandise plays in them
- permanent reference files, such as binders into which you put bulletins, pamphlets, clippings, etc., of long-term interest, and that you place where anyone in the department can conveniently consult them
- bulletin boards on which you post current information about merchandise or fashion; tear sheets of your ads; sales tips and selling sentences; fashion photos and drawings; commendation for exceptional selling; cartoons and jokes
- films, film strips, slides, tape recordings,- etc., that can be viewed or heard by the entire department, or by a few at a time, while the others cover the floor
- opportunities to inspect lines of visiting vendors' representatives, ask questions, and express opinions (to you) as to acceptability of the various numbers
- five-minute "huddles", any day or every day, before store opening, to pass the word about new merchandise, an ad or window, or just a new suggestion for presenting current fashion to customers
- fashion photos that you obtain from vendors, publications, etc., that show wearers of merchandise identical with or similar to your own.
Not to be overlooked is the selling sentence - the simple, easily remembered statement that a sales person can make to a customer to help clinch a sale.
Where do you find them? Some come into your mind spontaneously as you think of the merchandise. Some you will hear from the lips of your best sales people. Some you'll find as you read fashion magazines, or hear from your vendors.
Keep a notebook. Jot down ideas. Post some on your bulletin board. Pass some out, in conversation or in written form, at every staff meeting or employee fashion show.
Selling sentences are a great help to new sales people, to temporaries, to part-timers. But you'll be surprised at how consistently the real pros on your staff use them, once they find that they work! Examples: "This is brand new. No one else in town has it." "You can wear this shade with almost any color."
"Notice how soft the leather is in this belt? That lets it crush in and emphasize the slenderness of your waistline."
"See how the pleats give you freedom of movement."
"You can make this dress do the work of two or three. Just tuck a bright scarf in the collar and it looks like another outfit. Or wear with a bold pin right here..."
"Notice the extra snap? This manufacturer puts such nice little touches into his dresses."
"Have you seen these pastels? Soft, subtle colors are coming into their own this season."
"Do try on some of these prints, this is a season for color, color, color."
"These darker hosiery colors are especially good with long skirts. There is so much color in the dress itself, you see that the leg colors have to be subdued."
Reaping the Benefits
If you are resourceful and willing to learn, you will develop an increasing variety of methods and skills in getting your fashion message across to your sales people. No one method can carry every message or reach every sales person. The more versatile you become at reaching your sales people, the better they will learn, and the better they will sell for you.
Summing it Up
- Sum up at the end. If your meeting has developed as you planned (and sometimes it does, exactly), the capsule statement of your message will make the perfect summary: "So you see, the new look is long, and even if the customer isn't tall and slender, she can wear it becomingly. It isn't just the length, but the lines and the details that make it so flattering and wearable."
- Sum up in selling sentences, whenever you can. That is, put your thoughts into words you might use in talking to a customer. The sales people will usually tuck these sentences away in their minds and trot them out when they need them, just as you tuck away good merchandising and promotion ideas for future use.
- Sum up in writing, with illustrations if possible, whenever you introduce anything that isn't readily absorbable at a single sitting. Distribute your summaries at the end of the meeting; arrange for distribution to the absentees; post copies on your bulletin board.
