Today, however, space on the main floor of the larger stores in New York
is proving so valuable for goods that appeal to women shoppers, that
some of them are trying to find a new method of appealing to the
man-in-a-hurry. And so there has come to be a distinct trend toward
putting men's goods upon a high upper floor, but with special express
elevator service, so that their purchasers can get in and out with a
minimum use of their valuable time.
That part of the organization of Macy's which always has, always has
had, and always will have the chief visual appeal to the public, is the
staff of sales people with whom it comes in constant contact. Again and
again, as we come to consider the minute workings of this great machine
of modern business, we shall find its human factor looming larger before
our very noses. We can not dodge it. We have no desire to dodge it. In
fact, we find it at all times the most fascinating feature of our study.
It is no part of this narrative to decide which part of the whole corps
of workers in the store is the most important to it--it would be similar
and quite as easy to try to give an opinion as to the relative
importance of the mainspring and the balance-wheel of a watch--but it is
enough to say here, as we shall say again and again, that the girl
behind the counter--to say nothing of the man--is an absolutely
indispensable feature. By her it rises; by her it might easily come
tumbling down.
Let me illustrate by the testimony of a young woman who recently was a
girl behind the counter at Macy's:
"It surely is true," she says, "that we salespeople can do a great deal
to increase the business and the number of customers. Some of these last
are, of course, nearly hopeless--they would try the patience of Job,
himself--and then again there are the others who are most appreciative
of your services. It was interesting to me, when first I went behind the
counter, to see how many of my customers would say 'thank you.' I found
that nearly all of them will, if only you make a real effort to please
them. And the majority of the Macy salesforce does try to help a
customer in any way that she needs help. One day I observed this
incident, which is almost typical: A customer approached our counter and
put her bag down upon it. A saleswoman went to her at once, saying:
"'May I help you, madam?'
"The customer shook her head, a negative; she was merely trying to
adjust her veil, she explained. But our saleswoman was resourceful in
her tact.
"'Well, maybe, I can assist you with that,' she insisted, and
straightway proceeded to do so. That was her notion of the service of
our store."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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