Death of the Salesmen

Like most merchants, the managers of the Southern States Cooperative, one of the three top U.S. farm supply coops, are well aware of the decline in old-fashioned retail salesmanship. Last week, at their annual meeting in Richmond, the co-op's 60 district field managers, who run 125 retail stores, conducted their own shopping experiment. Each one started on an hour's shopping tour to see if clerks could persuade him to buy $5 worth of goods. They bought little. Out of their $300 total, they spent only $103.79. Twenty-nine shoppers spent less than $1 each, 37 spent less than $2. Four buyers came back emptyhanded; they could not even get waited on. One of them had asked for a toothbrush, was told: "They're down there. Go get yourself one."

In only a few instances did Richmond sales clerks show any enterprise. In one drugstore, a shopper who had bought a toothbrush was also offered a deodorant. "Do you think I need it?" he asked. There followed a long, painful silence. He reluctantly bought the deodorant and reported: "There's one woman clerk who doesn't have to be told anything about the way to make a sale."

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.