Unusual book

Frank's Rules

How to Sell Menswear (and Practically Anything Else) Extremely WellBy Frank A. Schipani

AuthorHouse

Copyright © 2009 Frank A. Schipani
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4389-6758-5

Contents

CHAPTER 1-KNOW YOUR ASSORTMENT!The Closer You Are to Your Products, the Easier It Is to Sell Them.....................1Part 1-The Fit.........................................................................3Part 2-The Expression..................................................................9Part 3-Dress Furnishings, Sportswear, and Accessories..................................17Summary-Know Your Assortment!..........................................................25CHAPTER 2-LOOK THE PART!You Should Look Like an Authority Without Saying a Word................................27Suits, Sport Coats, and Trousers.......................................................29Dress Shirts and Ties..................................................................37Small Furnishings......................................................................43Grooming...............................................................................46Summary-Look the Part!.................................................................50CHAPTER 3-ENGAGE THE CLIENT!The Three C's to Successful Sales Relationships........................................53Summary-Engage the Client!.............................................................61CHAPTER 4-MAKE THEM WANT TO BUY!Qualify Your Customer's Real Needs, and You'll Make Real Money.........................63Summary-Make Him Want to Buy!..........................................................71CHAPTER 5-SHOW THEM YOUR STUFF!Build the Desire, and the Sales Will Come..............................................73Summary-Show Them Your Stuff!..........................................................84CHAPTER 6-OWN YOUR CLIENT!Repeat Business Is Easy, with the Right Follow-Through.................................87Summary-Own Your Client!...............................................................93

Chapter One

Know Your Assortment!

The Closer You Are to Your Products, The Easier It Is to Sell Them

It is imperative to know all about what you are selling. Your success can begin only when you have total command of your products-their fit, expression, fabric composition, and why they are priced the way they are. How do you accomplish this?

Start by trying on every garment from every vendor in your store (or your collection if you are a wholesaler). This advice holds true whether you're a man or a woman, selling retail or wholesale, or working at a mass-market store or a fine sartorial one catering to the luxury-end client.

Once you have put something on your body, you will know what it feels like and how it looks. You will be able to examine its expression, squeeze the shoulders, handle the lapels, and get a sense of the jacket's weight-just like your client does whenever he puts on a jacket. This knowledge will aid you greatly when it comes time to talk the product up to others.

Let me share with you a true "try on" story about a million-dollar producer at Neiman Marcus, a woman who attended one of my sales seminars several years ago. I was going through my spiel about why we should try on all our product assortment and saying that this rule holds true for female sellers as well as males.

She challenged me from the floor: "I just don't see how that can be of any great help. My clients know me and respect my judgment. Why should I ...?" and so on.

Naturally, I didn't take her balking at my advice to heart. I simply told her: "This is a suggestion based on my experience and belief. You're all free to follow it or not." And I continued on with my seminar.

I didn't return to that Neiman's location until about six months later. And guess what? When I entered the clothing department, that million-dollar producer came toward me, greeted me warmly, and told me that some weeks after my seminar, she got curious about my "try on" suggestion and followed through with every one of her store's tailored pieces.

Boy, did she have an epiphany! She went on to describe how now, knowing the actual variances and expressions in her assortment, she was able to eliminate 50 percent of poor selections on her part, even when the client didn't realize she may have erred in a selection from the rack. By trying on the garments, she found that she became critically connected to their feel and made the essential discovery that different fabrics can alter this feeling, even if it happens to be the same model suit from the same manufacturer.

She told me that she now felt more professional, worked with less effort, and had more fun doing her work. She then thanked me, and I thanked her for letting me know. It was an object lesson in how a good salesperson never stops learning just a little bit more. And how, often, that little extra knowledge can translate not only into big bucks but also into much greater job satisfaction.

Part 1-The Fit

Begin your "try on" session by asking an associate to join you in the process. Having a trained, impartial observer on hand to observe each garment as you model it in front of a three-way mirror will assist both of you in formulating your opinions.

Examine together what distinguishes one vendor or designer from another. Move around in the garment; see how it relates to your body-and his, if you swap positions. This exercise literally will put you in your customer's shoes when he is trying on the same piece, letting you see what a client sees and feel what he feels.

Most important, it allows you to develop the appropriate verbiage to describe the benefits of what you're selling. As we all know, selling is largely based on benefits. In the back of the customer's mind is always the thought, "What's in it for me?" By being able to describe those benefits to him in detail, based on your personal experience, you will go a long way toward cementing the sale.

As you might expect, big-ticket tailored items-namely, suits, sport coats, and separate dress trousers-require the most in-depth understanding of all, as well as a firm command of the particulars involved in proper fit and proportion. So let's look at these up close.

All tailored garments have the same basic features, such as lapels, shoulders, pockets, and coat-tail vents or none at all. The benefits are the many variations on these features and how the garment's form, or body, is shaped to best compliment certain figures and convey a certain sense of style, from classic to cutting-edge fashion.

Look carefully at the variations in a lapel's shape. Is it curved or straight? Does it have a notch, like a fish's mouth, or is it pointing upward in a peak? Is it a more unusual variant, such as a shawl-collar lapel, which curves down the chest in a single line, or perhaps the rarely seen cardigan lapel, which actually has no fold or collar?

Each of these factors has its own benefits (and drawbacks). For instance, a heavy-set client may think a shawl-collared tuxedo is just the look he wants. It will be up to you to gently explain to him how its bowed line actually will make him look heavier and that maybe a pointy-peak lapel would be more flattering. A thinnish man may have to be steered away from the peak and toward a notch, which tends to direct the eye outward to the shoulder line, giving him a broader appearance.

Also note the width of the lapel and the position of where the lapel meets the jacket collar. This is called the gorge, and it rises and falls with the tide of fashion. Often the gorge is the most telling factor in helping you place a garment's position on the conservative-to-cutting-edge continuum.

Next, we come to the position of the jacket buttons, known as the stance, which can dramatically alter the overall appearance of a suit or sport coat. Lower button placement is usually found on more average, classically styled jackets. A higher-placed stance is usually built on a trimmer body, and since trim is viewed as more youthful, the garment therefore will be seen as slightly more stylish.

The suit trousers likewise tell a tale. Trimmer cuts and fl at fronts generally go with a trimmer jacket, whereas the trousers of a classic suit, whether pleated or fl at-front, tend to be more loosely built with a wider leg. Don't make the mistake of assuming that because the suit jacket looks fine, the suit pants will be okay. Rather, make a point of having the customer try on the trousers in every case.

I have found that pants can vary widely in hip room, seat fit, and most important, the rise, the distance from the crotch seam to the waistband. These factors all can affect a sale. In addition, seeing the trousers with the jacket will give you a better idea of the suit's overall silhouette.

The differences in rise, hip, seat, and leg can be especially critical in the case of separate trousers, which is why I also recommend trying on every one of your vendors' separate pants offerings. Where suit trousers are built to accommodate the attitude and expression of the jacket and therefore are more of a background item, as it were, separate trousers have greater license to play around with variations of fit and leg proportions.

Pants manufacturers often will do something "a little bit different" to make their models stand out and generate multiple sales. These are usually small things-for instance, a slightly off-classic shaping of the leg, a unique pocket treatment, or a novel belting option such as adjustable side tabs or a self-fabric belt. Small things, however, have been known to make a major impact. Bear this motto in mind, particularly if your customer is not the fit-into-everything, thirty-two-inch-waist, high-fashion type of guy. A conservative, full-hipped guy might not appreciate boot-cut trousers featuring double belt loops and a low rise.

Hopefully, you will have an associate working the "try on" session with you because someone is required to take a tape measure to the trousers' rise, knee width, and bottom width. Since trouser shape undergoes a subtle change from the knee mark to the hem, it is important for you to know exactly where the knee hits in order for you to make a proper fit on your client.

In the good old days, pants were manufactured with a v-shaped notch on the interior seam lining to indicate this precise spot. Nowadays, however, you'll be obliged to measure the outseam from the top of the waistband to the cuff and take half that distance as the knee point.

Measure the width at that spot, and then double the inches to get the total trouser circumference at the knee. For example, if your outseam measurement comes up as thirty-two inches, divide that in half, making the knee sixteen inches from either the cuff or the waistband. Then measure the folded knee. Say it is ten inches across-this equates to a twenty-inch knee-and your cuff measurement is nine inches, which means an eighteen-inch bottom. This is a nice, traditional descent from knee to cuff. A greater difference can indicate a trendier trouser stance that might make a conservative client uncomfortable.

All these measurements will come in handy when the knowledgeable client asks you for them. Because you have carefully prepared yourself, you will be able to answer with confidence-which naturally will increase his confidence in you as a salesperson.

I have been speaking here of tailored wear, but truthfully, every apparel classification, from outerwear, sweaters and other knits, to dress and sport shirts, jeans, shoes, and small accessories such as socks and belts, offer benefits that are best discovered and verbalized when you try them on.

In most cases, using a tape measure will give you additional information-for example, the width of a jeans bottom or differences in dress-shirt fits-that will greatly assist you when it comes time for your client's own "try on" session.

Let me just tuck a word in here about shoe assessment: When trying on your vendors' footwear, do just as your client does, namely, first look down to view the shoes from that angle, and then stroll toward a mirror (noting all the while what the shoes feel like to walk in) to check them out from a floor view. Shoes can vary a great deal in form and feel, so by getting "up close and personal" with your merchandise, you can minimize the number of times you might be obliged to go back and forth to find the perfect pair for your client.

I am a great believer in the personal "try on" method because I've found that the knowledge gained from this process makes for far better salespeople-and happier customers. We, of course, want to make our customers happy because we want them to return to our store (and us) again and again.

For this very reason, and because it will offer customers extra, knowledgeable value with their purchases (proving the old adage that knowledge is money), every store and department manager should not only facilitate but also positively encourage special group fit workshops with their staff each new season.

In these group sessions, various sales associates representing various sizes and shapes can be drafted to model the store's goods so that the staff can see what makes the right fit for a wide variety of clients. Even if everybody on the staff wears a size 40 Regular, put them in bathing trunks, and you might be surprised how every body differs in shape and proportion. It's the same with your clientele. Fit workshops therefore help staff learn how to assess which garment will be the best for any given body type.

It is important to remark here that owing to greater fashion interest in recent years, combined with an increased need to look good and compete in the workplace; many companies now ship into stores their customary fit along with new, trimmer models in all classifications. The difference between these two versions of the "same" suit is significant enough for you to be aware of it, especially when you have a full-size man in front of you who is desirous of wearing a trim model.

We all know the ill feeling that transpires between you and your client when he is putting on a garment that doesn't button easily or looks too tight and generally unattractive. Even though you've been selling a particular model for several seasons, or the client has been buying the same model for several seasons, do not make the assumption that the fit will always be the same.

Often manufacturers will "tweak" a garment to improve it or correct something that's slightly wrong. And just as often this information does not always get disseminated to stores and sales staff. This is why I strongly urge all sellers to check the fit each and every season and note any changes.

Let's say that a suit maker decides to slightly trim its basic model. Your regular client comes in to buy a few of that same model he's been buying for years, and suddenly he feels that the coat is a little snug or just plain different. If you have done the correct pre-check, you will save yourself a very awkward "unprofessional" moment.

I know, I know-you may not lose your client altogether. But face it, as a professional, you should be explaining to him any changes that may have occurred as you're working and he's trying things on. A little snugness let out a bit, and the guy might get into the slimmer, trimmer model. Or you may convince him to move up a size-not because he's gained weight or anything like that, but simply because the manufacturer has altered the fit.

What you are doing is taking a negative and turning it into a positive. By fully understanding each garment, you will be able to properly fit all your clients. They will look good, and incidentally, so will you, as the voice of authority.

Part 2-The Expression

What does a garment say? What does it do for its wearer? The majority of tailored suits and sport coats sold are in the "classic" style, which is identified by a more relaxed fit, a somewhat sloped shoulder, comfortable armholes, and a button closure at or near the natural waistline. These garments will work on most men for most occasions.

But even in the classic category, each maker will exhibit a label-specific viewpoint, differences that are determined by the thickness of the shoulder padding, the sleeve heads' crispness, the lapels' design, width and height on the chest, pocket treatments, the shape of the waist, the size and type of jacket venting (or none at all), and styling of the trousers.

To obtain a clearer picture of each designer's point of view, try the following exercise: Line up every suit, sport coat, and separate trousers model from every vendor in your collection, grouping them by same size, same type (the two-buttons with the two-buttons, the fl at-fronts with the fl at-fronts, and so on). They should all be in a similar color fabric-I recommend using a medium to light gray or tan, if possible, because the details will stand out more than, say, with a charcoal, navy, or black shade. Also, if possible, and for the same reason, choose solid colors rather than distracting patterns.

Variations may not seem obvious at first glance, but after the garments are tried on individually and viewed critically in the mirror, little differences will emerge, allowing you to develop the appropriate description for each brand or model therein.

Next, try on garments from each company in similar-weight fabrics to assess their unique feel on the body. A hand-built suit from Oxxford, for instance, may be made from the exact-weight fabric as an off-the-rack, machine-made suit, but it will feel heavier because it is made with more "parts"-canvas plies-inside and will employ natural fibers instead of lighter synthetics. This exercise, too, will help you to formulate each piece's unique benefits.

A tailored jacket's visual image, like the fabric itself, hangs on the shoulder, so let's start off with its expression. Shoulder width is measured in point to point-literally the distance from one shoulder's side to the other, from the top of one shoulder seam where it joins the sleeve head across the back to the opposing seam. This point to point can vary from eighteen to twenty-one inches, with classic models averaging nineteen and a half inches and today's more aggressively fitted models scaled back to eighteen and a half inches.

Since the goal, in fitting yourself or your client, is to have a jacket that looks and feels comfortable while at the same time presenting a clean, shaped appearance, the more it conforms to the body, the better.

(Continues...)

Excerpted from Frank's Rulesby Frank A. Schipani Copyright © 2009 by Frank A. Schipani. Excerpted by permission.
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