omer away from
the rest of the stock, say to some distant corner where he can stand
on a rug and look in the mirror--

"Where his whole attention can be given to one suit, or at most a
choice between two.

"A sale must be opened easily. The customer should never be made to
feel that he is being restricted in his selection. But the moment you
can form an idea of what he wants you can probably think of just the
thing for him.

"If you handle him right he accepts your knowledge of the assortment,
instead of demanding a complete canvass of the stock.

"It is then you may know that you have established his confidence.

"In a comparatively short time you can narrow him down to a choice
where by a tactful show of firmness you can help him decide.

"In the handling of almost every sale there is a point beyond which
the customer begins to flounder and show indecision.

"The weak salesman leads him on and on with no stopping point--no
place to close--and the prospective sale fades to a 'just looking
today' excuse.

"This is a universal fault among retail clerks.

"The test of salesmanship is in closing a sale.

"Be a closer!

"Never guy a customer or 'kid him along' for the amusement of a
by-stander or a fellow clerk. This is a common practice in some
clothing stores. The offender is usually a self-satisfied clerk who
has had just enough success as a salesman to make him egotistical.

"He thinks he is a regular dare-devil and that by making sport of his
customer he may win a reputation as the village cut-up. His favorite
victim is some half-witted fellow--tho' a customer who is partly deaf
may do and he is always ready for a yokel or a foreigner.

"There is no doubt," said Sam Lambert, "that the medal for the longest
ears and the loudest bray in the clothing business belongs to this
Smart Aleck type of clerk known as a 'kidder'.

"To say nothing of the respect he owes the customer, it is astonishing
how he can presume to work his cheap little side-play on any human
being, when even a dog is sensitive to ridicule and knows when he is
being laughed at."

CHAPTER II.

No one questioned Sam Lambert's power as a business getter, nor the
alertness of his store-keeping methods.

He was prodigal of his own energy--never spared himself. He looked
after the important things and left details to others.

As with every man who is a constructive force in the world of affairs,
Sam's friends and relatives shook th