The talking machine world (Jan-June 1919)

January IS, 1919 THE TALKING MACHINE WORLD 9 believe this as there is much that can only be accomplished through the medium of judicious publicity. Most of the world has stood still during the greater part of four years. We in America have gone ahead little, if any, for the greater part of two years. It has meant that normal development was halted, and now with a clear future it is only natural that every manufacturer with a grain of ambition will endeavor not only to develop his business on a normal basis, but will try to get back some of the business lost during the dark months. Not only will the old and recognized advertisers redouble their efforts and increase their appropriations, but many new advertisers, having watched for the proper moment, will enter the field in competition. It means that the man who expects to hold up his end in the battle for business that is before us must give the question of advertising his keenest consideration. It is going to be the manufacturer who utilizes the full power of advertising during the year to come who is going to reap the reward in the matter of business. The man who hesitates is not only going to lose potential business, but is going to suffer directly through competition. It must be said for the talking machine trade, so far as the leaders of the industry go, that there was little if any cut in advertising appropriations during the war period. Output was curtailed and trade demands went by the board, but nevertheless there was always kept before the public the names of the products and their value in the war and in the home, not with the idea of influencing immediate business, because immediate business could not be handled, but with the idea of impressing the public with the products and the names, so that when supplies were again available it was only a question of reaping the crop of business that wartime advertising had been developing. Although normal advertising was kept up during the war it is most likely that even these big appropriations will be increased materially in the drive for new business. Those who have cut off their publicity or curtailed it will be compelled to do some tall hustling to keep step with the procession of live merchants who realize and make use of the power of advertising. Nineteen-nineteen is now with us, and there is no time to be lost in carrying to completion the campaigns for business planned for the year. Advertising is going to prove one of the most potent factors in the reconstruction of American business along peace lines, and the manufacturer who does not recognize this fact is going to suffer and suffer greatly. sometimes, prospects may seem darkest when really they are on the turn. A little more persistence, a little more effort, and what seemed hopeless failure may turn to glorious success. There is no failure except in no longer trying. There is no defeat except from within, no really insurmountable barrier save our own inherent weakness of purpose. GENIUS is only the power of making continuous effort, according to the late Elbert Hubbard, who with his unusual skill in word structure pointed out that the line between failure and success is so fine that we scarcely know when we pass it — so fine that we are often on the line and do not know it. How many a man has thrown up his hands at a time when a little more effort, a little more patience, would have achieved success. As the tide goes clear out, so it comes clear in. In business, IN the talking machine trade, as in practically every other line of endeavor, problems of merchandising are receiving an increased amount of attention. In the old days, in fact only a few years ago, the rule was to hire the salesman and turn him loose on the prospect. If he was a good salesman in his own right he held his job and prospered, but if he proved to be a poor salesman he didn't last long. The sales problem was looked upon as distinctly a problem for the individual, and he was left to work out his own salvation, and so long as the results were more or less satisfactory there was no interference with his plans. Now, however, there is a new realization of what salesmanship really means, because men have learned that selling is not a problem for the individual, but rather is a problem for the organization, and that although the ideas of the individual salesman may be good, if those ideas are joined with the ideas of some other salesman, then a selling system can be evolved that is not only going to mean more business for the organization as a whole, but work to the benefit of every man in it. The result is the development of the sales conference idea. The larger companies in the field now call their dealers and salesmen togetHfer at regular intervals for the sake of discussing merchandising and sales problems, and evolving campaigns that will not only get results, but will, as a result of the experience gained, be possessed of as few flaws as possible. Ideas are exchanged and every dealer, if he is awake, enters into the conference hall with some new and valuable thoughts on how he can improve his business, and, most important, make more money from a certain amount of effort and a certain amount of invested capital. The dealers in turn holding conferences with their salesmen can pass on these thoughts, and on the other hand compile valuable selling material from the ideas and experiences of their own sales staffs. The basic thought is that no man, or no one group of men, knows it all. Each individual and each group has met and overcome different problems, and the problems that one individual has met may come later to another of the craft. It is, therefore, much better to have at hand a solution based on experience than to work blindly and evolve a new and independent solution of the problem. It is simply the idea of business co-operation brought home. The tendency toward conferences of selling forces is one that should be encouraged to the utmost, for it should mean more and better business, especially in the industrial activity that is going to show itself in every ramification of the immense business structure of this country during the months and years that are before us. Fire Up I f LET'S get more steam pressure in our 1919 boiler, J for we all hope the world has quit war-making forever. Victrolas and Victor Records are one of the wartime essentials that become more than ever necessary for Hfe's enjoyment. More goods are promised for 1919: a bigger demand is sure, and it is a sure Happy New Year. Silas E. Pearsall Co. Wholesale Distributors of Victrolas and Records 10 East 39th Street I NEW YORK irpi