The talking machine world (July-Dec 1924)

August 15, 1924 THE TALKING MACHINE WORLD 19 Portable Drives Prove Sales Stimulators How Progressive Dealers Are Adding Materially to Their Sales Volume by Going After Portable Business — Quick and Easy Sales The talking machine dealer who is neglecting to push his sale of portables to the fullest possible extent is undoubtedly losing a big source of revenue. It might be that a dealer best knows his own territory and feels that the people to whom he caters are not logical prospects for this type of machine, but with business rather slack, as it is at the present time, there is no reason why the dealer or his salesmen should not invade the nearby bungalow colonies or Summer resorts in an effort to sell the Summer residents a portable, or, failing in this, to increase his record sales. An interesting example of cashing in on this type of selling is the experience of the F. F. Hermann Talking Machine Corp., of Port Richmond, Staten Island, N. Y. There are scattered about Staten Island a number of Summer resorts and bungalow colonies and during the Summer this enterprising dealer sent a clerk with a number of portable machines and a stock of the latest records to visit these sections. With a Victrola No. 6 in a light delivery truck the salesman would make his rounds and, stopping in the center of a busy street, would play several of the latest releases. Aside from the number of portables sold through this method, the record sales were in themselves amazing, Fred Hermann stating that on Saturdays it was not an unusual occurrence to dispose of eighty to a hundred dollars' worth of records. When it is taken into account that this business was strictly on a cash basis, it can be seen that the Summer was a profitable one. Door-bell Ringing Sells Portables That the sale of portables can be made equally profitable for the dealer in the city is shown by a conversation which the writer had with an outside man connected with the talking machine department of a large department store. On the preceding day this salesman had made a houseto-house canvass in certain districts of Astoria, Long Island, with the result that he disposed of six portable talking machines and, while the writer was speaking to him, a lady with whom he had discussed the purchase of a machine on the previous day called at the store and purchased a regular Victrola. Asked as to whether he encountered difficulty in being admitted to demonstrate the instrument, this salesman stated that, with the exception of large apartment houses and tenement houses in the city, the average housewife does not object to admitting the canvasser, thus giving him an opportunity of selling her on the proposition of buying a machine. Every Family a Prospect "Few dealers realize that the reception granted the canvasser is in nine cases out of ten a pleasant one," stated this salesman. "If at the beginning the housewife declares that she owns a talking machine and is not interested in owning a portable, it is easy to gain admittance by stating that you wish to demonstrate a new style of needle or to play several new releases. The owner of a talking machine is always ready to lisen to any proposition that will enable her to gain better entertainment from the machine and it is to people who already own Victrolas or other styles of machines that 1 make most of my sales. A family which has an expensive machine and contemplates going to the seashore for a month or two does not wish to be deprived of the pleasure which it is accustomed to from listening to the machine and do not wish to go to the trouble of shipping their instrument to the country .or seashore home. Thus, when a portable at a reasonable price is offered the chances are greatly in favor of a sale. Out of the six sales which I made yesterday in Astoria, four of them were to people who already owned machines. It is surpris ing also to see the number of people one meets in going about who, although not interested in purchasing a portable, express themselves as being interested in purchasing a large instrument. I have secured a number of good leads which I will follow up and which I feel sure will result in sales. While a number of people state that they are interested and will call at the store to close the deal I make every possible effort to close the sale when the prospect is enthused over the demonstration." It is entirely within the province of every dealer to try this means of adding to his Summer business and should he be in a position where he be hesitant about tackling the project in a big way, let him go himself and on foot and see if his immediate vicinity will not yield results. A selected list of names taken from the store's mailing list could be called upon in odd moments and even though the portable sales would not be of such a volume that would cause astonishment, it is certain that the canvasser could secure orders for records that would be demonstrated that would more than repay for the time and trouble taken. The name of the Boyer-Smith Music Shop, of Lancaster, O., has been changed to the BurkSmith Music Co. John A. Burk has purchased a half interest in the establishment. This Coupon will help build your RADIO DEPARTMENT j ADIO receiving sets are, like talking machines, musical instruments. That's why more and more people are going to talking machine stores to buy radio apparatus. Such standard sets as Zenith, the Fada Neutrodyne and the Colin B. Kennedy displayed in your window in conjunction with highgrade accessories, as Music Master loud speakers and Brandes Table Talkers and Headsets will bring new customers into your store. Cunningham tubes, Eveready "A" and "B" batteries, Electrad antenna equipment and Harkness Reflex Kits are other "best sellers" in radio. We are prepared to make quick deliveries on all the supplies mentioned as well as on adapters, plugs and other standard makes of sets, parts and accessories. We Specialize in Establishing Complete Radio Departments . . . .^M. ' -*» k. P Dept. T.M.W. 824. 218-222 West 34th Street, New York, N. Y.