The talking machine world (Jan-June 1928)

Coordination of Policy Factor in Success of Edgar Music Co. Tulsa, Okla., Dealer Has Built a Big Business on Principle That Woolworth Front and Tiffany Merchandise Don't Go Together YOU can't put up a Woolworth front and expect to sell Tiffany merchandise; you can't behave in a manner befitting a Sweeney and expect to sell to Mrs. Van der Sniff, of wealth and discrimination. That is the basic principle back of the rapid growth of the business of the Edgar Music Co., Tulsa, Okla. As the truth is applied in the firm, it is interpreted to mean that you can't expect to aim at one policy of merchandising, permit the employes to aim at another — or aim not at all — and hit the same spot. The firm has been built up around the owner's plan of hiring and handling his employes. "If a chain is no stronger than its weakest link," says Tom Edgar, founder and head of the concern bearing his name, "then a musical merchandising organization is no better than the men who represent it to the public. Regardless of what our aims may be, the conduct of the men who come in contact with the public most frequently is taken as the standard of our worth. The employes of the firm are to the firm itself, from the viewpoint of the public, what the front of the store is to the store itself. Each creates the first and most lasting impression of the whole upon the prospective buyer." Believing explicitly" in the truthfulness of these ideas, Mr. Edgar has constantly borne them in mind in hiring and training the men and women who constitute the present force of eighteen employes. The favorable results from this care crop out in a number of ways. Employes Aid in Direct Mail For example, the company uses a personal letter now and then to send to a list of prospective customers; and Mr. Edgar believes that the reason that such letters generally have more than average pulling power is because they are prepared by the employes. The average such By Ruel McDaniel letter is a composite of what each employe, and Mr. Edgar himself, considers his best selling letter and this plan has proved practical. When Mr. Edgar is ready to send out a letter featuring a certain line of phonographs, or There is much valuable merchandising information in the accompanying article. The Edgar Music Co. has achieved a marked success by reason of its sound policies, not the least important of which is the manner in which the firm gets the co-operation of its employes in planning sales campaigns that accomplish their object — to sell the carefully selected line of instruments featured. . . . playing up the record department, he notifies every employe of the fact, outlines the general purpose of the advertising and asks each man and woman to write what he or she considers a good sales letter featuring the merchandise to be advertised. As a result,, a variety of letters are handed in. Some are bad, some are fair, and some are good. Even though none of them may be suitable for a letter as it is, including the one Mr. Edgar prepares and hands in with the rest of them, almost always each letter contains at least one good selling idea. At a given time the employes meet with Mr. Edgar and each letter is read, certain sentences, paragraphs or selling arguments are marked, discussed, digested, and segregated. The letter Mr. Edgar prepares undergoes the same critical dissection as those of the employes. How Ideas Are Utilized "Out of this mass of data and the scores of selling points advanced, one composite letter is prepared that usually carries a full load of selling punch," says Mr. Edgar. "It is only natural that such a letter is usually more appropriate than one that any one man could prepare. Every person thinks primarily along certain well-defined lines. He thinks of good selling ideas in line with his type of thinking, but he overlooks entirely good ideas that are not in keeping with his line of thinking. Thus, in having all employes write a sales letter, we get all lines of thought developed. The mechanicalminded person dwells upon the mechanical superiority of the machine. The things he says are interesting to some prospects; but not to all. Some people don't know or care about the mechanical features of an instrument. They think of the beauty, tone or utility of the thing. So do some of our employes. Just as one thing appeals to one customer and something else entirely different catches the fancy of another, so runs the tone of the different letters written by employes. "Obviously it is impossible to put in all the good points found in each letter. That would make the composite letter too heavy. But with all this selling material massed, it is possible to form a letter out of it that is not too long, not too heavy, and at the same time broad enough and convincing enough in its appeal to catch the fancy of a wide circle of prospects. "But in order to induce employes to cooperate in this manner, it is necessary to convince them that their services are really appreciated and to work with them as one of them. I believe that one of the biggest factors in their willingness to help in the preparation of sales letters is my preparing a letter and making it go through the same process of critical slashing and bisecting as the rest of the letters. They have come to know that I do not want them to hesitate to criticize a letter just because it happens to be mine, through my continual insistence that they consider it in exactly the same light that they do those of the other employes." Some of the best merchandising ideas used in the store to-day are those suggested by employes; and they make such suggestions because they were hired and trained to do so. Training in Constructive Thinking "The first stage in such training," declares Mr. Edgar, "is in breaking down the first timidity of the employe and inducing him to think independently, then to express his thoughts to us. But that is only a starter. We found it comparatively easy to get employes to make half-baked suggestions after we had conquered their timidity; but a suggestion for the adoption of a certain plan is of little value without a complete plan for its adoption. "The average of our employes to-day does not come to us with a suggestion for the improvement of the business unless he also has with him a plan for adopting the suggestion. To-day {Continued on page 27) BEAUTY is selling radio today THE Splitdorf line alone meets the requirements of the new market in radio which demands a radio receiver as good to look at as it is to listen to. The new Splitdorf Receivers are designed from the most beautiful models of period furniture and are the only receivers offered today that combine decorative value with superlative radio performance. Twelve models priced from $45 to $800 Splitdorf Radio Corporation Subsidiary of Splitdorf-Bethlehem Electrical Company Newark, New Jersey THE LORENZO — A magnificent Italian Renaissance model — equipped with the new Splitdorf all-electric receiver, operating directly from a light socket without batteries. No acids or eliminators. List price, with built-in loud speaker, $350. 26