Business screen magazine (1938)

t-Harris Audio Prod: Bakcl EDUCATING THE DEALER TAKING THE CHANCE OUT OF YOUR SALES PROGRAM WITH FILMS • The man at the point-of-sale rules the destinies of business. The job of stimulating the dealer's enthusiasm for the product can and does involve a good portion of the advertising dollar, of the sales promotional budget and untold hours of thoughtful ])lanning on the part of advertising and sales executives. For the dealer, as one editorial recently pointed out, is not alone the distributor's best customer but he is also, which is vitally important, the distributor's ally in the further and final task of selling the ultimate consumer, the public. Spending money for prestige-building radio hours and national advertising space is not enough. La\ish appropriations for special "deals" may sharjjcn the sales curve but fundamentals alone can keep it up. The first of these is a thorough knowledge of the product and equally important, of the tried and tested techniques which will help the dealer sell it. We take too much for granted when we put the success of carefully planned lines of merchandise into the hands of $15 a week clerks. To entrust the merchandising of expensive technical items to such unskilled help is a patent weakness which costs heavily in sales results. The dealer himself, in thousands of small organizations, is prolilem enough but the multiludes of untrained retail clerks, service station attendants and other sales persons rejiresent a major issue. Here is where the fihn medium can play a vitally imjKirtant part. Its unequalled success in acquainting the dealer with the nature of the product itself is best illustrated in the technical films of John.sManville, E. I. duPont de Nemours and the \.-iriiiM> anioriiiiliili compMiiies. ,I-M's fihii Hint and its Control was a thorough exposition of insulation and its showing at local trade meetings to plumbing dealers has usually been followed liy repeat requests and even by return visits from members of previous audiences in distant towns. Service station attendants have been generously benefited by the numerous slide films and motion pictures made available to them by parent companies and by various accessory concerns. The theory that helping the salesman helps the sale has been accepted by national merchandisers with "complex" items — but how about those with inexpensive commodities? Sunkist, Coca-Cola, National Biscuit, Libby's and many others have stories to tell in this field. Eight years ago Sunkist put out a "talkie" for the fruit and grocery trade. That was Partnership jor Profit and today's subject is Sunkist jor Profit, a four-reel picture story which tells how to display and sell California citrus fruits. All the showings of Siniki.H for Profit are being arranged through the company's thirtyfour merchandising representatives. With the objective this year a total of at least 500 showings to an average audience of 100 persons, the total attendance will approximate 50,000 Sunkist dealers! The versatiMty of the film medium is found in the extensive successful use of an economical series of slide films by Coca-Cola for the impn]\ement of merchandising techniques. Here a lowly five-cent item benefited immensely through visual dealer aids. National Biscuit and Libby's, with motion pictures and slide films, have ac'complished remarkable results. Sometimes tlic dcaliTs enthusiasm exceeds the mere showing of films subjects to his clerks .\ Ford dealer in an Oregon city of less than 'iO.OOO inhabitants, for example, is selling a> many automobiles as the dealers in larger metropolitan areas. Comparatively inexpensive lOmm. sound movies are made of local sales opjiortunities and shown to prospective buyers. These supplement the extensive national slide lilm and motion picture programs which Ford has always made available to his dealers. Both wholesalers and retailers often cooperate in setting up film programs. This is espelially true in the department store field where .Marshall Field and Company have sponsoretl lilms on their manufacturing activities. Montgomery Ward has also done an outstanding job in this respect for the improvement of its retail dealer setups. The usefulness of the film medium may l)e illustrated in another way. It is an excellent focal point around which many local jobber meetings are now being built. Because the film has a simple and interesting way of presenting otherwise heavy fare, attention seldom lags. What do the dealers think of these film programs? Definite check on their reactions may be obtained from the bulging letter files of the Standard Oil Company of Indiana. From the showing last year of its movie, Stan, this oil company has received hundreds of commendatory letters. In this case Stan accomplished a double-barrelled job with an extensive consumer distribution but the .sound slide films of the same company receive the same kind of enthusiastic reception. In the East, Esso Marketers, Socony-Vacuum and Pennzoil have earned universally favorable results with dealer films. Is the dealer's education expensive? That, of course, all depends on the number educated and the amount of schooling to be expected of a film. Here the series method of individual sound slide films has been found effective. A'o attempt should be made to pack too much training into a single subject, even in a fulllength film! A dozen "short-jabs" are worth just that much more than a single jolting upliereut. For that reason, also, the dealer meeting should not be a long, tiresome affair. As the experienced user will testify, it is much more successful when it is broken up (when necessary) into shorter sessions, each possessing a maximum of interest. The expense can begin with the making of a single economical sound slide film. Since this consists of a series of individual "still " pictures with a synchronized record, it is comparatively inexpensive. Perhaps if a test-meeting program can be arranged, the mere rental of one of the many general "syndicated" sales films will offer a beginning point. When the motion picture is contemplated one factor only need be remembered — ever> dollar spent wisely in this medium has returned generously on its investment. {Please turn to jiagc ;i4i 20 i