The Edison phonograph monthly (Jan-Dec 1916)

EDISON PHONOGRAPH MONTHLY, MARCH, 1916 Doings of the Dealers DEALERS DOUBLE AMBEROLA BUSINESS IN COURSE OF SINGLE YEAR IS the Edison Amberola and Blue Amberol record business decreasing, just holding its own, or increasing? Here is a question that is very pertinent to Edison Amberol dealers the country over and in order to answer it we made a careful canvass of the information blanks that were returned to us by our dealers who complied with the request that we made in the December issue of The Phonograph Monthly. It must be considered that only a very few of those who made returns were able to give us any estimate of their sales and receipts for the years of 1914 and 1915. The great majority of the dealers had not kept their phonograph and record sales statistics separate from their other departments and were unable to give even an approximate comparison of the amount of Edison business that they transacted in the two years. So there were only a comparatively few blanks that we could use in attempting to determine the trend of the cylinder business in the past year. We found, however, that there were many instances in which the business of our dealers had increased and in some instances the blanks showed that the business in this line was double, or more than double, the business done during the previous year. This seems to prove that it is possible not only to maintain the cylinder business up to any standard it may have reached in the past, but to increase it largely. HOW ABOUT MAIL ORDER COMPETITION? Don't be afraid of mail order house competition offering other makes of machines than Edison, no matter at what price, or what size town you do business in. This little inside story of how some of the talking machine deals go through, with mail order houses, should be read and digested by every Edison Amberola dealer, especially if they ever feel half-hearted at the thought of such competition. The skeleton of the story is in the current trade papers, but not what it may mean to you. A large mail order house approached a rather new talking machine company, offering them a most tempting order. It meant a great deal to a new house to get it. But the price! Ten dollars apiece! What were the mail house people going to sell them for? Well, that really did not, should not, enter into this end of the business deal, you know, but they were to sell for thirty-seven dollars apiece what they paid ten dollars for. The deal failed in this particular instance. Looking at it from the customer-buying end of the horn how much of thirty-seven dollars' worth of value could a manufacturer put into a machine selling for ten dollars, not to speak of the squeak of a tone all its own? And yet some talk mail order "competition." The real salesman, when he has a proposition so readily apparent and provable as Edison superiority, just delights in competition. It adds zest to the race and makes the sale the more quickly. The actual tone of the Amberola has more salesmanship than any salesman. Once heard — especially in competition— it proves itself, speaks volumes for itself in its own unanswerable way. A CONTEST TO PROFIT BY MR. W. D. WILMOT, who has the Edison agency in Fall River, Mass., realizes what it is worth to him to get an Edison Phonograph into the public schools, and conducted an interesting contest in connection with it that can be followed with profit by other dealers. He arranged with a local newspaper to carry a coupon, which was to be clipped and used for a vote. Each school strove to secure the most votes. The one who did come out on top of the vote pile was to get an Edison Phonograph. Naturally the newspaper was glad to enter into this, as it meant the selling of more newspapers. Mr. Wilmot gave a $250 Diamond Disc to the winning school. This plan can be applied, however, to the Edison Diamond Amberola. In fact, it is capable of more general application, because but few dealers likely would feel that they could give away so expensive a machine as a Diamond Disc for advertising purposes. Great interest was stirred up among Fall River children over the contest. As parents do, they took as much interest in their children's interest as the children themselves. Everybody in town was talking about Wilmot's generosity. Where could so fine advertising be secured for any price? The day of the contest's close came. Also came a surprise that put "punch" into a fine idea and showed what a far-seeing merchant is Mr. Wilmot. He had announced but one prize. But he thought that he had profited so much by the publicity he could afford to be extra generous. To the public he stated that they had taken so spirited an interest that he wished to show his appreciation. He gave