The Edison phonograph monthly (Jan-Dec 1916)

EDISON PHONOGRAPH MONTHLY, SEPTEMBER, 1916 IRVING H. KLEIN— BUSINESS BUILDER IRVING H. KLEIN is the active manager of the R. H. Bach Piano Company, Amberola dealers in Faribault, Minn., and is largely responsible for the success that concern has had with the Amberola line. The R. H. Bach Company commenced to deal in the Edison Amberola about a year ago, and to-day it is doing an extensive and profitable phonograph business. The Editor of the Phonograph Monthly recently sent a letter to Mr. Klein, requesting information Irving H. Klein, active manager of the R. H. Bach Piano Company, Amberola dealers at Faribault, Minn. Mr. Klein is standing beside the six-cylinder automobile ■ used for delivering Diamond Amberolas to purchasers and for home demonstrations. Instruments and records are carried in a box body on the rear of the auto. concerning the progress made by his company during their first year of experience with the Amberola. The reply came back so promptly that, before we opened it, we knew that business was not lagging with the R. H. Bach Company. Business never lags where those in charge of it are not laggers. The impression of business efficiency gained by the prompt arrival of Mr. Klein's letter was not in the least diminished by the contents of it. In the first paragraph of the letter we were informed that the record business of the concern is on the increase and that each day this year more Blue Amberols are being sold than on the corresponding day last year. Further evidence of efficiency is the fact that Mr. Klein keeps constantly informed regarding the details of his business. He knows what his sales were a year ago and what they should be this year. Nothing is left to chance. The letter further informed us that the R. H. Bach Company believes in advertising and does advertise. The members of the company have the courage of their convictions. "We are running an ad in the daily and one in the weekly newspapers the year around of the style 30 Amberola," states the letter of Mr. Klein, "and have sent out, on two occasions, advertising matter to every family in the county." While no money that is spent on advertising can be counted as entirely wasted, it is not the occasional ad that pays the highest returns. It is steady, consistent and persistent advertising — the advertising that is done every day and every week — that pays. It is persistent publicity that stirs up interest, brings in prospects and profits. The R. H. Bach Company not only have the goods to deliver but are ideally equipped to deliver the goods. The concern maintains a six-cylinder automobile upon which at least a half dozen instruments can be carried. This not only facilitates deliveries, but it opens up the way for many demonstrations. And it adds a certain distinction to the concern — a distinction and prestige that are good advertising in themselves. The sound business policies of the company recently made an expansion necessary, and last month new and larger quarters were secured and a new era of prosperity entered on. That the future of the concern will be marked by the greatest success can be doubted by no one who has the slightest insight into the elements of mercantile success. The R. H. Bach Company is a splendid example of the live Amberola dealers who are enjoying a constantly increasing and profitable business. NEW AMBEROLA DEALERS THE monthly lists of new dealers who secure franchises to deal in the Amberola line contain a goodly percentage of Edison Disc dealers who have found that their line is not complete without the Diamond Amberola and Blue Amberol records. Many Edison Disc dealers constantly are meeting with requests for Blue Amberol records and for demonstrations of Diamond Amberola instruments. An Edison store is the logical place for the owner of an Amberola to go to purchase records, and no merchant likes to disappoint a person who offers him patronage. It often happens that the prospective purchaser of a phonograph cannot afford to pay the price of an Edison Disc instrument, and, desiring an Edison instrument, would buy an Amberola rather than a disc talking machine. So, an insistent demand for Amberola instruments and Blue Amberol records is responsible for the accession of a large number of Edison Disc dealers to the ranks of Amberola dealers. During the past month thirty-two dealers secured franchises permitting them to handle the Amberola line. Fourteen of these were granted to Disc dealers; nine of them to exclusively Amberola dealers, and eight of them to combination dealers.