Radio today (Sept 1935-Dec 1936)

good-will, customers become the greatest asset that any business can have. With these thoughts in mind, there will occur to you dozens of things that you can do to make friends. The things you would like to have others do to and for you are the things to do for others. Think of them, then do them. They all pay dividends. Make friends Sales promotion is making customers. Making friends is sales promotion. You cannot forget that there are other years coming, and next year you will have to beat 1935. Our industry is very definitely settling down, and the future will find it governed by the same principles as are all other businesses. In preparing for future years I know of no better method than always satisfying the customer. Do not try to measure the effectiveness of everything you do by the immediate sales response, for you are dealing now with a virtual necessity, and in a long-range replacement market. Your primary purpose now is to keep the business coming, and keep making friends. You may be sure that every owner of a radio will sooner or later buy a new one. Try then to keep your name very favorably before all the people, so that when they do decide to buy a new radio, they will subconsciously think of you first. The importance of this policy is much greater than is first apparent. Long-range psychology has a powerful sales impact. Look ahead Remember that a customer soon forgets what she paid, but long remembers what she got. And so make every effort to sell the better radio, insist upon the best installation you can make, and give the very best service you are capable of. The customer must be satisfied. Purchasers of new radio are going to talk about them, and if you give the customer something to be proud of and happy with you may be sure that others will know about it. It is probable that your own previous sales represent but a small proportion of the local population, and you must therefore go after new customers as well as actively cultivate your old ones. Newspaper advertising if consistent, is always good but is apt to be too expensive for the small dealer unless carefully planned. Co-ordinated advertising and window displays can be very effective and within the reach of every dealer. Repetition does make reputation. You can and should use small space in every issue of your local paper. One column by 40 to 60 lines is sufficient. Try also to arrange with your local movies for the use of their sound equipment for two or three minutes each show. Make an appropriate announcement and then put on a foreign program. How much for trade-ins Since you are now definitely in a replacement market, you cannot escape the trade-ins which customers will invariably want. It is important that you work out a policy that is sound economically, fair to you, and interesting to your customers. A concrete suggestion that has produced the desired results is this : From the original list price of the customer's set deduct 40 per cent each year, and make the difference between that and the original price your allowance; except that the allowance shall be not more than 25 per cent of the price of the radio purchased, and the allowance Photo by Ewituj Galloway on a set more than two years old about 10 per cent of the original price. Sure-fire offer And now, just one sure-fire sales producer. Make a special trade-in offer from time to time on just one make of radio. Offer 25 per cent for all radios of the selected models, FOR TEN DAYS ONLY. Pick the very popular sets of a few years ago : Majestic, Atwater Kent, Crosley, Fada, etc., but take only one at a time, and make your offer at least 10 per cent better than your regular trade-in proposition. The owners of the selected sets will feel they have been singled out for an especial proposition. If you have any particular condition or problem in merchandising or operation, send as much information as you can to Radio Today, and your problems will be answered to the best of our ability from many years' practical and successful experience. Tell us, too, how you have licked the conditions that have faced you, so that, as a clearing house, we may pass the practical information along to someone else who needs your help. November, 1935 11