The talking machine world (Jan-June 1925)

20 THE TALKING MACHINE WORLD June 15, 1925 Radio Selling Era Replaces Order Taking Lazy Man's Methods Will Not Sell Radio, Says Pierre Boucheron, Manager of Advertising and Publicity, Radio Corp. of America I have just returned from a business trip covering twenty-six trading centers, stretching from Atlanta to Boston and from New York to Chicago. I spoke to a great number of distributors and retailers who complained that radio sales were falling off, that the radio season was about ended, that they would cease sales effort until the Fall, that saturation had almost been reached; — fallacious, and spineless excuses. Merchandising "Joy Ride" Is Over The truth of the matter is that the average radio retailer has simply been riding upon a great wave of popular demand. He has made very little selling effort; it has not been necessary up to now. People have flocked to the stores, literally begging to be allowed to spend their money for a radio set — any kind of radio set so long as it would "bring entertainment out of the air" to them. True, some retailers have advertised, have dressed their windows, have sent out circulars, have even canvassed; but it all has been more or less spasmodic. When they advertised once and did not see a more than usual rush of customers the next day, they have declared advertising ineffective and have promptly abandoned it. For the past three years radio has seen a seller's market. The seller has had it all his way. In short it has been one grand merchandising joy-ride, and now that the retailer notices a slackening demand he is willing to ascribe it to any number of convenient, "lazy man's" reasons. Some Thought-Provoking Facts Here are the facts, however. It is estimated by industrial experts that to-day there are in round numbers about 4,000,000 receivers in use throughout the United States. This means that about the same number of families are now enjoying the benefits of radio. Since there are about 24,000,000 families, it is certainly reasonable to expect that at least another 6,000,000 sets can be sold without a great deal of sales effort. This leaves us 14,000,000 families who may not be such good prospects, either because they have no money or because they are not within easy reception range of a good broadcasting station. These millions are prospects, nevertheless, as I shall point out. Three Classes of Prospects While on the subject of prospects it may be well to place them in three classes; first line, second line and third line prospects. The first line prospects for a radio set are the well-to-do, the progressive middle class, the average family which has the necessary money but so far has, for some reason or other, not felt the urge to own a radio set. After all the sales publicity given to radio it is hard to realize that many such desirable prospects exist, but the fact remains that there are hundreds of thousands of them. In this great class are those whose life is so filled up, socially and otherwise, that radio has not seemed of compelling interest. There are those who are "sold" on radio but who, up to now, have not decided upon the particular kind of set to buy. This Interesting facts presented in the accompanying article indicate that a rich field for sales awaits development by retailers who really sell radio. The day of the order taker is past and now salesmanship is the crying need in merchandising radio. Mr. Boucheron points out that talk of saturation is ridiculous and he backs up this reasoning by an analysis of sales possibilities which should prove illuminating and encouraging to the retail trade. He outlines the various types of prospects, three in number, and gives other data which show clearly the present-day conditions in the radio retail field and that the reasoning which causes dealers to relax their efforts is fallacious and an alibi for inaction. type of prospect is probably the easiest to sell; the thing for the retailer to do is to find out who and where they are and begin circularizing or calling upon them — canvassing. Generally, the first line prospect is one who has the money, vaguely wants a radio set, is in the market for a $100 to $500 set and will buy if properly approached. The second line prospects are those who already have some sort of radio set which may be anything from a simple crystal set to a 3-tube home-made affair giving more or less satisfactory service. Owners of single tube sets now want amplifying units for loud speaker results. They need, of necessity, three tube receivers for adequate loudspeaker operation. The tinkerer who formerly made his own is now satisfied that he will never become a second Marconi or Armstrong; he is through with tinkering and now wants all that broadcasting service offers him and his family. In short, he is in the market for a reliable, factory-built receiver incorporated in a good-looking piece of furniture. The second line prospect is -of course not as good a prospect as the first group but he is nevertheless a very fair target for the retailer. This man must be handled intelligently, as he thinks he now knows all about radio. In this class also we may consider the countless number of newlyweds who start housekeeping each year. It is these second line prospects who prove the fallacy of saturation. With the great universal appeal of radio, it is safe to assume that there will always be a popular demand for receivers, that radio is not going to stand still, that refinements will come from time to time in the way of better reproduction, economy of operation and simplicity. This is a progressive age and even though an individual has bought the latest loop receiver of to-day, he is likely to be in the market for the receiver of two years hence, even though it embody nothing different from the present type except a new cabinet. The utter fallacy of saturation was brought home to me recently in a special investigation we made to determine what cycle other industries went through after the first great rush of popular demand had subsided. First, of course, there was readjustment. The get-rich-quick artists and the patent infringers were shortly eliminated by economic pressure, leaving the well-financed, well-managed, sound organizations to carry on. Thus to-day, I am told, more bicycles, sewing machines, pianos and other rather prosaic products are sold than in the first bloom of their appearance on the market. The difference lies in the fact that these items are an accepted every-day need or requirement, and no special romance or imagination is required to visualize ownership or to thrill the novelty seeker. They, therefore, enjoy no natural publicity, the papers have no front page yarns about them, no one talks about them in smokers, clubs or drawing rooms. The third line prospects constitute by far the great majority. They for the most part are the wage earners, the lower strata of the middle class, the poor people who have little money for luxuries or entertainment. Price here is an important factor. It is not every member of this class who has $100 or more to lay out for a radio set — at least to-day. But it is well for the far-sighted merchant to watch this class very closely for the following reasons: First, they are by far the majority; there are more of these prospects than in class one and two combined, and because of their numbers they are much easier to reach through newspapers and other advertising media. Second, while they may not have the money to-day, they will have it in time. Quantity production is bringing list prices down within pur(Continued on page 22) Wuebben Record Albums are indestructible They are manufactured on methods of construction which are protected by the Patent Laws. It is impossible for the records to drop out. Ask for our illustrated prospectuses and price lists Wuebben Gesellschaf t, m. b. EL, Kochstrasse 60, Berlin SW. 68