The talking machine world (Jan-June 1928)

Selling LatinAmerican Field Successfully Ability to Talk Spanish and Quality Line Necessary By John Lilienthal Columbia Foreign Sales Representative A FIRST class salesman in the United States may be a complete failure when it comes to selling Latin America. The people south of the Rio Grande differ greatly from those of North America. It is not only the language, but race, tradition and sentiment which vary greatly from ours. A successful salesman in Latin America first of all must be able to talk Spanish and correctly interpret the true Latin traits; these are prerequisites that are necessary. The old idea that anything is good enough for export, fortunately, is a thing of the past and earnest efforts have been made and are being made to get an outlet for our surplus manufactured goods. There are a number of American products that have conquered the Latin American markets, one of them being phonographs and records for which there is an excellent market in these countries. Hard Road to Travel With a view to studying and developing our Central and South American markets, I left New York the middle of May, 1927, and have just returned after an absence of ten months. I have traveled thousands of miles by steamer, river boats, railroad, automobile, motorcycle, horseback and cable lines, and have been in treacherous climates, where one had to use the utmost precaution regarding food, insects and animals. There were times when I had conferences with artists and distributors lasting well into the night, and at 5 o'clock in the morning I had to be in the saddle again. The hardships were indeed severe at times. When I left New York, I was absolutely convinced of the high quality of the Columbia products, but to-day, after having visited dealers and distributors in some fifty South and Central American cities, I can point with pride to the actual success of Viva-tonal Columbias and New Process records. When I say that business has increased 350 to 400 per cent, I am making a conservative statement. But, why is it that Columbia can register such increase in business? In the first place it is the good old name Columbia that is known in all corners of the world as one of the pioneers in the talking machine industry. Quality products such as Viva-tonal Columbias and electrically recorded Columbia records are quickly recognized by the critical eyes and ears of the Latin Americans, and it may be of interest for me to cite a few examples of how I secured attention and eventually closed important deals. Selecting a Distributor In one market I wanted a new distributor. After having made inquiries and having secured satisfactory information, I picked out my man, and in my mind he was already added to the long list of distributors and dealers, but the prospect did not know anything about it as yet. I arranged for an interview with the proprietor of the firm I had selected, which was gladly granted. In the corner of the store was an old horn machine and a young lady was selling ten records a day, or, when business was good, fifteen. I wanted to make a distributor out of this very firm, but had to sell my idea, and proceeded at once. I found out that after the John Lilienthal moving picture theatre closed, most of the people went to an ice cream parlor; I therefore secured permission from the owner of this place to put one of our Viva-tonal machines there, and one evening played until 1:30 in the morning. The people stayed longer than usual and wanted to know where they could buy the Vivatonal Columbia and New Process Columbia records. I directed them to the store of my prospective distributor where the Viva-tonal replaced the old horn machine. More people were attracted. I explained our products to clients, and within a few days had orders for six Viva-tonal machines. The head of the firm became more and more interested, and, at the right moment, I secured a large order and appointed the firm Columbia distributors. To-day this firm is buying thousands of dollars worth of Columbia products, and has grown to be an active and important Columbia distributor. I have gained another friend, and to-day the head of that firm is not only a business but also a personal friend. A Concert in the Interior Way in the interior, in one of the South American cities, I aroused enthusiasm among music lovers by arranging a concert with the Model 810 Viva-tonal. I knew that our distributors were interested and liked our line, but I wanted to bring their enthusiasm to the highest pitch. Through friendly relations, I secured a hall for a concert, sent out eighty printed invitations to people of high society and was pleasantly surprised by an attendance of 130 people. I had arranged a select program, and before starting the concert addressed the audience in Spanish. The concert was a complete success and the press eulogized it as unique and highly praised the Columbia product. What I had planned, namely, to convince the musicloving public of the superiority of Viva-tonal Columbia phonographs and records, was fully realized — because, for days after the concert, the store of our distributor was actually stormed for Columbia goods. The personnel was inefficient to attend to all the customers, so I pitched into the work and for two days I was selling records over the counter. These days were the biggest selling days in the history of this distributor, and lie has been selling Columbia for many years. To-day these distributors are doing a voluminous business and they are 100 per cent Columbia enthusiasts. Comparison Demonstration Wins Sale In another market, I was present when a customer came to the store of our distributor; he had a machine and records of a competitive company. We began to talk about Viva-tonal Columbia and New Process records, and I explained the advantages of the Columbia products, demonstrated the goods, and could see that he began to be interested, but the fact that he had another machine in his home seemed to be the stumbling-block in the way of making a new sale. Just the same I offered to send a Viva-tonal to his home so that he could hear it alongside of his own machine. Our distributor went along with this prospective customer, taking with him a good assortment of Columbia records so that this prospect could convince himself of the superiority of our goods. This man was convinced immediately, bought the Viva-tonal, a good supply of records, and broke up the greater part of his (Continued on page 19) VAN VEEN SOUND-PROOF BOOTHS and tvIUSIC STORE EQUIPMENT Write VAN VEEN & COMPANY, Inc., :-: :-: 313-315 East 31st Street, New York City 16