With Dealer and Customer

Radio Record, Volume I, Issue 26, 13 January 1928, Page 2

With Dealer and Customer

Getting Together To Solve Radio Selling Problems

_ SOME DISAPPOINTMENTS, Radio traders, in matty instances, reé- | port that business did not come quite up to expectation during the Christamas period. Many ascribe the absence of a real rush of business to the depressing effect of the ‘‘Summertime" Bill, which has deducted an hour from the evening darkness. WINTER BETTER THAN SUMMER. If dealers are disappointed with the volume of business. they did during Christmas, they will gain some satisfaction from the knowledge that, after all, the counter-attractions of the great out-doors militate somewhat against radio during summer-time in other countries. The coming winter, how.ever, is bound to be a record radio season in New Zealand. RADIO "DOCTOR’S" CHANCE. With the growing popularity of radio. and the large number of listeners in the cities, it is now up to some enterprising young radio dealers to organise a radio "‘doctor’s’’? service in each of the four New Zealand centres. Many well-to-do broadcast listeners would welcome a chance to be able to call a radio "doctor" by telephone -at night time to fix up their sets when they unexpectedly develop some trouble which incapacitates them. . DON'T CLOSE AT MIDDAY. Some of the smaller radio traders close their shops during the lunch hour, just when folk are able to get out from their shops and offices to make their purchases. This is not only evidence of lack of enterprise upon the part of the ttader, but it means a loss of business, and the man who does keep open scores. USE GOOD WINDOW CARDS. ' Window cards should be neat, but not too ornate. Their function is to convey information plainly and -directly to the prospective buyer. The cards should not be too small, and the lettering should not require fiecld-glasses to decipher. There is a city radio shop with most elegantly printed cards and almost microscopic lettering upon them. To make matters worse, the cards are placed right away from the front of the window. NEAT WINDOW DISPYAYS. No wise radio trader will clutter his window with a confusion of articles carelessly thrown about. A lot of anything looks cheap. Don’t confuse the buyer with competing lines. Don’t disgust the onlooker by having a dirty window. A layer of dust on displayed goods is the worst thing possible for business. A trader can always display his enterprise and attract business by having his windows frequent--ly rearranged. If, on the other hand, there is a lack of variety in the character of the window display, the impression is soon created that that particular window is always the same, and warrants no attention. WINDOW DISPLAYS FEATURED. Good, sound advice is given by the president of a big American radio com-

pany on the subject of window dis-) ‘plays. He says:-‘At present, aside from the publicity given us by people who haye purchased sets from us and recommend them to their friends, our most yaluable advertising medium is our show window. At the opening of the fall season we have a _ window featuring the joys of radio; prior to the holidays another; and in the spring we suggest it as a much appreciated present for graduates and brides by of an interesting display. Four °' a year, toward the close of each on, we. ammounce a sale, at which time we fill the window with radio equipment specially priced, In this way we keep both quality and price constantly before the public." COLOURS ATTRACT BUSINESS. An American dealer advises fellow radio traders as follows :- "Taking a tip from the colour advertisements which stand out from those in black and white we make it a foint to use colour in ali our window displays. ‘I'o achieve all possible colour effects we take advantage of various lithographed window cards supplied by the manufacturers and use crepe paper hiberally. Colour thus obtained is inexpensive, and has a sales punch that ‘moves merchandise from our shelves. We find that it also pays to have all our ptinting done on coloured paper, the slightly increased cost for the latter being offset by the business it attracts." DON’T URGE DISTANCE NOW. Although tone quality is important in the minds of radio fans, the ability of receiving sets to get distance is always @ very great sales factor. With the public still interested largely in distant stations, many dealers exhibit a tendency to overplay this particular feature. Clear reception can be obtained within a range of, say, from 500 to 1500 miles, but if this range is exceeded, although the set may be capable of much greater distance, natural noises are bound to result. This in turn will make a dissatisfied customer. Therefore, retain distance in the sales talk, but don’t over sell it. The Australian stations are not heard to advantage before 11 p.m. during midsummer. When the autumn sets in, and "daylight saving’"’ goes out, the position will be thuch improved. INSTRUCT YOUR CUSTOMERS. A frequent cause of trouble is the supplying of a special detector valve (like the 200A type) without properly instructing the customer as to its operating characteristics. After hearing a fine demonstration in the store, the putchaser has the receiver installed in his home. He wonders why he did not notice the hissing noise when the set was sold him, and is likely to conclude that the demonstration set is superior to his own. Were customers properly instructed by the dealer as to the wari-ing-up process and correct adjustment ‘of the filament rhcostat, after warming up is over, the customer would: be thankful for the thoughtfulness of the. dealer in supplying him with this superior detector valve. Instead, his first evening of radio entertainment is one of exasperation which ends in a service call, costing the dealer at least 10 shilfings in time.

AVOID DISSATISFACTION, > . , + 8 ° It pays to sell only good-quality radio goods. ‘he receiving set, completely imstalied, should -be considered as a unit, : The dealer sells the complete package; a failure of agy part of it, however, insignificant, means the failure of the .entire equipment. The sale of low-grade valves, accessories or power supply, in order to make a larger profit on the set, is inviting a jater series of service calls which will eat up that profit. A little less expensive set, with high-grade valves, adequate current supply, and a speaker of good quality, means a permanently satisfied customer and a profit which will not be constantly in jeopardy because of the customer’s kicks. TO DEMONSTRATE EFFECTIVELY. A poor quality loudspeaker connected with a poor quality receiving set cannot be expected to give good tone. Using a good loudspeaker with a poor set will fail to give pleasing tone. And a poor loudspeaker operated by a good set will have the same effect. A radio dealer should not attempt to demonstrate without having the best quality in both loudspeakers and set if he sells high-priced equipment. : GOOD SERVICE IMPERATIVE. New York ‘Radio Retailing’ says: "The day is over when any ‘ham’ can build as good a set as a factory-made product, and with this comes the realisation that ng longer ean any young high school boy with a smattering of amateur radio be hired as an efficient service man." It is a plain truth that there are some radio dealers in the Deminion who are quite unable to provide any service for their customers, and as a result there is much dissatisfaction among "buyers. Small troubles which should be easily xectified are neglected. FREE ADVICE AIDS TRADE. A San Francisco radio trader has built up a big business by inducing lis~-’ teuers to come in and obtain free advice about their equipment Printed on all signs used, on all advertising, and on every package which goes out of his shop is the slogan, ‘‘We specialise in furnishing expert advice in your own language, free from puzzling teclinical terms, and without having to buy anything,’"? T’rom 8.80 a.m., when his shop opens, until 6 p.m., when it closes, there is almost a continuous procession of questioners, and his salesmen are busy all the while. A COMMENDABLE PRECAUTION. An enterprising Indiana (U,S,A.) radio salesman always makes a private preliminary test near the house of a prospective buyer with his portable set to ascertain whether there are any discouraging local noises that may mar reception, ‘Then when the salesman is absent to give a demonstration for the prospective buyer he frankly informs the customer if there are any electrical leakages in the vicinity and endeavours to have the cause corrected before giving the demonstration. A CONE HINT. A Connecticut (U.S.A.) radio company suspends large cone loudspeakers horizontally from its shop ceiling fixed up like an electric light fixture. As a result the sound is imore evenly distributed throughout the room, and the reproduction is more faithfn) as there is no gravity side pull of the vibrator ‘pin against the armature. | SALES INTELLIGENCE. It has been found that 15 per cent. of radio service calls are due to the customer misunderstanding or poor in‘struction of the customer by the dealer. A service complaint may be to the effect that the set squeals constantly, while the only attention needed is to have the rheostat turned down. Or, after a month or two, the storage hattery gives out and the customer is surprised to learn that it requires charging. Just why the radio dealer should not lave displayed the ordinary sules intelligence which each such case represents is not clear, but this kind of abuse is so widespread that it is the cause of hundreds of otherwise avoidable service calls. MELBOURNE TRADERS’ GOOD WORK. A. Melbonrne writer says:-'This Christmas very attractive window displays were observable in Melbourne at all the dealers, but the most noticeable improvement over previous years was the excellent behaviour and’ adjustinent of the loudspeakers. Most dealers arrange to have a loudspeaker over the doorway of the establishment, and too frequently in past years these have been the most deplorable expon- | ents of wireless incompetency that 1t was possible to mect. It was only to be expected that when such awful comhinations of misplaced sound were hurled at passers hy that they should wag their heads disparagingly and Temark, ‘Oh! it’s only the wireless!’ and pass by on the other side. "To-day, however, all this is changed, aud the noisiness of a loudspeaker is merely proof of decadence in the dealer, ‘he most reputable firms have learnt to restrain the youthful enthusiasm of inexpert salesmen, who in days of yore could not forbear from tinkering with apparatus that they knew nothing about, ‘The consequence

is that wireless has come more thoroughiy into its own, even as a street musician, In one much frequented Melbourne street there is a bevy of wireless dealers well within coo-ee of each other, and you cannot get out of hearing of one before the others, too, take up the tale and can be heard quite distinctly. In past years the horrid result used to be an excoriation of the aural diaphragm. This Christmas, however, there was actual pleasure to be derived from taking up a strategic position, where all three loudspeakers were to be heard: at once, and with equal volume, and _ it was quite a revelation in good musical reproduction to notice how accurately in unison and uniform in tone the trio were. It was, in fact, .somewhat weird when any speaker or singer was under transmission, and the ~ three identical voices came from . different quarters simultaneously." RADIO AND GRAMOPHONES. New Zealand radio traders should note that there is a lot of business to be done with the electrical pick-up used in connection with a gramophone, a radio set, and a loudspeaker. The advantages of the electrical gramophone’ are many. Apart from the question of tone, the .volume obtainable is only limited by the power of the amplifier and the ability of the loudspeaker to handle it, yet volume control is quite easily arranged. [or dancing and similar purposes this is a great advantage. There is also the advantage that the gramophone and amplifier can be in one room and the loudspeaker in any other. -Those already in possession of a radio set with good andio frequency stages can adapt it so that by a simple switching device either gramophone records or broadcasting can be reproduced at will, Vinally, any old gramophone -will do to operate the electrical portion, providing it has a fairly good motor. Alternatively, if no gramophone is available, it is only necessary to purchase a motor and tone-arm. The radio dealer will appreciate that the introduction of the electrical gramophone opens up to him the possibility of selling, not only the ‘pickup," but amplifiers (or components to build them), valves, batteries, and loudspeakers.