Sales mean Service

Radio Record, Volume IV, Issue 23, 19 December 1930, Page 1

Sales mean Service

American Methods Sor New Zealand Market .

OMING direct from one: of the ~ largest American radio manufacturing concerns, Mr. G. J. Menon had some interesting observations to make when we were talking with him:a few days ago. In the States radio..is conducted on colossal lines. Only recently we published figures that. showed that almost one person in every. two had a set, ‘and this great development has taken in the course of five or six years.

ii the earlier days of radio, Mr. Menon told us, a very large number of small dealers sprang up. In some cases they knew a great deal about radio, in others very little. "But when -the American public took radio to heart it became not only a selling.

proposition but, to use their own expression, "the set must be kept sold." . This means that every big radio organisation must keep an efficient service organisation, so that the customer is satisfied not only the week he buys his set but so long as.he owns one. Radio has become such an advanced science that only a relatively small number can concentrate on the technique necessary to keep a set in successful operation. It is recognised that no-longer can the amateur or the self-trained, halfqualified service-man keep a set: operating satisfactorily. "THE industry. has realised, too that. valve replacements and other minor adjustments must be made regularly, and the only way to do this is to have an organisation that is not only properly organised but has attached to it properly equipped and skilled. men. When a consumer buys a receiver, facilities are arranged whereby he can contact the factory directly he experiences trouble. They immediately communicate with their nearest: outit channel and a service-man is @ickly upon the scene. It was to organise: the New Zealand branch of his business on these lines that Mr. Menon came to this country. Distribution in America is on altogether different lines from what it is here. It may or it may not be known that electricity is supplied, not through public bodies, such as power boards, but through private and often competing companies. In order to invite consumers to use more electricity, large showrooms and retail business¢és are opened. Everything from refrigerators and .radios down to-coffee perco-

lators are sold by these companies. They, too, maintain a staff who can readily be called upon to keep the device in working order. Furthermore, as far as radios are concerned, they maintain one very highly-paid — technician whose duty it is to take new receivers, pull them to pieces, and bring out an extensive report. This report is then placed before the directors, who decide whether the line will be marketed. These big

companies can then be relied: upon to sell only first-grade radios, and once they are sold, to keep them working. In this manner . many of the problems that are troubling: New Zealanders at the present time are overcome. The cost of receivers is, of.

‘course, very much lower in America than it is here. The set for which we have to pay £49 can be bought in the States for just over £20. This can be accounted for by the fact that the import duty is about 50 per cent. "Still," added Mr. Menon, "the American public has to be " ‘sold.’ It is as hard to sell one of these £20 sets as it is one of the more highly-priced combinations." This remark raised a further query concerning American sales methods, and we learned that a _ short time ago a man would go into a store wanting a pair of socks and come out with a pair of shoes that he did not want. "The Yankees are beginning to realise that this is not good business. That man is a lost. customer, and now the idea is to sell a man what he wants and keep him satisfied." Tremendous sums are spent on advertising. On a rough estimate £2/10/- is required in this field alone to sell every radio set. "It comes to us over the air, through the newspapers, on hoardings, and everywhere you can think of," added Mr. Menon. W HICH remark, of course, readers can imagine, raiséd the old question of advertising over the air. "What really do you think of advertising ovet the air?" we asked. "T don’t like it, It is nauseating. The bigger companies are beginning to realise this, and advertising now goes over very subtly and there is very little of it. We call these programmes ‘sponsored’ and they are very well received. Without some system stich as this it would be quite impossible to maintain a high programme standard. (Continued on page 2.)

Sales and Service (Continued from Page 1.) We not infrequently hear, Stokowski {conductor of the Philadelphia Orchestra), and his broadcasts are worth 2000 dollars (£400) a minute, so you can quite readily understand how. the advertising cost of each receiver is taken up. Direct advertising is tolerated by certain sections of the community, but the middle and ‘upper classes simply refuse to have ‘it coming direct. In some of the ‘smaller local stations it is greatly in evidence, but on the bigger chains direct. advertising has almost disappeared. were surprised to learn--that many families have two and three sets. Of course it is more or less understood when they cost only £20 a-piece and that the time-payment system has a strong hold in the States. "Tt is not uncommon to go into .some of these larger households," said Mr. Menon, "and hear the daughter listen‘ing to jazz, the son to a ball game, and the old people to some old-time songs." . Selectivity Problems. -[N the States there are some 500 broad- * easting stations, and some of these are on tremendous power. One wonders that any programme can be heard with this terrible maze, but it appears _that in ‘all but a few ill-favoured loea.tions a wide range and variety of stations can be tuned in. With this large ‘number of stations many must: operate on the same frequency at the same time, but these stations are scattered right round the Continent, so that only. in a very few locations do two stations on the same wavelength clash to make un incomprehensible burble. Bach station, or group. of stations, niust be separated by 10 kilocycles, and this means that the modern set must he eapable of a 10 kilocycle separation, Jt also means that the broadcasting sta"tion must be very sharply tuned. "It "ig, remarkable," added our guest, "how sharply these stations send out their ‘earriers. A 50 kilowatt station’ can ye made to disappear with surprising rapidity and shock areas are very restricted. Imagine the chaos if you had two or three local stations that were ,not sharply tuned. Of course, all the big stations are crystal controlled." Talking of selectivity and receivers raised the question of next year’s set. The super-heterodyne, said Mr. Menon, had been introduced mainly on account. of the selectivity problem. He was not prepared to say whether it was going to be a general characteristic of next year’s model or not. "Just at present the manufacturers are sitting on the fence, and they do not know. which

way to jump," he remarked. The midget: sets are another problem that most manufacturers are considering. Their future also is somewhat in doubt. : The Loftin-White. BENG interested in the LoftinWhite, we asked if it was being absorbed into any of the new models. We were told that almost without exception it was not. There are certain drawbacks to the use of that amplifier. In the first place, the royalties are very high; secondly the wonderfully pure tone that it gave cannot fully be appreciated by people who clamoured for bass and heavier reproduction; -and, thirdly, manufacturers consider that the life of the 45 or 50 valve will be much shorter than if used in the average set. The bias of the output valve is dependent upon the plate current of the secreen-grid valve, and as this takes some time to warm up there is a period when the bias of the output valve is not present. Talking of new season’s models also raised the question of tone control. It was introduced many years ago in a different form to whatit is now, and it has been reintroduced only because the public clamour to have a means whereby they can spoil their reproduction. Tone control only provides a method of cutting off the high frequency. A set with a good audio receiver will reproduce a range from 5000 or 6000 down to 50 or less. When a tone control is added a means for cutting off all frequencies above 3000 is also provided. However, by: cutting off the

litgh: frequencies one. is also able to cutout a great deal of the electrical. interference, which is generally just _above 3000.’ It is for this reason that the set with the heavier bass reproduces less noise than does a set with an even response.* ~ "In*the States’ the interference question is‘acute. There are so many electrical gadgets, and the country is so well ‘reticulated with electricity, that the only solution which is available is to increase the power of the stations on one hand and by-pass the noise on the other. The former increases the difliculty of the selectivity problem and the latter provides a means for ruining the tone; ""So you can quite readily imagine ‘that radio in America is somewhat‘ at:a deadlock," remarked Mr. Menon: ‘Arrangements have been made for three’ or four stations to come on the air with 100: kilowatts of power, and these should be heard in New Zealand quite well. "Generally speaking, there will be very little alteration in the 1931 models. They will-have only a few extra refinements, and probably the cabinets will be somewhat smaller, but I cannot foresee any big sweeping change," he added. Highly-trained Staffs. GPEAKIN G of the progress radio has made, Mr. Menon pointed out that there is really every facility for advancement. "The big concerns maintain several laboratories with their staffs working almost in competition. When a model is produced the directors give it every consideration from the mar. keting point of view, and,,only the best are selected. _This means that every refinement possible is added to a set. For this reason it seems as though radio will settle down to be a business of three or four huge concerns, who wil] monopolise the market. It seems as though the day of the small man, both in production and in distribution, is rapidly drawing to a close. The Battery Set. S for the-battery: set, it is still selling, and many of the: big radio manufacturers are still turning out efficient battery modéls. In fact a. complete line, including battery sets, direct ‘current :main: sets, a.c. sets, and ae. combinations: are still being manu-

factured. The out-back settler is in need of radio more than anyone elseand he needs modern radio. The d.c. screen-grid valve, although less complicated than the a.c. model, is not as satisfactory, and d.e, sereen grid jobs are not as popular as are their a.c, successors. "There appears to be in, New Zealand, as in America, a big mitrketfor d.c. battery sets, but the m rm salesman must go out‘and sell th remarked Mr. Menon in conclusion.