May, 1931
A u to m a tic A ge
173
AND THE GREATEST OF THESE IS Q U A L IT Y
One of America’s keenest merchandisers
once said “ A quality article has everything
in its favor, including the price.” As this
statement was made several years ago, you
may be sure that the gentleman in ques
tion had no connection with "Automatic
merchandising” for no business has so con
sistently ignored the value—nay, the abso
lute necessity, of quality, as has the
automatic field.
Quality is the strongest backing any
salesman can have, and this is particularly
true of the mechanical salesman. The coin
operated machine has no glib tongue to sell
persuasively an unknown article. The mer
chandise must speak for itself with the
strong, silent voice of unquestioned quality.
And this quality must go beyond the
merchandise. A grimy, dirty vending unit
18 just as distasteful to the customer as a
clerk with unclean linen and soiled hands.
In the same way a mechanical unit, whose
quality of design and construction is so
Poor and defective that it will accept coins
without delivering any merchandise In re
turn, can only make enemies for the ma
chine, the product, the operator and the
industry.
The quality of service given the auto
matic vending unit can bring success or
failure to the operator. As any service
Plan that permits unshaven, disheveled
service men, with soiled hands, to drive up
ln a dirty can and place carelessly packed
merchandise in the vending unit will
eventually lose locations for the operator—
m just the same degree will a correction
these matters bring success.
And as a service program which insures
the fresh quality of the merchandise will
build customer confidence and good will, in
the same manner will stale merchandise
destroy it.
It is an unfortunate fact that until the
last few years the business practices of
nearly every operator of automatic ma
chines have been consistently tearing down
Public confidence in the coin-operated ma
chine, and in the industry which the
machine represents. Every operator and
manufacturer should welcome the about-
face taken by the leaders in the automatic
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merchandising field—who are rapidly mak
ing their business conform to the highest
standards of conduct. Many small oper
ators and manufacturers view with alarm
the rapid expansion of their more success
ful brothers, who have already adopted
these new principles. They are afraid that
the larger companies will rapidly force the
small operator and manufacturer out of
business.
This is true only if the small company
attempts to cany on its business with obso
lete methods. But, if the small business
will develop its own ideas and plans along
the lines of the sound principles which have
proved successful for the larger companies,
it in turn will enjoy a new measure of
prosperity and success. And in this way
the small company can do its part in aiding
the industry as a whole.
The more progressive operators, how
ever, have stated that they feel the in
dustry is indebted to the generosity of such
firms as the Automatic Canteen Company
of America for the assistance that has been
rendered every operator and manufacturer
in the automatic merchandising field. From
the commencement, this great company has
pursued only the most conservative policies,
and with the same high honesty of purpose
as brought success to every big enterprise.
If you will turn the pages of history
of any major industry, you will find some
pioneer individual or company unselfishly
working for the common weal. And like
those hardy pioneers of earlier days, who
laid the foundations for this great country,
so will you find the industrial pioneer
wielding the hatchet of experiment to
blaze a trail of knowledge through the
forest of question marks that surround
every industry in its early stages.
As Edison brought the electric light to
the world, and the Companies bearing his
name blazed the trail for the present day
power and light companies—as Marconi
conceived the wireless, and the Radio Cor
poration of America pioneered the gigantic
radio industry—as Ford paved the way in
the automotive field, so has the Canteen
Company whole-heartedly given the in
dustry the benefit of its experience, with
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