Salesmanship Important In Post-War Music Operating
Everyone in the Coin-Controlled Music Bus{ness "Mllst Be A Salesman to Be Successful And In Ih fJ Post-War Era
Salesmanship in the Automatic Music Field Will Be More Impo ~tant Than It Has Ever Been Before
~.Y W . E. SIMMONS
E DITOR'S NOTE-These are in d i-
ca tion s a lso tha t m a n y n ew fi r ms will
en ter the Coin M achin e Industry a f ter
the wa r f o r in the p ast three m o nths
we h aye r eceived an unusu a lly large
n umber of r e quests f or infor mation
a nd m e r ch a n d ising d a ta o n o ur Indus-
try fro m fi rms in a ll p a rts of the n a -
t io n . )
VERY factory representative, every dis·
tributor and his salesmen, every service
man, every operator, every routeman and
his servicemen are salesmen and are going
to find it to their decided advantage to
apply in post-war days, more than ever be-
fore, the sound understanding of the prin-
ciples of selling.
Only by apjJlying sound principles will
permanent success be obtained. High-pres-
sure, trick methods may bring momentary
success; but in the long run, they will fail
because no salesman will build up a healthy
repeat b usiness on the basis of unfair deal-
ings in the world of tomorrow. Postwar
keen competition, whipped to a fa ster pace
in future years than in the past due to the
added precision machinery used in war-
time products by our manufacturing com-
panies today, will force the vast selling
field to the realization that only on the
basis of scientific knowledge and sound
planning can they hope for ma terial suc-
cess.
In no phase of th is business is planning
more needed than in sell ing. It is going
to be necessary to lay plans of what to buy
as well as what to sell and where and how
it should be sold. These questions can be
decided more correctly if sales executives
have knowledge of the operators' needs
and the operators make a careful survey of
locations and their needs. The profession
of selling is rapidly developing a code of
ethics to govern the relationship of mem-
bers of the profession with one another and
with the public.
Those in the profession of the co in-con-
trolled music in post-war days must have
more knowledge of their business and how
to sell their product and how to satisfy
locations and how to render service than
when their businesses were comparatively
small and more simple and when one man
could oversee all of the operations.
There wilf be one good scientific way of
meeting tomorrow's problems in this fast
growing business and that is through the
profession of knowledge which is both us-
able and which is used. This knowledge
should be principall y of two types- first,
knowledge of business generally and its re-
lationship to the public ; secondly, knowl-
edge of our own business and relationshi p
to other businesses. This knowledge in
both cases should consist both of princi pIe
and of fact. The head of every business
or those in charge of large operations must
look to the organization of operators, serv-
ice staff, and personnel-all of which are
salesmen first, last and all the time-since
he will no longer through expansion over'
see in detail the extent of direction of his
fast-growing business. He must be pre-
pared to change and adjust his organiza.
tion and operations to meet changing con-
ditions and the work which must be done.
This will require intensive training on th e
E
W. E. Simmons
part of all employees and full knowledge
of the b usiness in every phase by those
in charge in order to direct the proper
t'l"ain ing of those who work wi th them.
Closer cooperation between manufactur-
er, distributor, operator, and man ufactur-
er's representative will prevail in post-war
days to a greater extent than ever in .the
past. Operators who operate their busi-
nesses along cooperative post-war lines will
have I ittle difficulty in securing credi t if
needed. Distributors, seasoned in the busi-
ness with proper display rooms and serv-
ice departmen ts, will h ave the privilege of
Aoorplan finance if needed. However, a
greater number of the distributors today
will not need such a plan. The coin·oper-
trolled music business has fast gotten out
of the woods in the past few years. The in-
dustry has grown into a real business and
must be conducted as such.
My predic tion is th a t a ll manufac-
ture r s in th e p ast of coin-controll ed
mu sic ins trume nts will b e b ack in
the business after the war with fin er
a nd b e tte r e quipme nt f o r the ope r a t-
ors tha n they have ever had b e fore .
The fi r st year 's production natura lly
will b e limite d. The r e will b e a n ex-
tre m e shortage a nd a tremendou s d e -
m a nd. The second year manufac ture r s
will b egin to get into produ ction. R e -
gardless of the number of manufac-
ture r s of musical instrume nts with in -
cr eased high-sp eed productio n Ilnd
p r ecision machinery, it will b e a t le a st
the third year b efore o p e r a tors will b e
able to go to the ir di stributor a nd get
imme dia te d e livery of m e r ch a ndi se he
wants and nee d s b ecau se the r e will b e
a m a terial sh o rtage a t least into the
second year d ue to more essentia l
products ta ki n g prio rity, su ch as
stoves, r e fri gerators, all typ es of house-
h o ld essentials, f arm m achinery, e tc.
This will g ive the o p er a tor time to
grow into thi s post-war business o n a
san e, sen sible scale witho ut fea r o f
hayin g the m e r ch and ise h e n eed s come
too f ast . B y the time the f actories get
into full produc tio n , the operator will
b e in a p osition to h a ndle the increased
pro duc tion and exp a nd in k eeping with
g ood business.
Through the experience of distribu tors
and operators in the past, future work
will be accomplished with much less red
tape and confusion because of this knowl-
edge ga ined over a period of years. Dis-
tributors, operators, and service men will
not find it necessary to do a lot of unnec-
essary things. He won't be doubling back
on his tracks making mis takes which have
proven to be mistak es in the past.
Everyone connected with the coin-con-
troll ed music business will be more effi-
cient. T he universal marks of efficiency
are brevity, compactness, speed, and u til-
ity. By applying all of these, the useful-
ness of our work and products will make
possible the reduction in time and cost of
operation; consequently, a better balance
sheet.
Every business of th e futu re operated on
an efficient business-like basis applying the
true principles of good salesmanship will
be much more successful. T hose who pre-
fer to bring into th e business of tomorrow
some of the trickery and h ot air of yester-
day will be less successful. Trickery and
hot air will not mix with efficiency and
good, sound salesmanship. One destroys
the other. Everyone in the business, of
course, has hi's choice, but he cannot have
both and meet tomorrow's better business
policies.
P ut the following sales ethics in your
code book for tomorrow-honesty, charac-
ter, ability, self-co nfidence, conservative-
ness (non-exaggera tion), efficiency, and
perseverance. Score yourself today. Prac-
tice these qualities now and be prepared
for the business of tomorrow.
"So your husband's in the Army now,
Mrs. Brown?"
"Yes, they've made him a gunner, an'
that's what he's been ever since I married
h im!"
"Always been a gunner? "
"Yes, ever since I knew him he's been
'gunner" do this' and 'gunner do that,' but
he never did anyth ing worth while!"
Music Roule For Sole
One of the best Music Routes in
Southern California. Established
nine years. Now paying net profit
of over $12,000.00 per year. 90 %
of our locations are in one sec-
tion 'of Los Angeles. Saves rubber
and gas. Good service man goes
with the business.
Price: $16,000.00
BOX 520
THE COIN MACHINE
REVIEW
1115 Venice Blvd . , Los Angeles 15 , Calif:
Mention of THE COIN MACHINE REVIEW is your best introduction to our advertisers
COIN
MACHINE
REVIEW
33
FOR
SEPTEMBER'
1943