Music Trade Review

Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
MAY
12, 1923
THE
MUSIC
TRADE
REVIEW
Developing the Canvassing Salesman
Problem of Organizing an Effective Canvassing Crew Depends Largely on the Location of the Dealer and
the Clientele to Which He Appeals—Its Different Sides as Affected by the Large City, the Small
Town and the Rural Districts—Obtaining Proper Raw Material and Training It
The problem of organizing an effective can-
vassing crew varies in a considerable measure
with the location of the dealer's store and the
caliber of his competition, not alone in the
piano field but in other lines of trade where can-
vassers are employed.
The larger cities, of course, offer the greatest
difficulty. This is especially true in the better
residential sections where elevator apartment
houses are the rule, for there it is next to im-
possible for the canvasser to secure an audience
with a prospect without laying his cards on the
table and risking a cold turndown.
Many
schemes have been tried for getting past the
guardians in the halls of these buildings, cer-
tain salesmen even going so far as to use de-
livery entrances and get to the door of the
apartment and in touch with the prospect on
the plea of delivering a package. But this sub-
terfuge in itself is likely to kill any chance that
might have existed originally of making the
sale.
Canvassing in Large Cities
Dealers in the large cities for the most part
confine their canvassing operations to those
sections of the cities proper and the suburbs
where private houses predominate, and particu-
larly to sections where new buildings are being
erected and occupied. Here the usual canvass-
ing approach is used more or less successfully,
the canvasser following up a letter or phone call
and making the sale through that means.
In the apartment house districts where the
direct approach is difficult, the dealer must fall
back upon the accepted methods, of procuring
an introduction to the prospective purchaser
through friends, and following that introduction
up by mail or phone in order that the sales-
man may make a definite appointment; of fol-
lowing up purchasers of talking machines with
a view to selling them pianos, making the ap-
proach on the plea of inspecting the machine
as a part of free routine service; or of making
a direct mail canvass at the outset with the
likelihood of realizing the unsatisfactory results
that come from such an effort.
The Professional Canvasser
There are thousands of professional can-
vassers in every city, but the professional is
seldom fitted for piano selling. His method is
to follow up the middle-class citizen, make a
quick approach and sales talk to the woman of
the house, and get the money for the article
or a substantial first payment on a low-priced
product before the prospect recovers. This
method naturally cannot be followed in the case
of pianos, for the investment is too high to
permit of the housekeeper making a snap de-
cision while under the spell of the salesman's
talk. It has been found by experience that
the best city canvasser,is generally the man
who has been successful in selling bonds, se-
curities or life insurance, for each of these com-
modities, if they may be so called,'requires time
for consideration on the part of the purchaser
and time for the proper sort of selling talk on
the part of the salesman. Then, too, selling
bonds and insurance requires thought and argu-
ment in order to convince thinking individuals
and the same rule holds good in selling pianos,
particularly when they are offered on a quality
rather than a price basis.
Selecting Canvassers
It generally happens that several score of ap-
plicants for positions as canvassers must be
passed upon and tested out before a real crew
of reliable men can be secured. An instance in
point: the manager of a retail store in New
York advertised for canvassers and received
over sixty applications. Practically all the appli-
cants were examined and the seven most likely
men taken on trial. Of the latter, only two
proved worth while as permanent additions to
the sales force and the same procedure had to
be followed in adding more men.
In this particular case the canvasser was
offered a small salary sufficient to cover his ex-
penses for food and shelter and placed on a
fairly liberal commission basis with a very sub-
stantial one on- cash sales, that percentage being
graded down in proportion to the increase in
the length of terms on which the instrument
was sold, the maximum terms being three years.
The men were given small expense accounts
and sent out to outlying districts where new
homes were being established. They were re-
quired to report each morning as to the results
of the previous day's calls. The names of the
prospects visited and details regarding them
were entered on cards in the usual form, and
then in four or five days a letter was sent to
each name on the list enclosing a special folder
regarding the line and giving the usual written
sales argument.
Checking the Canvasser's Work
That this letter was far more important than
simply keeping in touch with the prospect is
evident from the fact that a very substantial
percentage of the letters, as high as 70 per cent
in the case of one canvasser, was returned
within a week marked "no such address," or
"not found." The use of the letter served to
put an end to the employment of several can-
vassers who regarded the small salary paid as
somewhat easy money rather than as a guar-
antee of good faith.
In this particular case the salary was charged
off to operating expenses, and a full commission
was paid on each sale in addition. Other man-
agers follow the practice of offering a straight
commission proposition at a higher rate, allow-
ing the salesmen a small drawing account
against commissions, this being increased if
the salesman so desires after his producing
ability is proven.
The ordinary canvassing proposition is too
uncertain from a "direct sales standpoint to war-
rant the use of experienced piano salesmen for
the work, and therefore the retailer must per-
force hire inexperienced men for making the
initial contact with the prospect and so save
his regular salesmen for the work of closing
when necessary. It quite frequently happens
that the canvasser has sufficient selling ability
to do his own closing, and then he finds a
permanent place on the regular outside staff.
Small-town Canvassing
The small-town canvasser has a somewhat
easier time of it than his big city brother,
barring, of course, the possibility of being called
upon to scale the backyard fence one step
ahead of the dog. In the first place, the de-
tached small-town home is more accessible, and
if the canvasser is not too proud to apply at
the back door he finds comparatively little diffi-
culty in getting in touch with the housewife.
As already explained in a preceding story a
little souvenir such as a tape measure or some
other inexpensive article bearing the name of
the house will generally cause the woman to
hesitate long enough at the door to permit the
canvasser to find out something regarding the
status of the home from a musical standpoint
even though he may not develop a live prospect.
The small-town canvasser belongs more in
the salesman's class, for he is generally thor-
oughly well acquainted in town and does not
have to face the difficulties of a stranger in
getting to his prospect. Then again the small-
town inhabitant is not quite so suspicious or
sophisticated as the big-town citizen and is more
likely to be courteous at least, provided the
canvasser has the general appearance of a
gentleman.
Rural Canvassing
For the rural trade various types of can-
vassers can be used successfully.
It was
thought at one time that the proper man to
talk to the farmer was one who could discuss
crops, stock and farm subjects intelligently in
order that he might develop the farmer's inter-
est in him to the point where he could find an
opportunity for offering a sales talk. This held
good until some years ago, for the farmer was
more or less isolated and any traveler was wel-
comed because he could bring news from other
localities and break the monotony of the farm.
Nowadays, with the telephone, the automobile,
daily papers and other conveniences, the farmer
gets his information direct and not from the
man on the road.
These conveniences have developed the aver-
age farmer from the typical ruralite to the
point where he enjoys the status of a real busi-
ness man, and it is interesting to learn of the
number of capable piano salesmen who get the
bulk of their business from the farm element,
and who do it by going after that trade as they
would after the big city merchant, manufac-
turer or other similar prospect.
The canvasser who makes his approach and
presents his follow-up to the farmer just as he
would to the city man is in a fair way to realize
a full measure of success. In most cases his
chief job is to find out what he can regarding
the musical equipment of the farmhouse, for
the credit risk can very safely be taken for
granted as being good. In the city trade this
matter of credits and the ability of the pur-
chaser to pay are likewise to be taken into con-
sideration to avoid waste of time. The rural
canvasser cannot see as many prospective cus-
tomers in the course of the day as can the city
canvasser, but his results are likely to be greater
since the proportion of good material for the
prospect list is larger.
A Paying Proposition
Canvassing, whether it is done on a basis of
small salary and commission or straight com-
mission, is likely to prove a paying proposition
directly or indirectly. There are many who be-
lieve, and with a certain degree of logic, that
the more people with whom the canvasser or
salesman comes in contact the greater will be
his volume of business for the reason that under
normal conditions the proportion of sales is
more o>r less fixed. Even should the canvass-
ing result only in the development of a live and
fairly accurate prospect list, the cost of the com-
pilation of that list can be charged off to ad-
vertising in most cases, for the canvasser has
put forward the name of the house and the in-
struments it features and that is just what is
being done in the printed advertisement.
W. P. HAINES MEN ON ROAD
W. P. Haines & Co. New York, have three
men on the road in different parts of the coun-
try, all of whom will wind up their trips in the
Chicago convention in June. F. G. Smith has
been meeting with success in New England ter-
ritory and I. N. Rice, in the West, and Charles
T. Phalin, in the South, report favorable condi-
tions. T. L. Floyd-Jones and Charles T. Carter
will also represent the company at the trade
convention.