THE
VOL. LXXVn. No. 13. P.blished Every Sat..rday. Edward Lyman Bill, Inc., at 383 Madison Ave., New York, N.Y. Sept.
29, 1923
Single CopIes 10 Cents
$2.00 Per Year
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Mail Order Sales as a Selling Criterion
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EGITI~L\ TE
retailers who are permanently located in the cities and town::; of the country, depend upon
the l?cal trade for their existence al:d bear their share in the maintenance and development of the CO~11-
mUl1lty, have the bugbear of the mad order house thrust strongly bdore them. EYen though the m
dividual dealer may feel he is not affected directly, nevertheless he sympathizes "vith his neighbor who
has had an experience or two with sales lost througlT the actiyities and pE'rsuasive literature of the mail order
house.
The average piano merchant, especially in the largE'r cities, appears to be of the opinion that the bulk of
mail ordrr sales of pianos is confined to rural communities where there is not an over-supply of piano stores,
and to the class of people who do not possess analytical minds and do not think of adding freight, cartage, etc.,
to the cost of a mail order purchase in comparing it to the dealer 's price coverjng delivery.
As a matter of fact, 50 per cent or more of mail order business in pianos is done in the large cities and
a surprisingly large percentage of these sales is made to individuals of standing' and reputation in their com
l11unity m~n whose patronage might well be sought and appreciated by the regular established merchant in
the community.
A man who has had considerable experience in the mail order piano field stated recently that, althQugh
the cities furnished over SO per cent of the gross business of those houses, not all cities ai-e good mail order fields.
For instance, Columbus, 0., has many piano customers for mail order houses, while Cincinnati, only one hun
dred miles away or so, does not average a customer in five years. Cleveland is a fairly good mail order tovm,
while from the same standpoint Buffalo is a failure, although Rochester, only about seventy miles away, is pro
ductive of numerous orders. The interesting fact is that both the latter cities report piano-making establish
ments. ~ ew Haven, Conn., is a poor mail order town from the piano standpoint, as is Springfield, Mass. , yet
J-Iartford, in between them, has many piano customers of that type. :-Jew York City itseli is not so good, the
Dorough of Rrooklyn being the best field, but at the same time it has more mail order customers for pianos
than has Boston.
The activities of the mail ordei- houses, in the cities particularly, might "veil be worthy of the considera
tion of those dealers who are so many and active in certain localities that their salesmen almost tread on each
other's toes in calling on prospects. vVith one to two dozen piano houses operating in a given city and its environs,
it seems peculiar that a mail order house located several hundred miles away, through small advertisements and
a few circular letters, can get business right from under their noses.
Classifying the good and the bad cities from the mail order standpoint might be accepted, perhaps, as
an indication of the selling aggressiveness of the piano merchants in these various centers, their progress in
the latter direction resulting in a corresponding reduction in the proportion of mail order sales .
. '\.nother interesting fact is that having once gotten under way, the average mail order house depends for
new business not so much upon magazine advertising as upon the friendship shown by olel customers in supply
ing names of new prospects. In this particular the mail order houses have a follow-up system on customers that
gets results in dollars and cents- -a matter that should offer the final argument for the conversion of those regu
lar dealers who consider that when a sale is made the incident is closed and the customer is deserving of no fur
ther attention. Perhaps if the local merchants followed up their customers in person, or even by mail, as closely
as do the mail order houses miles away the question of developing and keeping a live prospect list would be
solved to their advantage.
If the legitimate piano dealer in any city or town in the country feels that he and his fello'v\" dealers are
going after business with all possible energy, let him find out how his particular community stands as a produc
tive center for the mail order house. Perhaps the information will give him a shock.
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