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REVIEW
THE
VOL. LXXXIV. No. 25 Published Every Saturday. Edward Lyman Bill, Inc., 420 Lexington Ave., New York, N.Y., June 18,1927
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TheDirect Way to Sales
Old and Tried Methods of Door-bell Ringing and Canvassing Salesmen
Still Found by Many Retail Music Merchants to Be the Most Direct
Method of Creating Sales Volume—How Some Dealers Do Canvassing
Third Article
A
LARGE number of Chicago dealers are
agreed that the plan of direct canvassing
is one of the most effective methods of
making piano sales. On account of the neces-
sity for intensive work to bring about sales,
however, the canvassing system alone is not re-
sorted to, but in most instances various other
methods of sales promotion work hand in hand
with the efforts of the canvasser.
In some instances it is a combination of
newspaper advertising and canvassing, in others
it is direct-by-mail advertising or other sales
methods. A number of dealers have also en-
listed the aid of the woman canvasser as a
means of getting into the homes, while others
have adopted the canvassing method in various
other forms.
"We find that the sales have increased since
adopting this policy.
Women seem to have
access to the people whereas men in many in-
stances fail to receive a hearing. We pay these
canvassers $15 a week for a half a day's work
and the salesman who gets 10 per cent commis-
sion in turn pays 2 per cent to the canvasser
who turns the prospect in.
"In addition to getting exceptionally good
prospects with which to develop sales, we also
get prospects for phonographs and radios as
well as a large amount of tuning business.
Whenever the canvasser sees that the party has
a piano and cannot be interested in a new in-
strument, the tuning subject is brought up and
effort is made to secure an order for tuning."
Justin Bros.
C. B. demons Co.
Justin Bros., 5205 West Twenty-fifth street,
well-known dealers in Cicero, report very good
success with women canvassers in their district.
"At the beginning of the year," said Frank
Justin, "we reduced our newspaper advertising-
appropriation from 5 per cent to 2 per cent and
used the balance to build up our canvassing
organization.
"We now have eight married women canvass-
ing who work from 9 o'clock until 1 o'clock.
Under the direction of Jerry Justin, all of the
women work in the same locality.
The usual
questions are asked to ascertain if the party is
a good prospect, and if possible the necessary
information is gathered so that the salesman
will be somewhat familiar with the prospect
when it is turned over to him.
"As soon as the leads are turned in, they are
given the various salesmen. We have a staff
of seven men who follow up the canvassers'
work immediately.
Following the salesman's
call, the prospect is then entered on the pros-
pect file and every week receives a personal let-
ter while the salesman calls every two weeks.
If the prospect is not sold within two months, it
is turned over to another salesman and if the
sale is made then commission automatically
goes to the new man, as the prospects are ex-
changed among the salesmen so that each one
when giving up a prospect receives another that
his co-worker has had trouble in selling.
C. 13. d e m o n s , another dealer on the West
side of the city at 4240 West Madison street,
works the canvassing system by a somewhat
different method.
Instead of soliciting the
prospect directly on a house-to-house basis, he
endeavors to make connections with people in
the neighborhood which will give him "leads"
to follow.
Mr. d e m o n s personally solicits such sources
as music teachers, real estate companies, con-
tractors, decorators, officers of lodges, min-
isters, tailors, undertakers, the proprietors of
drug stores and other local dealers.
"These
people," Mr. d e m o n s explained, "know a cer-
tain number of prospects for pianos.
If ap-
proached in the right manner, especially on the
basis of mutual co-operation which can often
be effected, they will in most instances provide
good prospects, and, as an important point in
this connection, you can use the name of the
informant when interviewing them.
"After the initial impression is made with
these business men and the connection estab-
lished, the canvasser or salesman can continue
to call on them for new leads which, when re-
minded, they will provide from time to time.
As soon as the prospect is turned in, the sales-
man follows it up immediately. The telephone
and automobile are to-day important factors in
arranging interviews and saving time.
The
most satisfactory time to interview people, we
3
find, is between 6:30 and 7:30,
when the family is at home."
Reichardt Piano Co.
The Reichardt Piano Co.,
1311 Milwaukee avenue, does
not employ the canvassers
directly, but pays the sales-
man sufficiently so that he in
turn can afford to give a com-
mission to canvassers that he
has working for him. This
company lias four outside salesmen who receive
a drawing account and commission, and who
all have cars. Each salesman has one or more
canvassers who are working with him and who
are paid a commission by the salesman when the
sale is made. It has been found that better re-
sults are secured from the canvasser when the
salesman or crew manager works directly with
him.
Schoeppe Piano Co.
The Schoeppe Piano Co., 3148 West Sixty-
third street, has also found that the woman can-
vasser is satisfactory in securing interviews and
good prospects.
This company now has nine
married women who work different localities.
"We have found that a good class of women
will not only give the house good representa-
tion," said J. E. Fas, manager of the department,
"but will, in many instances, secure an inter-
view where a man will be unable. Of course,
these solicitors do not attempt to close sales
but turn them in to the sales department, where
they are immediately followed up by the sales-
man.
"We make a practice of following up leads
quickly, for this is an important point in present-
day merchandising. There are so many sales-
men in various trades who are continually at-
tempting to interest the housewife in some
product that it is found that while the prospect
the canvasser turned in was in the market for a
piano at the time, if the salesman does not im-
mediately follow up this lead, either the vaccum
cleaner, washing machine, Oriental rug or house-
hold furniture salesman will have interested
the prospect to make a first payment on one
or more of these products. When this is done,
(Continued on page 4)