Classic Mode

Music Trade Review

Issue: 1929 Vol. 88 N. 10

Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
iends
Public
The salon in the Watkin Go.
store is the mecca for the
musical activities of Dallas
Students and Parents Greeting Jacques Jolas After Recital
broader fields, particularly to study in New
York, or perhaps give a recital or two there,
the Watkin Co. sees to it that, the artist is
armed with letters to connections in New York
in a position to make the road easier, and to
render various services, insignificant in them-
selves, perhaps, but highly appreciated by a
stranger in a strange city. When it happens
to be a pianist of apparent talent, arrangements
are frequently made to have the artist make a
trial record for the Ampico, and more than one
such record has found a place in the perma-
nent record catalog.
A feature of the Watkin service that appeals
ing photograph which shows members of an
audience grouped around Jacques Jolas at the
conclusion of such a program.
The recognition that is accorded the Watkin
salon as a musical center is evidenced in the
fact that during the season the recital hall is
occupied for the presentation of some musical
event, professional or amateur, practically
every evening in the week and frequently dur-
ing the mornings and afternoons as well. Not
only do individual teachers make use of the
salon, but clubs and colleges find it particu-
larly well adapted for certain of their affairs,
and on frequent occasions the program is such
that it is found worthy of broadcasting through
station WFAA of Dallas.
Were the activities concerning the salon and
View of the Music Salon of the Will A. Watkin Co.
particularly to three important classes, the
teachers, their pupils, and the parents of the
pupils, is the practice of having an artist appear
at the Watkin salon under the auspices of the
company on some special date, preferably a
Saturday morning, and give a lecture recital,
telling the pupils of the musical possibilities of
certain instruments, and perhaps something of
the noted composers and their works.
These lecture recitals are recognized as hav-
ing a high educational value, and each one of
them draws a capacity audience. An example
of the manner in which the grown-ups enthuse
over such an event is found in the accompany-
the support of the various affairs held there
the only ones engaged in by the Watkin Co.
to promote musical interest, it would seem
quite enough, but the company goes beyond
that. It is constantly seeking avenues through
which its facilities may be utilized in connec-
tion with musical events outside of the store.
When it is desired to give a musical in a
private home or in an exclusive club, it seems
a natural thing to turn to the Watkin house
for assistance in supplying an instrument from
its stock and perhaps arranging for the artist.
When a conservatory has a particularly ambi-
tious program in mind it is generally to the
7
Watkin concern that the appeal is made for a
concert grand or for assistance in some other
direction.
The result of all this is that, in musical
circles in Dallas, the Will A. Watkin Co. en-
joys an unusually high standing. It is not
simply a merchandising concern, but an im-
portant factor in the musical life of the city,
standing ready to give aid and advice whenever
needed, and to go far beyond the limit of
direct sales appeal in order to give assistance
and build up friendship. Naturally, when there
is an instrument to be bought the Watkin
store is accepted without question as the proper
place to buy it. There is nothing altruistic
about this Watkin promotion program. Thou-
sands of dollars spent in promotion and assist-
ing in musical activities is regarded in the na-
ture of an investment that is bound to bring
substantial dividends.
The company's sales organization is in keep-
ing with this general business aggressiveness.
The contacts that are made with the musical
people of Dallis, professional and otherwise,
are capitalized to the utmost. The company
believes in steady and persistent publicity, not
only through the newspapers—and they are ex-
tremely liberal advertisers— but through direct
mail. Those on the company's prospect list
get frequent reminders of the fact that it is
doing business at the old stand. It may be a
program of a particularly interesting recital, a
list of events that have occurred or are occur-
ring at the Watkin salon, a letter offering vari-
ous kinds of service to the teacher and the
pupil, but the mailings are persistent and regu-
lar, and each piece of literature bears some-
where about it reference to one or more of
the well-known pianos handled by the Watkin
house.
If a aoncern that has been doing business
successfully in one city for forty-seven years
finds that it pays, and pays well, to become a
real factor in the musical life of that city, how
much more important it is for the younger
dealer to give heed to these musical contacts.
Its products are designed primarily for the use
of musical people, and he should overlook not
a single channel that will lead him into the
good graces of those on whom he depends to
buy his wares.
This feature on how the Will A. Watkin Co.
has made its store the real factor in the musi-
cal life of Dallas, Texas, should be of consid-
erable interest to all music dealers throughout
the land. It shows how a progressive concern
can make the most of its opportunities by tying
up with all that is musical in the community
life, thus leading the people to think of Watkin
and music.
Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
Xing Keeps
Radio buyers
8OT E. 7«th Street
CHICAGO
Fsbruary
8th
l e e s .
"BJICLOSED PLSA 3B 7IND CHICXt
MORE rot- tvary friend's n Ana you send u
c a r l «ho may b> thlnlcln. o f purchasing
t h a t «e i lell them,
•all.
a cbe ck w i l l be foi warded to you by return
1 5 00 on anj radio a«t from |10O.
to (200. n«t.
E
10.00
H
•
°°. to B70. "
•
over E78.
TALK RADIO 1HIHBVBR KOU UAY B*.
FOR TIPS.
AEK tOUB rBIKKW
)Jmyf
SATISFIED
uusio SHOT.
KH1L3
By A. R. OBOLER
•
to you.
HERE is much said for and against
service and its cost so far as the selling
of radio is concerned, and the great
fallacy appears to be that the majority
of dealers regard service in too narrow a light.
In other words, they apply the term service
only to the work of making repairs and adjust-
ments when customers complain about the
operations of their receivers and do not view
it from the more profitable angle of seeing that
the receivers are in first class operation before
the customer has a chance to make a complaint.
An excellent example of the manner in which
customers may be followed up by the radio
dealer to his own advantage and without wait-
ing for complaints is offered by the King Radio
Co. of Chicago, which, in slightly over two
years, has become one of the prominent radio
houses on the south side of that city. The
reason, declares Harold Horwich, head of the
company, is that every customer is followed
up consistently after the sale is made. The
company sees to it that his receiver is giving
satisfaction and the result is that the bulk of
the new business comes from leads furnished
by old customers and is often brought in di-
rectly by those customers or at least strongly
influenced.
The methods of the King Co. are in no sense
haphazard, but a complete service record is
kept of each transaction from the moment de-
livery is made. The service slip (illustrated)
is perforated into three sections, one of which
the customer gets, one of which is the service
man's report, and the third of which is a house
record.
Upon delivery of the radio the house record
section goes into a file under the customer's
name. After any future calls the service report
is filed, together with this original record, so
that the status of that particular customer's
service record is always available to settle any
misunderstandings or complaints that might
arise. "There is no guesswork about it," said
Mr. Horwich. "By referring to these car*ds we
T
know just what service has been given gratis,
what service has been charged for, and just
what the condition of the set was when last
examined. No man takes an unreasonable atti-
tude very long when the facts of the case are
spread before him in this way."
Every few months a letter (illustrated)
offering an interesting commission for set pros-
pects is mailed to the customer list. This letter
offers from $5 up for each sale made as a re-
HOME DEMONSTRATION TICKET
Name
Address
Phone
Set Demonstrated
Speaker
327
326
.
371A
Serial No.
l_Serial No
380
MO
Cabinet
Serial No.
on demonstration only and
purchased and fully paid fo
the property of the King Radio Co. until
U purchase the above mentioned equipment if not s*tisf«to
Patrons Signature
Salesman Signature
.
.
suit of the recommendation. In order to pre-
vent ajiy misunderstandings, the letter further
states all the conditions upon which the com-
mission will be paid: the sale must be made
within 90 days and the name must not already
be in the concern's prospect file. According to
Lawrence Strauss, in charge of outside sales,
the response from this sort of campaign has
been very gratifying. In the month of March,
out of 500 letters mailed, there were 100 re-
sponses, resulting in seventy-five sales. And
the business developed in this way has been, for
the most part, very easily closed, as the custom-,
ers' prospects were generally "qualified" pros-
pects in the full sense of the word, having
heard the radio in their friends' homes.
Date
Name
Electric Set •
Trouble Report
Date
Phones, Triangle 5448 - 9
Date
Phone_
HOUSE RECORD
KING'S RADIO COMPANY
809 E. 79th St.
Complaint or Instructions
,
(This Ticket Must Be Returned to Our Files)
RADIO SERVICE REPORT
Battery Set •
?01A
Tubes
The particular neighborhood in which the
King store is located is a rapidly growing one.
To let the newcomers know of the existence
of their concern, the King Co. has been getting
the names of all new arrivals from the local
real estate companies, and has been mailing to
their people a letter of welcome. Sent in an
inviting envelope, this little courtesy has at-
tracted a great deal of trade which ordinarily
would not have been developed.
For example, phone calls are frequently re-
ceived from people new in the neighborhood
asking for a service man. Investigation gener-
ally proves that it was from the "welcome
letter" that the customer got the firm's phone
number; many new contacts, and, resultantly,
new sales have been made in this way.
"Furthermore, we give this list of names to
our outside sales force," said Mr. Strauss.
"People, on moving, sometimes either leave
their old obsolete set behind or shove it off into
a corner in the new apartment without hooking
it up rather than mess up the place with wires
and batteries. By calling on such people, after
the way has been smoothed by the 'welcome
letter,' our men have been aBle to get sales
which ordinarily would not have come our way.
"And, talking of follow-ups, I wonder how
many dealers make use of their outside service
calls as a source of new business? By that I
mean how many, when they get a call from a
non-customer for batteries and so on, send a
salesman around with an offer of an AC set
for free trial? That's one place where our
policy of keeping a service file serves us well
Periodically we go through this file and pick
out the cards with legends like 'Recharge bat-
tery,' 'Check eliminator,' 'Test B's' and so on.
Our salesmen call on these people—they have
no difficulty getting a hearing after introducing
themselves as 'from the radio store that serv-
iced your radio'—and try to place a new set
on free demonstration.
"The sales argument used to get this free
{Continued on page 21)
Name
Address
Charges $
Name .
Address.
Phone .
Material Out
Signature of Service Man
Service Charge
Material
Total
N?
Customer's Signature on ap-
ALL CHARGES MUST BE CASH
proval of work and price,
468
Signml
THIS TICKET MUST BE SIGNED AND FILED
THIS IS YOUR RECEIPT
No adjustments will be made without it
463
N?
8
Service Man.
Material In

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