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Telegrams
By J. C. REXFORD
graphing about, it must be worth her attention.
At least so music dealers in various parts of
the country have found.
A couple of years ago the Redewill Music
Co., of Phoenix, Ariz., sent out over 600 city
messages to prospective customers inviting
them to visit the company's store and view a
new line of pianos just received. Over ninety-
five per cent of those receiving the telegrams
did call at the store with the result that twenty-
five Gulbransen pianos were sold within a week
or ten days, and a number of other instruments
A SURPRISING number of music mcr-
f \ chants have, within the past few years,
I % made excellent use of telegrams in mak-
ing closer and more rapid contacts with
prospects when there was something special to
offer, such as the showing of a new line of
products, a special musical event of particular
interest at the store, or an occasion when it
was considered good business to extend well
wishes to prospects, such as at Easter or Christ-
mas time. Although too frequent use of the
telegram might cause the prospect to lose in-
terest in it, the judicious use of that means of
communication has been found to get prompt
and satisfactory attention and to lead to actual
sales.
It is logical that the telegram should get
attention, particularly when sent to the home.
The big business executive finding a heavy mail
on his desk will push it all aside in order to
read a telegram or two, for the envelope itself
indicates that there is something urgent about
the message. Whether the message makes the
proper impression or not rests upon the sender,
but it is assured, at least, of prompt and un-
divided attention at the outset.
The same rule applies to the telegram re-
ceived by the housewife. She may cast a casual
glance at the written communication and throw
it aside to peruse an intimate letter from her
friend; she may ignore the ring of the canvasser
or the salesman at the door, and she may even
be a bit cagy and abrupt at the telephone, but
when the messenger brings a telegram she will
stop everything to receive and read it. More-
over, the average woman receives telegrams at
such- infrequent intervals that she is strongly
impressed with the importance of such a mes-
sage, and is more likely to be in a receptive
rather than a resentful mood when she has read
\%. In shprt, in her mind, it is wgrth tele-
Charge to the account of'._
J CLASS OF SER IMCEOESIREOV.
select list of prospects and got rid of several
choice instruments as a result.
When the Hoffman Music Co., of Miami,
Okla., held the formal opening of its new
quarters in that city, special invitations to attend
were sent to a large number of the company's
prospects by telegram with the result that a
great majority of those thus invited visited the
store and inspected the new quarters. In this
particular instance no special attempt was made
to close immediate sales, but a number of those
receiving telegrams took occasion to comment
upon their appreciation of Mr. Hoffman's
progressiveness, which meant the development
of a friendly feeling if nothing else.
Each of the several cases reported the tele-
SUTTH miSTfl en.
WESTERN
CABLE
MESSAGE
LETTER
WEEK END
NIGHT
LETTER
LETTER
PstrontsbouldcheckclaiBof service
desired; otherwise message will b«
K . transmitted ss s full-rst*
> *
CASHORCHG.V
J. C. WILLCVKK. n*«T
Send the foltoUiing message, subject It the terms on hack hereof, which are hereby agremd
SEPT. 5, 1929
MRS. THOMAS JONES,
1114 POPLAR STREET,
KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI
placed later with those who had answered the
telegraphic appeal.
Fanny A. Hair, operating a music store in
Worcester, Mass., believed that customers ap-
preciated messages of good will on special
occasions, and sent out telegrams to her cus-
tomers extending Easter greetings. The result
was a number of written responses, as well as
personal calls to the store, and the addition of
several new customers to the music store's list.
The Portland Music Co., Salem, Ore., used
the telegram as a final effort in bringing some
hesitating customers under the wire just before
Christmas. Twenty-four messages were sent to
a selected list and an immediate response was
the sale of three pianos, while two or three
others of the group bought within the month.
Some time ago Louis Lobel, a music dealer
of Schenectady, N. Y., was carrying on a re-
moval sale preparatory to occupying new
quarters. Just before the sale was advertised in
the newspapers he sent fifty telegrams to a
10
gram w T as used to mark a special occasion, and
the appeal was sufficiently out of the ordinary
to get the desired action. The use of the tele-
graph in business is constantly on the increase,
but it has not become so common in home-to-
home communication that the interest in the
telegram has abated. It gets in promptly and
receives attention where the salesman would be
barred and the mail consigned to the waste-
basket. Owing to the expense involved, the
telegram cannot be used indiscriminately, but
must be confined to those prospects who would,
under ordinary circumstances, be considered
worth a few visits from the salesman.
Although in the cases cited the telegram has
been used to bring pleasant news to the recip-
ient, that same medium has been used very
effectively in stirring up delinquent instalment
customers. One dealer in New York, for in-
stance, used the telegram very effectively for
years in supplementing the regular series of
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