Play Meter

ROBBINS: Yes, we do. Everybody got carried
away during the video boom and they started
selling and leasing like mad. And for every game
that was a great success, with longevity, there
were five that were just mediocre. And there never
seemed to develop the secondary market that there
is with other equipment. There's always been a
good used market for pins here, and overseas too.
But that first guy that would buy the new video
game far, far outnumbered the guy who wouldn't
buy the new one but might buy the used one.
PLAY METER: As distributor, you're caught in
the middle between factory and operator, it seems.
How do yo view your role?
ROBBINS: The distributor has to be not only the
supplier to the operator and an intelligent supplier,
he must be a guide to the operators in his area.
There is nobody else they can look to to guide them
as to the right things to do, the way to operate, the
right equipment to buy , and so forth. But they've
got to have a guide and the distributor has a moral
responsibility to act in this role, and if he doesn't do
it, he is going to hurt the operators in his area, and
he's going to hurt his own chances of success.
PLA Y METER: How do you see your role in
relationship to the manufacturers?
ROBBINS: You do have a responsibility to the
manufacturers to do the best possible sales job you
can for him, within the framework of intelligent
marketing.
PLA Y METER: Do you find much co-operation
between manufacturer and distributor?
ROBBINS: In most cases, yes. You'll find that most
The probes for
the PRO!
manufacturers today have incoming WATS lines.
They have people assigned for service to the
distributor- and directly to the operator too-and
they're much more aware of the need for that
service. The successful manufacturers today are in
most cases very cooperative and very responsive.
but there are manufacturers that are out of
business or in trouble now because they have
constantly refused to accept troubles from the field
and do something about them, so that the operators
finally decided - it seems in concert-that they
were not going to buy any more of that equipment
because the maker wouldn't stand behind it.
PLAY METER: Does today's distributor face any
one problem that stands out from all the others?
ROBBINS: Certainly one of the most dangerous
aspects today from the distributor standpoint, and
from the manufacturer standpoint as well-and I
think the operator is aware of it-is the tremendous
change in credit policy. Years ago it was easy credit
from the distributor to the operator. And the
operator was pretty loose himself, giving money
out etc. Today our terms with the maufacturer are
ultra, ultra constrictive. It's thirty days or less.
Therefore we' cannot give long term credit to the
operator. And he must pay us. This also means that
the operator can't give easy credit or easy loans to
his locations- he can't do it. It's got to be tightened
up all the way down the line, because it's going to
get still tighter. And the squeeze is going to be on
that distributor or that operator who is not a good
businessman, who doesn't put his house in order so
that he can stay with the trend.
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