In 1903, a home telephone was close to being a luxury item, and the affluent households which could afford a phone were tempting targets for telephone solicitors.
Dry Goods Reporter, March 14, 1903, page 77.
ADVERTISING BY TELEPHONE.
Ward & Cadwell, Fairmont, Minnesota, are using the telephone as a means to get the women into their store. The success which accompanied their efforts was first class. Mr. Parker, manager of the dry goods department, described the sale while in the office of the "Reporter." He said: "Every town has a class of trade that thinks the home stocks are hardly good enough and when they want their choicest merchandise they get aboard the train and visit the nearest metropolis.
"We are no exception in this particular and experience more or less difficulty in retaining the best class of trade for their choicest things. Several times in the past we have planned special sales in order to catch this very class of people--the bon ton--but have always suffered defeat in a greater or less degree.
SHOWED A FINE LINE.
"Not so long ago we arranged to have a representative of a high-class manufacturer of suits and waists visit our store for a short period. We asked him to bring a line of first-class goods, which even the swell trade could not find occasion to find fault with.
"When he arrived we telephoned every woman in town whose trade we had had trouble in winning for their best apparel. A list of these had been prepared before this, so we were ready for business. They all had telephones in their homes and we had no difficulty in having a chat with them.
"We made an opportunity to exploit the values which we were in a position to show. They listened to our argument, and in nearly every case promised us over the telephone to look over the line of samples which the representative of the manufacturer was showing at our store.
WOMEN LIKE TO SEE PRETTY MERCHANDISE.
"Women enjoy seeing nice things and after we had notified them they seemed willing enough to pay our store a visit and examine what we had to show. When we had them in the store we were pretty sure to secure a number of orders, as we had the goods to sell through the road-man from the manufacturer. His line was a good one and we were able to quote prices that were right.
"The result of our efforts was to sell more of the bon-ton trade than we had ever been able to at any past time." The sale was eminently successful and we sold the nicest lot of choice garments that we ever did. There could be no denial that the goods were right and swell enough for the most exclusive trade.
"The sale was eminently successful and we sold the nicest lot of choice garments that we ever did. We attribute success to the telephone, as we were able to talk personally with the lady we wanted to visit the store, and she could not well do otherwise than consent to at least see what was being shown. After we had them in the store they found it a hard proposition to do anything else than buy if they were in need of garments.
"By the old way of advertising we could not secure an acceptance of our invitation to look over the line. Letters required physical effort to answer. Personal visits by us to the home of the desired customer were hardly possible. Sending clerks or errand boys does not result in so much effective returns.
"The object is to secure a positive acceptance or declination from the lady herself by one of the firm. The telephone does this in a more successful manner than any other plan we have ever tried."