later in life. When in the Far East, I developed a new way of speaking based on the way my Asian suppliers talked to me. I branded it 'Export English - a very slow way of pronouncing every word clearly and leaving gaps between them, and it was much appreciated. The Japanese would say, 'Sugar-san speaks the best English.' If they but knew! I'm sure that would make the elitist journalists chuckle a bit.
I picked up my first order from a shop in Wood Green. Nervously, I walked into the shop and presented the products to the owner. After a short demonstration, he gave me an order for one record-player. That was my first trade sale, on the first day I was out on the road. But as far as tape recorders were concerned, I don't think I sold a single one all week.
In those days, although there were some multi-retailers, the radio and TV industry was fragmented into hundreds of individual retailers who owned one or two shops. One thing I quickly discovered on visiting these retailers was that Robuck was not a new company. It had once reached dizzy heights as a leading supplier of tape recorders, but had then lost the market. This latest recruitment was a new initiative to relaunch the company.
The retailers told me, 'Yeah, we know about Robuck all right. They ended up flogging off loads of these machines in Gamages at low prices and screwed us all.'
Gamages was a large department store in Holborn that was known for bargains and often flogged off discontinued lines. This was before theabolition of retail price maintenance (RPM), so in those days retail prices were adhered to very strictly - there were no such things as discount warehouses. Prestigious brands controlled the retailers to ensure prices were maintained, and the whole industry played along with this as a way of securing margins. Therefore, one can understand the response I was getting, which was 'Bugger off, why should we buy from Robuck again?'
Later, when I questioned Robinson about this, he told me that the tape recorder was actually a new product, but in reality they'd only changed the colour of the plastic material used to cover the wooden cabinet. The tape deck mechanism was exactly the same and was instantly recognisable as the old model - not an easy sale.
When I think of it now, the territory I had - Greater London - was massive. It was the biggest commercially intensive area in the country, and it had been given to this seventeen-year-old.
Anyway, I got stuck in and as the weeks went by, I started to pick up orders. I called a few of the boys up north to find out how they were doing. Some of them were experienced salespeople who'd previously worked for companies like Philips or Ferguson, and they were just picking up a few orders here and there - so I was doing quite well.
I visited one particular customer in Hounslow, a very large, busy and prosperous shop, and managed to see the boss, a lady. She told me they would never deal with Robuck again, as they'd been let down badly by the Gamages fiasco. In my weekly report, I deliberately wrote this down in a way that would, I hoped, spur Robinson into action. He took the bait, got on the phone to this woman as he knew she had buying power, and smoothed matters over with explanations and apologies. He managed to sell them six machines on my behalf.
This technique of getting Robinson on the case worked for me several times. I'd come into the office with a tale of woe and persuade him to get people on the phone. He was a super salesman in his own right.
It was around this time that one of the most important realisations in my business life dawned on me, and it led to a big breakthrough. Here I was, spending all my time visiting individual retailers who owned one or two shops. The decision-making process of the individual in charge was an important one - I had to put in a lot of effort to sell to them, and in the end they might buy one or two tape recorders. On the other hand, it occurred to me that Currys had
I picked up my first order from a shop in Wood Green. Nervously, I walked into the shop and presented the products to the owner. After a short demonstration, he gave me an order for one record-player. That was my first trade sale, on the first day I was out on the road. But as far as tape recorders were concerned, I don't think I sold a single one all week.
In those days, although there were some multi-retailers, the radio and TV industry was fragmented into hundreds of individual retailers who owned one or two shops. One thing I quickly discovered on visiting these retailers was that Robuck was not a new company. It had once reached dizzy heights as a leading supplier of tape recorders, but had then lost the market. This latest recruitment was a new initiative to relaunch the company.
The retailers told me, 'Yeah, we know about Robuck all right. They ended up flogging off loads of these machines in Gamages at low prices and screwed us all.'
Gamages was a large department store in Holborn that was known for bargains and often flogged off discontinued lines. This was before theabolition of retail price maintenance (RPM), so in those days retail prices were adhered to very strictly - there were no such things as discount warehouses. Prestigious brands controlled the retailers to ensure prices were maintained, and the whole industry played along with this as a way of securing margins. Therefore, one can understand the response I was getting, which was 'Bugger off, why should we buy from Robuck again?'
Later, when I questioned Robinson about this, he told me that the tape recorder was actually a new product, but in reality they'd only changed the colour of the plastic material used to cover the wooden cabinet. The tape deck mechanism was exactly the same and was instantly recognisable as the old model - not an easy sale.
When I think of it now, the territory I had - Greater London - was massive. It was the biggest commercially intensive area in the country, and it had been given to this seventeen-year-old.
Anyway, I got stuck in and as the weeks went by, I started to pick up orders. I called a few of the boys up north to find out how they were doing. Some of them were experienced salespeople who'd previously worked for companies like Philips or Ferguson, and they were just picking up a few orders here and there - so I was doing quite well.
I visited one particular customer in Hounslow, a very large, busy and prosperous shop, and managed to see the boss, a lady. She told me they would never deal with Robuck again, as they'd been let down badly by the Gamages fiasco. In my weekly report, I deliberately wrote this down in a way that would, I hoped, spur Robinson into action. He took the bait, got on the phone to this woman as he knew she had buying power, and smoothed matters over with explanations and apologies. He managed to sell them six machines on my behalf.
This technique of getting Robinson on the case worked for me several times. I'd come into the office with a tale of woe and persuade him to get people on the phone. He was a super salesman in his own right.
It was around this time that one of the most important realisations in my business life dawned on me, and it led to a big breakthrough. Here I was, spending all my time visiting individual retailers who owned one or two shops. The decision-making process of the individual in charge was an important one - I had to put in a lot of effort to sell to them, and in the end they might buy one or two tape recorders. On the other hand, it occurred to me that Currys had
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