Signing Up A Street*

One morning on my arriving at the office I was presented with a note advising me that a certain family on S Street desired an estimate on wiring their house. My home had always been in Zanesville, yet I had never heard of this particular street. On looking in the city directory I found that it was in a very poor section on the outskirts of the town.

After some searching I finally located the street and house. The street, located on the top of a hill, was composed of five scattered cottages, with another small road at the foot of the hill containing three more cottages.

I found that the house desiring the estimate was the last one on the street and a considerable distance from our service wires. Upon knocking at the door of the house I was admitted and the mistress told me that she would like to have an electric meter put in as soon as her home could be wired. I explained to her that our line did not pass her house and that we would be required to build an extension from the neighboring avenue. In order to do this we would have to have at least five of the nine cottages on the two roads. Then I inquired whether or not there was a possibility of obtaining contracts from any of her neighbors. She replied that she didn’t think it likely as the gas company had tried to take up a petition and had failed dismally.

Finally I told her that I would try my luck with the rest of the street and come back to her house again in the evening.

Before leaving the street I made a general canvass of the other eight houses and found that out of the nine residents six owned their own properties. These six I determined to sign up, so calling upon each of her neighbors I told them that Mrs. B intended to have electric lights installed, neglecting to say on condition that I get a required number of houses, for a plan whereby I might obtain contracts from the majority suggested itself to me.

I had had some previous experience in working up new sections of the town, and on one street I had only been able to obtain two contracts out of about twenty-five houses. My failure in this case, when it was, as a rule, an easy matter for me to land a contract, started me thinking. After one family had called the office desiring the service, I had made a house-to-house canvass. I had told each family that we were going to extend our line in the event that we obtained a certain number of contracts. I also told them the name of the family who had already signed. After thinking seriously a short time I saw, or at least I thought I had discovered, the cause of my non-success.

Neighbors as a rule are jealous of one another. That is, each desires to have the finest home. One neighbor hates to have the other possess a convenience which he cannot afford. The family whom I had signed undoubtedly owned the finest home on the street, and now that they wanted it wired, it meant to the neighbors just one more step taken in advance of them.

They realized that by their not signing the other family could not get electric lights, and it gave them a secret satisfaction in knowing that of one thing at least they had deprived their neighbor. My present proposition seemed a facsimile of the other, so I determined on a new plan of action.

That evening I went back to the house and was introduced to the lady’s husband and also to the gentleman who lived next door and was sitting on the porch with my prospect.

The game that I was going to play was a bold one, but I believed it could be worked, and how well it worked you will soon see.

“Mr. B.,” I said, “I’ll sign your contract now so that there will be no delay in installing your meter and running our line,” neglecting to say on the condition that we obtained the other four contracts.

Then turning to the gentleman from the next door I said, “I suppose Mr. B. has told you that he intends installing electric light. I would like to explain our proposition to you and get your contract so that we can wire both houses at the same time. During our campaign we are offering very good prices on wiring cottages together with six months’ time wherein to pay for the wiring and a Westinghouse Electric Iron free as a special inducement. At no time will it ever be possible for you to obtain a better proposition than the one I am presenting. Our prices on wiring have not as yet advanced though I fear that the soaring prices of wire and other materials will soon compel us to do away with this special cottage offer.”

After a few minutes of deliberation he turned to me and said, “Go ahead and write me up. If my neighbor can afford it, I guess I can too. We can do without something else until the wiring is paid for.”

That made two contracts, and early the next day I started out determined to obtain the other three. And before the day was over, I had signed three more, obtaining each of the houses because of the fact that their neighbors were wiring and they did not care to take a back seat.

Before the week was over I obtained one more cottage, having signed all of the houses that were owned by the occupants.

Not long after, I was in the office one morning when a colored lady came in and inquired where that house wiring man was. I told her I was the fellow whom she was seeking and she said, “I’se got it in for you. Look what you done made me hab to go and do. No one will stay in dat house of mine on S. St., just ‘cause it ain’t got dem ‘lectric lights. One renter after ‘nother moves ‘till I’se just got to have it wired. How much you charge?”

After explaining to her our proposition and the cost, I signed her up on the spot. Not long after I got the other rented house, and the remaining cottage is soon to be torn down.

Every visitor in that end of town at night is surprised to find all of the houses on the hill and in the valley beautifully lighted by electricity. The cottages on the summit of the hill can be seen for quite a distance and have been quite an advertisement for our company in that neighborhood.

I have signed up some twenty-five contracts within a radius of six squares and I feel that these cottages have been of great benefit in aiding me to close with the other people. When I tell them that the poor families on S. Street are using electric service and find it much cheaper than oil or gas, I am almost sure of landing their contract.

Thus I found that by not mentioning the fact that I required five homes to extend the line, I landed not five but eight on the “Because our neighbor has it principle.” If I had told each family as did the gas company that in the event we signed up five houses we would make an extension, the S. Street houses would still be in darkness today.

By arousing their neighborly jealous feelings I was able to do them and also my company a good turn. For nowhere in the city can be found a better paying or a better satisfied group of houses. And is not one satisfied, praising consumer worth ten dissatisfied, complaining consumers in advertising our company?