HYDRONICS
HEATING HELP Quiet May shouts at us
BY DAN HOLOHAN CONTRIBUTING WRITER
era version of what today would be a spectacular Web site because it gave salespeople a way to show the benefits of their products. And I do mean benefits. This booklet was printed on high-quality paper (It still
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looks good after all these years). It contains 30 pages, measures 10 1/2 inches wide and stands tall at 15 1/2 inches. The title is, The Home of Heart's Desire, which, at first, may seem to have little to do with an oil burner. But wait; there's more. I came across this treasure in an old book store in
Portsmouth, New Hampshire, years ago, and I take it down from the shelf every few months to remind myself of how important it is to talk about benefits rather than features when presenting just about anything in life. We all want to know what's in it for us, right? Well, in the heating business, The May Oil Burner Company did that better than anyone, and I'm talking about both back then and since. The company made a burner they called Quiet May,
which did a nice job of naming one of its benefits. They did this during a time when just about everyone in America was burning coal. Oil was new in those days, and the company had to make a good impression, because people were so used to the routines of using coal. Folks thought that all that coal dust and the hard work of shoveling coal and carrying ash was normal. They needed some good reasons to spend money on a newfangled burner in the midst of the Great Depression. The May Oil Burner Company realized that, so, instead
of focusing on the features of their oil burner, they sold its benefits and, in a few years, hardly anyone was still burning coal. There's a wonderful lesson in the way the company did this. They focused on who their customers were, and they thought about what problems their customers were having. Then they presented their case in a way that addressed the customer's self-interest. They didn't sell an oil burner. They sold intangible things such as better health, a cleaner home, more time for Mother, family togetherness, peace of mind, convenience and more living space. That's what the Quiet May did. It's not what it was. If
you can understand that, you can do the same for your products or services, even when times are tough. During the winter of 1918, the Spanish Influenza
pandemic took the lives of 50 million people, many of them children. In 1934, when The May Burner Company printed their book about Quiet May, the flu was still on everyone's mind, so they allude to it on the first page. Below a photo of a mother, father and child, they write: The effect of fluctuating temperature on family health
and happiness is very marked. Colds and attendant respiratory troubles, due largely to varying house temperatures, are said to be responsible for at least one- third of a family's doctor bills. The cost in terms of reduced personal efficiency is incalculable. Children, who
have many old books in my office. One of my favorites is a presentation booklet that The May Oil Burner Company put together in 1934. It was a Depression-
You can't afford not to own this piece of equipment, because it's going to save you fuel. You're going to pay one way or the other, but the choice is yours: You can either pay the fuel company month after month for fuel you don't really need to burn, or you can buy the Quiet May [or what you have to offer] and just pay for it once.
do most of their playing on the floor , where temperature
fluctuations are greatest, pay especially heavy penalties, very often with serious results. Rarely is heat from a coal-fired furnace just right.
Except for short periods, when the temperature is on its way upward or downward, it is either too cold or too warm. Quiet May's automatic controls maintain an even temperature at all times. They never take a day off. They never forget. Notice how the writer uses the words fluctuatingand
fluctuations. Both contain the word flu. Quiet May never forgets, and neither did anyone who lived though the Spanish Influenza. With that said first, they next address cost — right up
front where it belongs. Listen: A Quiet May owner writes, "There are only two reasons why anyone would be without a Quiet May
. Either they
don't know its advantages or else they are deluded with the idea that they can't afford it. It is our experience that the thrifty homeowner can't afford not to own it. Our budget book shows that Quiet May heat costs us very much less than coal heat. A friend of ours, who formerly heated with gas, now has a Quiet May and has cut his fuel bill in half without sacrificing a single thing that gas heat afforded." It's not just coal they were after but also gas. And they
let their customer speak for them through this short testimonial. When a potential customer asks how much they will save on fuel with the equipment you're proposing, it's always best to let your customers speak for you. That's “real world,” and what was true then is still true now. You can't afford not to own this piece of equipment,
because it's going to save you fuel. You're going to pay one way or the other, but the choice is yours: You can either pay the fuel company month after month for fuel you don’t really need to burn, or you can buy the Quiet May (or what you have to offer) and just pay for it once.
e Turn to HEATING HELP on p 51
phc february 2011
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