Seventy-five years ago, the June 1951 issue of Radio Retailing gave dealers some pointers on selling sound systems to schools. It focused on the case study of a North Carolina dealer who successfully secured the contract for a new high school being built in his town. This dealer prepared carefully and presented detailed information to the school board leading up to the award of the bid. By the time it came to make the selection, that dealer was viewed as the expert, and he got the contract, despite another bid coming in slightly below his.

In making the original presentation, he included features that he thought might be of interest to the school. His philosophy was that features could be removed if the price tag were too high. But once he planted the seed, the board opted to take most of his suggestions.