Music Trade Review

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THE MUSIC TRADE
between the dealers and themselves, and as a result they are con-
tributing by their ignorance to this policy of petty blackmailing.
HY not out with the whole guarantee proposition? There
is no four, five, eight or ten years' guarantee with any other
product, and why in the world should there be in pianos? The
first profit does not warrant all of this annoyance and expense.
If the claims were honest it would be quite another thing, but there
h not one in a hundred that is honest, and when you come to sum it
up there is one clause in almost every guarantee behind which a
maker can hide with security if he so desires. But what is the use
of all this worry and exchange of views regarding rust covered
wires, split sounding-boards, cracked varnish? A piano, which is
a combination of wood and metal, with a varnished surface, must
necessarily be sensitive to severe climatic conditions, and if some
purchaser wheels one up to a red-hot stove, or has it out on the
veranda in dog days, let him suffer and not the maker. The mak-
er's time should not be taken up replying to the silly and absurd
claims made by these men, who are too frequently insulting in their
criticisms as they are manifestly unfair in their claims.
W
ENERAL trade conditions are strong and full of encourage-
ment, and the great agricultural interests of the West are
anticipating or realizing excellent returns from maturing crops.
Inasmuch as business is so closely related to crops, the condition
of every important agricultural yield is of importance to business
men, and the reports show that the hay crop, a crop that bids fair
to equal any previous record in point of production, will bring
in financial returns considerably above the average. The wheat crop,
according to government estimates, will exceed that of 1904. While
other crops vary as to their condition at the present moment, the
general report may be considered a favorable one, and a feeling of
optimism prevails throughout the agricultural West, and this feel-
ing is reflected in liberal orders from prominent piano merchants.
G
F course there is reluctance shown on the part of some piano
men in their bookings for future requirements. That is but
natural, but there is no softening of trade in any particular. Natur-
ally the piano business during the summer months slackens some-
what, and we are now entering upon the time of the year when
outdoor life and its recreations command the attention of every
class. This insures a healthfulness which is reflected in the added
emphasis placed upon business later on.
O
EPORTS from the far West indicate a splendid condition,
which shows that the prospects for good trade on the Pacific
Coast never were better than they are at the present time, and it
may be said that every industry in California almost, is in a fairly
prosperous condition, and all will do better than in 1904.
A great many people on the Coast will make the journey to
the Portland Exposition, and of course local dealers will claim
that their business is affected by so much money being withdrawn
from their local channels, and expended in excursions.
This is the old exposition cry, and it has not changed since 1876.
Of course Portland will draw large numbers of people, not only
from along the Pacific Coast, but there are thousands who are plan-
ning excursions from the East, taking in the principal points of
scenic interest on their way to the Exposition.
There is much in the business situation to encourage, and noth-
ing to depress. The summer months for 1905 promise to give as
good returns for well-directed energies as any previous year in the
history of the country.
R
REVIEW
he be proprietor or salesman, being above or over all the other
workers, is held responsible for results, whether they be good or bad,
and it is not necessary, however, for a man, in order to win good
results, to run down his neighbor's line.
I
N the larger business houses it is frequently the case that two
different members of the firm, or managers, have charge of the
business. One of these usually has charge of what is known as the
salesman's staff, while the other oversees the office work and the
general systematizing of the business and general accounts. The
man who controls the salesman's staff has perhaps a closer hold upon
the life-pulse of the business than the man who deals with the instal-
ment system and figures.
Right here will be found the dividing line between two distinct,
classes of merchants; one controls his business through his close
association with figures, and seldom leaves his own desk or office.
This man draws his conclusions almost entirely by results as shown
HI the various balance sheets of the house. Many houses have suc-
ceeded with such a policy, but it is a pretty safe conclusion that they
would have attained greater success had there been another man to
keep in touch with the head and the real working forces of th.e estab-
lishment, which brings him in close touch with piano customers.
T
O the other class of merchants belongs the active man who is al-
ways about the store and in touch with the salesmen. Me knows
the position of every piano, and knows his customer pretty well. He
understands conditions exactly as they exist, and is always on hand
to make a quick decision regarding sales, or adopt a business policy
which may make a great deal of difference in receipts. He does not
judge his employes entirely by the figures that their sales slip shows
at the end of any given time. He knows that this one is handicapped
by some extra work and has had some particularly hard customers
to work into the prospect line. All of these things are never known
by the man who bases his judgment entirely upon figures. There-
fore it comes right naturally about that in large business houses
the field is broad and important enough to employ a capable man-
ager of unquestionable ability. If a merchant is not in close touch
with every department of his business, then it will pay him to engage
a good sales manager. These things must be considered in the
management of business institutions to-day, and no man worthy
of the name of merchant can afford to overlook any of them. They
all have their place, and some of them a mighty important place in
the business establishment.
P
IANO selling at best is not an easy task, and there are many
essentials requisite to good results in the retail department of
trade, but every salesman requires a perfect knowledge of his own
line of pianos, and a good knowledge of competing lines, so that he
may make an intelligent argument in favor of his own, without resort-
ing to downright abuse of his competitor's wares. He must know the
weaknesses of his own stock, if it possesses weaknesses, and it is also
proper that he should know the vulnerable points in his principal
competitor's wares. He must know as well how to take the fullest
advantage of the whims and fancies of other men, so as to present
his instruments truthfully along the lines of least resistance; as he
cannot buck the center, he must be prepared to run the ends, and if
chance does not come his way, he must go around and head it off,
while it is heading some other way.
H
E must know his pianos, not from a mere superficial standpoint,
but from a practical point, and there are many of our
instruments which have special talking points of excellence. This
F course, the proprietor of a music trade establishment is often-
knowledge will give him confidence, and this confidence must show
times in ignorance of misstatements made by his salesmen,
in his face as well as sound upon the tongue. He must know well
for a straightforward American business man, whether he sells
the instruments of all of his leading competitors, not to abuse or
pianos or any other manufactured products, will not permit his men
decry them, but to appreciate and parry their strong points, take
to villify a competitor's wares, which he knows to be legitimate, sim-
advantage of their weak ones, and bring out in a clean way the
ply to make a sale for himself. If continuous misrepresentation of
excellent qualities of his own product. He must try not to meet
a competitor's wares is indulged in, it is pretty safe to believe that the
competition, but to beat it, and look upon it, not as a bugbear, but
management itself is not in ignorance of these conditions. The as a healthy stimulator for a large trade.
proprietors are not so far out of touch with their own affairs as not
The beating of competition does not mean necessarily making
to be cognizant of what salesmen say in regard to competitive in-
a better price, for the low-priced well is often a hole with no bot-
struments. A business institution, like an individual, at once gains
tom. The good piano salesman must demonstrate that his instru-
a reputation either for honesty and truthfulness in the utterances of
ments are worthy of a better price. He must talk quality rather
its employes, or it gains a directly opposite reputation. A business
than price, and if he will do this faithfully, there is no doubt but
reaps whatever its manager sows, and a business manager, whether
that his chances for promotion will be largely improved,
O