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MUSIC TRADE
REVIEW
UnSeTTEE
S
OME of the larger manufacturing companies in various lines
in this country make it a point to call all their salesmen to-
gether at least once a year and take them through their entire plants
for the purpose of explaining to them every detail of the manu-
facturing processes, and especially the improvements that have been
made in those processes, during the year, through the introduction
of new machinery and by other means. Such a course of instruc-
tion naturally proves expensive, especially where the sales staff is
a large one, but the companies believe that the investment is a
wise one inasmuch as it gives the salesman a first hand knowledge
of the manufacturing end of the business upon which to base his
most telling arguments. This is a point for piano dealers to con-
sider, and as a matter of fact many of them have already seen the
wisdom of the move. The son who will succeed his father as the
head of the business, the salesman who shows real promise, and
even the present head of the house himself, should have the oppor-
tunity of gaining a knowledge of every detail in piano manufac-
ture from the time the raw materials are delivered to the factory
to the time the finished product is loaded on the truck or car.
While the majority of the dealers have a working knowledge of
piano manufacture, the strides being made in the manufacture of
the player-piano, the constant improvements being made in the
mechanism of those instruments, makes frequent visits to the fac-
tory a real business necessity. The time consumed by an employe
or even the head of the house in studying at the factory is well
expended and will pay dividends in the future.
* * *
HE average piano purchaser knows little or nothing about the
construction of a piano and especially a player-piano, and he
relies upon the salesman to explain to him just why the particular
instrument being offered is the one he should buy. The case may
be handsome and the tone good, but the wearing qualities of both
is a matter of doubt unless the salesman can explain intelligently
that the process of manufacture and the materials used are such
as ensure proper wearing qualities. A typical instance of technical
ignorance was recently cited by an advertising man who while in a
neighboring city chanced to visit a piano store where a complete
stock of player-pianos of different makes and varied prices was
handled. One player was offered at $550, another at $750, and
still another at $1,250. The exteriors of the three instruments did
not show why there should be such a heavy difference in price, the
playing of the salesman did not explain it, while the names on
the fall boards meant nothing to the visitor so far as comparative
prices were concerned. When asked to explain the difference be-
tween the instruments, the best the salesman could do was to call
attention to the names of the makers, point out a slight differ-
ence in the arrangement of the control levers and buttons, and jump
into a discussion of tone quality that to a man with money to spend
meant nothing and did not add a single dollar to the value of even
the cheapest of the trio of instruments. A month or even a fort-
night spent in each of the factories making the instruments handled
by that house would have put the salesman in possession of real
information that would have been convincing because it would be
based on fact and would have placed him in the position of knowing
his line and of having the confidence that goes with such knowledge.
A difference of some hundreds of dollars in price is readily ex-
plained to the satisfaction of the prospect when the details of pro-
duction are thoroughly understood, for then the salesman is fighting
the battle on his own ground.
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* * •*
'""P'HOSE piano dealers who are flirting with the one-price sys-
X
tern and who complain bitterly of the inroads made on their
profits by commission fiends, should observe the excellent work
that is being done by the O. K. Houck Piano Co., of Memphis,
Tenn., in this connection. The following data set in small type
in the center of a large white space appeared in the local papers
of Memphis recently, and the facts herein set forth in part are
well worth consideration: "The exact amount our company paid
out as commissions on piano sales during the years 1908, 1909 and
1910, was $12,156.03, all of which was received by outside parties
not in our employ, as all of our salesmen were paid a regular
salary. This figures an average of $4,052.01 per year and $337.66
per month. Soon after adopting the absolutely 'One Price' plan
of selling goods and guaranteeing our prices the lowest in the
whole United States, it was soon discovered that we could not
afford to stand this enormous drain of commissions and continue
the 'One Price' system. We then took the very radical step of
refusing to pay commissions to anyone, have advertised the fact in
every way and maintain the position taken with the same consist-
ency that we adhere to the 'One Price' system. In the old days we
were compelled to pay a commission to those who assisted in mak-
ing sales, but the larger part of those commissions were paid to
those who did not earn them. To illustrate—you might mention to
a friend or acquaintance that you intended to purchase a piano.
That friend assured you that he could save you money at a certain
house, and believing in him, you accepted his statement. He prob-
ably knew no more about the construction of a piano than he did
of an airship, but nevertheless the sale was made and he received
anywhere from 5 to 15 per cent, for his 'advice' to you. Where
there are no fixed prices to maintain it is obvious to anyone that
in reducing the price during the negotiation of the sale, the house
must take into consideration the commission that is to be paid, and
you yourself really pay the commission. It is also a fact that some
interested in receiving commissions on piano sales will give the
name of the prospective buyer to every piano dealer in the cky
where the 'One Price' plan is not maintained, and whoever makes
the sale pays the commission just the same. The curse of the piano
business is the paying of this holdup commission—not really earned
—forcing the dealer to ask fictitious prices for his goods and get-
ting all he can out of the trusting public."
*t * *
USINESS men have been awaiting with great interest the
government's figures on the country's foreign trade for
September. It was known beforehand that the exports and the
excess of exports over imports would be large. They were pub-
lished early this week, and each ran far beyond the highest previous
September record. One reason always present, for interest in a
large trade balance, is the fact that it so often has preceded trade
revival—as the huge "export surpluses" of 1898 and 1899 unques-
tionably did, and as was the case even with the large outward
balances of 1908. Then, too, the matter is one of present interest
in view of the enormous loans made last month by American banks
to Europe. In a sense, we are shipping the capital thus loaned, in
the form of grain and steel and cotton; just as the European capital
which our market borrowed in the spring of 1910, when America
was hard pressed and Europe flush with money, came in the form
of imported merchandise. In the single month of March, that year,
our merchandise imports exceeded exports to the extent of $19,254,-
000. The September trade statement shows the largest exports by
$26,800,000 of any September in our history, and, in spite of the"
fact that it also showed the largest September import figures, there
was an excess of exports larger by $8,502,000 than in any previous
September. In no year except 1897 did the September export
surplus run within $14,000,000 of last month's $70,600,000. What
is especially interesting in the $27,000,000 increase of exports over
September, 1910, is the fact that the increase was almost equally
divided between agricultural and non-agricultural products. That
means that our manufacturers are busy looking after the foreign
markets.
* * *
T a meeting of the Board of Directors of the National Associa-
tion of Manufacturers held in New York this week, a resolu-
tion was passed in which a demand was made for the prosecution of
the so-called "labor trust" under the Sherman Law as a combination
acting in restraint of trade. This is an interesting development of
the "war on business" campaign.
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