Music Trade Review

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THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
17
Question of How Best to Increase the Sales of High Priced Player-Pianos
—Overcoming Certain Public Prejudices—Why the Manufacturer Should
Take Into His Own Hands the Supervision of the Details of Player Selling.
At the present moment there is a fairly general
complaint throughout the player trade to the ef-
fect that business is dull. Those who get out
among the dealers are saying everywhere that the
principal cause for dissatisfaction in retail circles
comes from the obvious lack of facilities for pro-
ducing a public interest in the better class of
goods. Dealers are telling us everywhere that they
do not sell high-grade players in sufficient quan-
tities. In other words, they are saying that they
are failing to secure the interest and enthusiasm
of the wealthy buying public—of that public which
will gladly pay $2,000 for an automobile and $200
for a talking machine, but which grudges the price
of a good player. The retail trade is now openly
admitting that players can only be sold readily on
terms, just as cheap pianos are sold. Surely this
is a state of affairs which must be deplored.
Now, whatever others may say, it seems evi-
dent to the writer of this article that the primary
difficulty lies in the way the player is presented to
the public. Some one will tell us that this is old
stuff and that they have heard the same story be-
fore. This is granted, but at the same time the
point is here insisted on that ideas do by no means
become old stuff so long as their value is not thor-
oughly appreciated. Now, in the case of the piano
player business, we are safe in saying that appreci-
ation in the present matter has by no means come.
How often has the salesman heard this reply to
his solicitations: "No, thanks, one player in the
block is enough?" How often have intelligent
people been heard to say that they "would not
have one of those things in the house; so and
so has one next door, and between the children who
try to see how hard they can run it and the par-
ents who think them cute, we have had all the
player-piano we want. Let us go get a talking
machine, which at least sounds decent." Just
such replies as these are given every day to the
inquiries of salesmen and to their attempts at in-
teresting intelligent people in the musical possi-
bilities of the player-piano.
In point of fact, the general run of the public,
educated and uneducated alike, believe the player-
piano to be a very bad mechanical substitute for
what is called "real playing." Just so long as this
condition persists we can hardly hope to interest
the wealthy and cultured in the player-piano.
The Reason for All This.
And what, exactly, is the reason for all this?
The answer is not far to seek. The reason lies
in two special facts, the first being that scarcely
anybody, in or ou* of the trade, can play the
player-piano decently, and the second being that
virtually no effort is made by the general run
of dealers to give the purchasers any sort of serv-
ice calculated to encourage and assist any at-
tempts they make to become acquainted with the
instrument after it is in their homes. Right here,
in just these two facts, we can find the basis of
all the troubles of which we have been speaking.
The object of the salesman who interviews a
prospective customer is, or should be, to demon-
strate that the player-piano is something that
everybody can play. Hence it is absolutely essen-
tial that he should make no attempt to do any
special "stunts" in demonstrating, since these
merely tend to scare the prospect, while also it is
essential that he should make every effort to in
duce the prospective purchaser, from the very
start, to sit at the instrument and run it himself
In doing this, however, he must remember that
the way to create an interest is to get good mu-
sical results from the start, and this again means
that a recorded roll is the best proposition in the
world for the salesman to use on the prospect.
But even this is not more than preliminary to the
real crux of the matter.
Two Things to Remember.
When the player is sold there are two things
to be remembered. The first is that the impres-
sion which is gained by those at home from the
first evening with the player is likely to persist,
while the second is that the actual consummation
of the sales contract is only a first step in the task
of inducing the prospect to keep the instrument, to
become well satisfied with it, and to continue the
buying of music. The wise dealer is the dealer
who not only sees all this, but takes precautions in
respect thereof. There is a big dealer in the Mid-
dle West who has recently issued two orders. One
is that no salesman shall do any "stunts" in dem-
onstrating, and that only record rolls shall be used
in showing off the player to the customer, while
the other is that no music shall be delivered at the
home with the player-piano, whether ordered or
not. Instead of delivering the music with the
player, the dealer sends around the salesman that
same evening with the music, and he immediately
proceeds to show the family how to play the in-
strument, demonstrating as clearly as he can the
use of the various expressive devices, while care •
fully avoiding the appearance of doing any spe-
cial skilled "stunts." The salesman's instructions
are not to leave the place until he feels that he
has left the solid impression that the player now
in that house is one that can indeed be played
well and that can be played by anybody with
enough intelligence to follow simple instructions.
This is well, but there is yet more to be done.
Tt is the duty of every player manufacturer to see
that the retailers carry out such a plan as this.
It is no use to say that the wise dealef will see
to it that this is done, for in point of fact alto-
gether too many dealers are thinking so much
about getting one more sale to-morrow that they
have no time for constructive work of this sort.
Some people will say that this is the fault of the
manufacturer in tying up with that sort of dealer,
but while we are waiting to find manufacturers
with sense enough to choose a better grade of
retail man for agents or with foresight enougli
to see that present methods of financing are all
wrong, we might as well do the next best thing,
and that is see that the dealer is forced to do cer-
tain things in certain ways. We have mentioned
above just one line of attack that can easily and
rightly be set forth by the dealer and which will
have the effect of overcoming the present public
prejudice against the player-piano, but the truth is
that there are many other possible lines along
which we can proceed which will bring us to the
same goal in the end, namely, to the point of see-
ing that a general inspection service on the part
of the manufacturer is absolutely needed at this
present time.
In other words, we hold the view strongly that
it is the part of wisdom for the manufacturer to
take into his own hands more and more a super-
vision of the details of player selling. We be*
lieve that every dealer should be compelled to
enter into an agreement to adopt certain policies
in the sale of players, such as those we have men-
tioned, and such as certain others like periodical
visits to the home, inspection of players, solicita-
tion in the buying of music, teaching the purchaser
to play, and so on. And we are quite certain that
the very best thing the manufacturer can do is
to have his own men bear the brunt of this inspec-
tion service.
Advantages
of Supervision.
Is it not quite plain that such a course would
be extremely advantageous to everybody con-
cerned? Surely there is no question that all these
things are desirable, nor is there any question that
those player manufacturers, who have at one time
or another undertaken the mechanical inspection
of their players, have been glad that they had
sense enough to undertake such a duty. It is true
wholesale inspection service of this type has been
largely abandoned, but such inspection was pri-
marily mechanical and hardly at all promotive.
What we need, and what we can all provide, is
an inspection service intended to be promotive;
an inspection service which will follow the player
into the customer's home and which will see, during
the first year of that instrument's home life, that
it is well cared for, intelligently understood and
intelligently enjoyed. Three visits a year from a
competent inspector able to play, to talk and to
teach, as well as to fix mechanical troubles, would
virtually abolish the present large number of re-
possessions due to the customer falling down on
his payments owing to dissatisfaction, inability to
play well and kindred troubles.
Of course, there will be the usual objections that
it cannot be done, that the cost would be prohibi-
tive, and so on. But we ask no more than that
before making such objections the manufacturer
will sit down and really attempt to figure out the
cost of visiting and caring for his players sold at
retail. Let him figure the actual cost compared
with that of his present way of doing business,
and it is odds on that he will think more seriously
of what has here been said.
The Master Player-Piano
is now equipped with an
AUTOMATIC TRACKING DEVICE
Which guarantees absolutely correct tracking of even the most imperfect music rolls
W I N T E R & CO., 220 Southern Boulevard, New York City