Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
An Important Contribution on the Problem of Selling the High-Grade
Player-Piano Successfully, by Heinrich Rousseau, General Traveling Rep-
resentative of the A. B. Chase Co., Whose Views Will Greatly Interest.
At the present time the attention of the trade is being more and more directed to the problem of attracting
the interest of that class of purchasers whose means enable them to invest in the right sort of player, meaning
by that the high-grade player. We all know that in boom times, when money is plentiful among all classes, the
tendency is, regrettably but naturally, to take the easy sales; and this means to take the cheap sales. But when
times are not so booming the workman and his family have not the easy money and are not inclined to think of
buying player-pianos. This is the time when the intelligent purchaser finds himself unexpectedly considered
by the trade. 1 lere, then, the high-grade player also comes into its own. For when you want to sell to the intelli-
gent public, which has money to spend and wants only to invest it to the best advantage, you must have high-
grade goods and must offer them in a manner calculated to attract the desires of those who know how to think,
and have the money to buy.
Thus, the problem of selling the high-grade player successfully is of immense importance to-day, and for
that reason we have pleasure in presenting on the subj . i ct the matured views of one who is an authority. We
have asked Mr. Heinrich Rousseau, of the A. B. Chase Co., to answer for us this question:
W H A T ARE T H E MAIN F E A T U R E S OF T H E PROBLEM OF SELLING HIGH-GRADE PLAYER-
PIANOS AT RETAIL AND H O W CAN T H E Y BE SUCCESSFULLY SOLVED?
His remarks below constitute his answer thereto:
- •
The Views of Heinrich Rousseau, General Representative of the A. B. Chase Co.
"Up to the present time few dealers have real-
ized the desirability of selling a rea'.ly high-grade
piano. Many of them have been content, either
through ignorance or through not thoroughly un-
derstanding the player situation, to push any
player-piano that has been presented to them by a
manufacturer as high grade. They have not taken
the time -to investigate the merits of any one spe-
cial player-piano, but have, in too many instances,
taken the dictum of some salesman. Of course
there has been an excuse for this on the part of
dealers in the past; for, since the invention of
the player-piano and until recently, there have
been so many changes that the busy retail piano
man has really not had time to devote sufficient
attention to players to know the comparative mer-
its of the various actions. He has been content to
take the word or words of some smooth-tongued,
sweet-perfumed gentleman in regard to what he
should sell, and even more often—here is a very
important point—the figures of the wholesale price
have been the attraction above quality or anything
else. Naturally, if a dealer can buy a player-
piano or a player action for, say, $100 less
than another of a higher and better grade and
he: is told that upon scientific and technical inves-
tigation he will find this player equal, if not su-
perior, to a player which costs more, he naturally
exercises his business judgment to the extent of
reasoning that the better proposition for him is the
cheaper player. The dealer does not think of the
reason why one manufacturer has to charge so
much more for his player than the manufacturer
who makes a much cheaper one. Gradually, how-
ever—and I am glad to be able to say it—the deal-
ei's curiosity has been excited to such an extent
that he is now endeavoring to solve this question,
because player-pianos in general have now devel-
oped to such an extent that, in the ordinary sense
of the word, there is not much room in the best
ot them for further development. Of course there
is the possibility always of some decidedly new
and initiative steps being taken in an entirely dif-
ferent direction; but the player-piano now is de-
veloped to a position where this possibility becomes
even more remote.
"The dealer has usually accepted the various sell-
ing arguments laid down by the various manufac-
turers without regard to the technical efficiency of
these arguments. The majority of these, set forth
as we all know, are what are commonly called
'talking points'; and these talking points may, or
may not have any real bearing upon the merits of
the player-piano; that is, only the minority of such
arguments adduce facts in support of any player
which is under discussion. But the majority of
these talking points are simply delusive, being
hatched up by the manufacturer to put over his
player. These talking points are first handed to
the dealer by well-gotten-up literature and then
passed on and disseminated throughout the entire
Heinrich Rousseau,
f-ales force. But when a salesman comes face to
face with a real selling argument—that is to say,
one that will hold water and prove the points
under discussion—he is usually wiped off the
boards, on account of his inability to come back
with anything better than the ineffective features
with which he endeavors to sell his cheap player.
And by this term T mean to imply not only cheap-
ness in construc-ion. but fundamental mechanical
inefficiency.
"Of course, good players cost money. It takes
money and brains to build them, together with
years of hard work and experience. In the ma-
jority of cases it has been my experience that
there is no real difficulty with right methods in
selling a player-piano for a price that will cover
a good instrument. The man who buys a player-
piano of any description has to have money. We
all know that some dealers, through undue anxiety
to sell and beat the other fellow, will often offer
a player-piano to people who should never have
them, and who cannot afford and never could af-
ford to pay for it. This, of course, I do not
call a 'sale.' It is merely an hysterical way of
getting rid of a player-piano or two, which will
eventually come back. I have had, in the course
of my experience, many dealers tell me that it is
impossible for them to get more than $-450 or $500
for a player-piano, and that the best terms they
can possibly get are something like ten dollars
down and ten dollars a month. In my estimation,
the person who poshively cannot pay more than
this should not have a player-piano, because such
a person cannot afford it. He might better put
or keep his money in the bank for a rainy day;
oi until at least he can make his player-piano pur-
chase a legitimate business proposition. Unfortu-
naely, however, dealers take the route of least re
hi stance, and as a result of this they also claim
'hat competition forces them to sell at these prices
and on these terms. My advice to them is to let
the other fellow have such business.
"When a lady or gentleman enters a retail store
to buy a player-piano, even if they have been
forced in by some astute salesman, they entertain
the view of buying a player-piano that will be
satisfactory. Salesmanship does the rest. To a
certain extent, salesmanship can be either directed
into right channels or grossly misdirected. The
piano salesman who sells his brother, sister or near
relative usually sells them a good player if he
knows it. But to the ordinary public he sells that
on which he can make the most. If he is for-
tunate enough to sell only a first-class player-piano,
he finds that he has not only made a friend of
the purchaser, but will draw directly from this
source other good sales, as a good player-piano
sold, and sold right, is one of the best advertise-
ments any business house can have. If, on the
oilier hand, he sells one of 'our famous $450 or
$"i00 player-pianos,' he will bring unto himself
nothing but trouble, because in a short while he
may be having all kinds of trouble, with the pur-
chaser sorry that he ever bought a player and
wishing he had a Victrola instead. In other
words, the initial charm and glib words of the
salesman were not enduring, and the plain, stern
facts are self-evident.
"A high-grade player is undoubtedly one of the
lpost-needed and greatest attractions for the home.
(Continued on page 0,)