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SALESMANSHIP
A Complete Section Devoted to Piano Salesmanship Published Each Month by The Music Trade Review
The Salesman Must Not Neglect the Straight Piano
Despite the Great Appeal of the Player-Piano and the Small Grand, the Upright
Piano Is Strongly Intrenched in Public Favor, and Must Be Sold Accordingly
MINGS go by oscillation, and the pendulum of public taste
T
swings first in one direction and then in another, with results
rather bewildering to the observer. It is easier to follow than to
lead, more convenient to obey the rules of the game than to make
them. So it comes about now that all the talk is of grands and
player-pianos, while our good sturdy old friend, the straight-hand-
played normal upright, finds itself with none so poor to do it rever-
ence. It is a strange world and no mistake.
l>ut the awkward part of it is that the upright piano obstinately
remains with us and, despite the cries of those who prophesy its
downfall, refuses to be downfallen, as it were. Now no sane man.
doubts that the days of the straight upright are indeed numbered,
but the numbering may take a very long time, as such things go;
and meanwhile are we not in grave danger of forgetting how to sell
the ordinary "straight" ?
Only the other day a well-known Western salesman uttered a
warning on this point which is worth our further attention. He
very justly points out that there is still a gap of no mean width
between the conceptions of the upright and of the grand in the minds
of the people. There is still a definite ]>ercentage of the possible
piano buyers whose ideas have not touched either player or
grand; especially who have not yet envisaged the notion of the
grand piano in their homes. These people must not be neglected.
If they want upright pianos, they must not too generally and
sweepingly be pushed on to the player-piano or the grand. They
may not be ready for the grand ; and it is not always and as a conse-
quence to be deduced that, therefore, they must at once be regarded
as ready for the player.
Again the straight upright may be superseded in respect of
musical value by the grand and in respect of general utility by the
player; but it remains nevertheless the instrument upon which the
majority of the present human players of the piano learned their
lesson. Not only so, but actually there arc still many more uprights
in the homes of the people than there are grands and players
together; so that while, from musical and utilitarian viewpoints, it
is old-fashioned, it retains a popularity still quite surprising. More-
over, the straight upright piano is still the instrument for those who
can play, but who cannot, or believe they cannot, afford a grand.
It is still the instrument, therefore, which most promotes the study
of music in this country. It must not be neglected too suddenly.
There is indeed a great deal to be said for an active campaign
at this time on straight uprights. In the first place, the study of
music must decidedly be encouraged; for awkward as the truth
may be, we cannot escape the fact that when we have once suc-
ceeded in killing piano study we shall at the same time have con-
trived to kill all interest in music as well as all chance of its being
propagated even in the shape of music rolls. For music rolls may
preserve, but they cannot help to originate, music. So too the
player-piano may, and does, popularize, but it cannot create, music.
We must have the straight piano and since there is a definite frac-
tion of the piano-buying public which wants an instrument below
the price of the grand, it follows that we must perpetuate the
selling of the straight upright.
The writer is firmly of the opinion that, as a musical instru-
ment, the small grand is superior to the best of uprights. The tech-
nical reasons for this statement are many and can only be sub-
stantiated by a discussion which has no place here. But the fact
remains that musical merit neither makes nor mars a type in public
estimation half so much as does some consideration of looks, size
or tradition. In the case of the straight upright, it is certainly
tradition, for the thing itself is neither especially good looking nor
especially small. It is in fact usually large, ugly and mediocre in
total capacity. Yet it is wanted; and it must be kept going. It is
wanted because it has become rooted in the affections of the masses;
and it is wanted because it is moderate in price.
It is also wanted, in many cases, because parents fear that their
children will not consent to study piano if a player is in the home.
The writer's own experience and that of friends who have tried
the experiment contradict the popular belief; but it exists and we
must provide for it. Here again is a reason for pushing the straight
upright piano.
On the other hand, the- present is no time to demand a cheap
piano. No manufacturer who is in his senses will make a cheap
piano if he can help it. There is no money in it. And there is no
money in selling that sort of stuff at retail either. The salesman
who is wise enough to see that the straight upright is a necessity
to the prosperity of the trade will also be wise enough to see that
the present is no time for selling it at figures which do not ensure
proportionately the same profit as the sale of a grand or a player-
piano involves.
The straight upright is doomed, truly; but the day of its extinc-
tion is not yet, by a long shot. Meanwhile let us not neglect it.
The Value of Simplicity of Appeal in Selling Pianos
The Average Piano Prospect Is Most Easily Reached Through a Sales Talk Which
Is Based on Simple and Elemental Ideas, Rather Than on Involved Arguments
the greatest enterprises in the world have, as a rule, had
E VEN
simple beginnings and their present size is due to the logical
progression of a series of events originating in the elementary idea.
Salesmanship can draw an analogy from just such examples. The
argument by which the prospect is led to become a buyer should
have its foundation in an idea that is simple, so simple that it may
seem to be childish. No matter what the mental status of the
prospect, the same principle can be applied to the argument intended
to convince him. Make the foundation simple and from that foun-
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