THE
VOL. LXXVII. No.9. r.blished Every Satllrday. Edward Lyman Bill, Inc., at 383 Madison Ave., New York, N.Y. Sept. 1. 1923
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Making the Retail Salesman More Efficient
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O
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of th e m os t di sc u ssed quest ions in th e mu sic indu st ries fo r the past se\"eral years ha s been the ave r
age efficiency of t he retail saleslllan _ The statellH.::11t has beel1 made time anci again tha t in gene ral hi s
\\ork is not up to the standard, that h e is defici ent in know ledg e reg-a rcling th e instrum ents he sell s,
in sh o r t t ha t h e does not l1l eas ur ~ up to th e diffi cult cha racte r of hi s task.
If thi s condition exists, anc1 th e r e is a good d eal of ey id en ce that it cloes, the responsibility is n ot to be
placed upon th e sales m a n's shoulders en t irely_ Rath er is it t h e r es ul t of the coll ecti\-e ca relessness of the in
(lu st r y in gel1~ral. F o r, w ith fe\\- except ions. th~re ha \"C hee n 110 di r ~ct effo rt s mad e to t rain the r etai l l1lu s ic
salesman in hi s \\"() r k anel th us, \V h ~n ol1 e of thes e ha s ri s~ n abm-e t h e a\-erage, i t has heen dl1l' 0111y to hi s OW il
effo rts an el to t h ~ ~x p e rienc~ he ha s g-at h ereel in thl' cou r se of hi s s~1f cd ucati on.
Sci fc(hlCat iol1 is l'xpensi \"C, n ot (Jn ly to t h e salesma n hin1 self, iJut t o th e man \\" ho empl oys him and to
th e indus tr y. 'J'hn c is 1l1uch funcl; lI 11l'ntal il1fo rl11atiun \\hic h can he placeel wit hil1 th e rea ch of t h e a\ '
SaicS lll
shu r ten the process and c r eate a producer m o r e ~co n()J11icall y a nd mo r e ex peditiou sly t han t h e o rdinary course.
This is largely the c1~ale r's task, but it is on e in w hi ch th e manufacture r can aho lencl hi s co-operat io n
a ncl a iel , and that to h is ow n proht. F o r t h e bette r the sal esm a n knows t h e instrum ent h e is sellin g, the greater i.-;
hi s en thusiasl1l r eg-ardinf?,"
it an d the more conv inced he is of it s claim s to quality. 1\11
-
. en t husiastic salesman ,
one who is sold on th e goods he is selling- befo r e he t ri es to sell them , is wo rt h a dozen 01 t h e sort w hose ac
quaintance w it h t h e in st ru m ent th ey are encleayo ring- t o have a prospect bu y is ca sua l a nd haphaza rd.
U11 anot h er pag-c of t hi s issue of Th~ Re\ 'ie\\, t he ca mpai g n hein g ca rri~d o n by the Bush & J-{
Co., fo r t h e ben e fit of the retail salesm en w h o sell t h e p r ocl uct s of that concern, is d esc ribed ill som e dda i1.
fier e is a !-inn \\hi ch h as c \icll'ntly reali zed the weakness of t h e li nk w hi ch the r etail salesman fo rm s in the
ch a il1 of di stribu tion and w hich is doin g it s hest to strengthen it. _\ nd , judg ing by th e r et urn s w hi ch thi s
ca mpaign has a lready bro ught , it ha s been s u cc~ssf l1l ill e\T ry se n Se of t he word.
Th e retail sales l1l anship cl asses conducted und e r the a u spices of the -Victor Talking YJac hin e Co . a re
anot h er and m o r e elaborate mea n s of achi e \-in g t hi s cnd. Sinc ~ t he ir in a ug urat ion th ey ha ve prO\'en th eir
wo r t h and ha\·e b een a potent m ean s of r a is ing t he sta ndard of retai l talking machin e sa les ma n ship .
l; r ol11 th es~ t wo e:\:a\l1pl es cited fr OI1l alllong se\ eral othe r s, it is e\- ident that th e 11la nufacturer s haye
cO l1le to r eali zc thei r r espon sibility in thi s dir ection. But n o matter h ow l1Iuch the m an ufac turer lllay do, 11i s
\\-urk Illll St b ~ s u[>pleiuentary to that uf t h e d ealer. The re arc too man y deale r s to-day w ho gi\"c little o r no
g uidan ce to a n e\\" sal esman_ There ar c too ma ny w h o go O\'C r the ir pros pect li s t and load a !l ew and ine ;\;
pnicnceci l11 an w ith a ll th ~ ·'dogs" t h ey can fi nd, a nd then d ecla r e it is impossible to o btain m en to sell pianos
at th e present timt'. I t is, w h en that m et h od is foll owed, and t ha t is n ot to be wond e r ed at.
There is a well know n r eta il man ager in the t rade whose r eco rd in makin g effi c ient p ia no salesm en bas
often been th e s u bj ect of comm ent . T hi s m an in building up a sales force pref e r s inexpe ri enced Illen_ He
takes these, tra in s th e m and tu rn s o u t a good ll ~ r ce n tage of produ ce r s_ 'fh ey com e fr o111 a ll walks o f lif e and
f r ollJ a ll conditi on s. But th ey r eceive t h e benefit of hi s experience, of hi s advice and of the m ethods w hi ch h e
kn ows w ill bring r es ult s. He d ocs not hin g sa-v e w ha t a ny d ealer or l1J a na g:er who has heen s uccess ful in th e
t rade ca ll do and w ith n o gT ~at expenditur e of effo r t, till1 e o r e:'\:pell se.
T hc double res po n s ibility of th e d eale r a nd the manu facture r fo r t h e trainin g of t h e m a n on th e fi rin g
linc, the rl'ta il sa les man, can no lunge r be n eglecteel saye at a ruin o us expc ns e to the indu st ry. No r \vi1l th e cA-i
c icnt sales ma n d evelop t h ro ug h hi s ow n efforts , save in e:'\:ceptional cases; a nd these arc not l111merCHlS enoll g-h
t() depend upon . The work bein g do n e hy th e Bush & Lane Piano Co. sho uld 1)(' follow ed by mo r e manuf ac·
t urn s a nd l110re dea ler s sh ol11d r ecog ni ze th a t th ey O\\T a res p()ns ihil it y to th e men w h o m ake the sa les_
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