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DECEMBER 6, 1924
THE MUSIC TRADE
11
REVIEW
Piano Terms, Credits and Collections
The Various Types of Collection Methods in Use by the Retail Piano Merchant and the Relative Efficiency of
Each Based on Their Popularity—The Status of the Personal Collector—Is He an Injury to
the Good Will of the House?—The Most Efficient Method
N a retail business enterprise where approx-
imately 80 per cent of the sales are made
upon the instalment basis the collection
department assumes an importance that is not
matched in the ordinary retail business where
the average sale is either made on a basis of
cash or upon an open account that is usually
closed within thirty days. In the retail piano
merchant's warerooms the collection department
is consequently of equal importance with the
sales department, while its work is largely sup-
plementary to the former. In fact, it may be
said that the sales department makes the sale
of an instrument so far as the cash down pay-
ment, while the collection department makes
the sale so far as all the rest of the instrument
is concerned.
The need for efficiency in this department is
therefore vital. A poor collection department
invariably means a business conducted either at
a loss or else at a very small profit, quite out
of ratio with the investment involved therein.
Haphazard collection methods not only tend to
increase overhead directly, but they force the
merchant himself to resort to shifts and ex-
pedients to meet his maturities with a conse-
quent increased expense. In fact, it has been
well said that the efficiency with which any
retail piano business is conducted may best be
judged by the criterion of the collection depart-
ment, for a good collector is almost without
exception a good merchant in the retail piano
trade.
In the survey upon which these articles are
based approximately 400 retail piano merchants
furnished detailed information regarding the
various methods which they use in their collec-
tion departments. The prevailing methods in
the order of their frequency were personal let-
ters, collectors, form letters and collections by
the salesmen making the sale. The following
are the detailed figures compiled from these
reports:
The East
Retail piano merchants in the Eastern section
of the country reported as follows: 40 per cent
used personal letters; 27 per cent used form
letters; 27 per cent used collectors, and 6 per
cent had collections made by the salesmen who
had originally made the sale.
The South
Retail piano merchants in the Southern sec-
tion of the country reported as follows: 59 per
cent used personal letters; 17 per cent used
collectors; 14 per cent used salesmen who had
originally made the sale, and 10 per cent used
form letters.
The Middle West
Retail piano merchants in the Middle Western
section of the country reported as follows: 40
per cent used personal letters; ,23 per cent used
form letters; 20 per cent used the salesmen
who had originally made the sale, and 17 per
cent used collectors.
The Far West
Retail piano merchants in the Far Western
section of the country reported as follows: 68
per cent used personal letters; 12 per cent used
collectors; 10 per cent used form letters, and 10
per cent used the salesmen who had originally
made the sale.
National Average
Compiling a national average from the figures
quoted above the following is found: Personal
letters, 52 per cent; collectors, 18 per cent; form
letters, 17 per cent, and salesmen originally
making the sale, 13 per cent.
Of course, most of the retail music merchants
I
reporting used from two to three of these meth-
ods in combination, supplementing one by the
other. However, these merchants in reporting
stated emphatically, and almost without excep-
tion, that the personal letter brought the great-
est results, and that the other methods were
only resorted to when the personal letter failed
with the exceptional collection case.
The Collector
The widest diversity of opinion was expressed
regarding the use of the collector. In the re-
ports received by The Review he was rarely
praised and often condemned. The general
opinion appears to be that he is the last resort
with a delinquent customer, although there were
some houses, few, it is true, that stated that
he was the backbone of their collection depart-
ment. In response to a question as to whether
or hot the collector was detrimental to the good-
will of the house, 23 per cent stated outright
that their experience led them to believe that
he was, while the remainder stated that they
had not found him so if his work was carefully
supervised and the men who did the work were
both carefully picked and trained.
One merchant who went into some detail
stated that so far as his experience went the
collector was best avoided. When he is used,
he said, it was only as a last resort when all
the other regular collection methods had failed
to bring results. A good sensible man, he finds,
causes no bad feeling, but this type is difficult
to obtain for the work. The other kind can do
immense damage if he is allowed any leeway
at all. This statement seemed to represent the
ideas of most of those merchants reporting on
this question.
Form Letters
Outside of the regular statements sent when
each payment is due, and which can hardly be
considered a form letter, the form letter series
does not seem to enjoy much popularity. The
merchants, as a rule, generally agree in stating
that letters written with the circumstances of
each case in mind bring better results. How-
ever, a number reported that they had developed
series which did the work and which brought
good results. These were generally the larger
houses which have a large number of outstand-
ing leases and where the collection manager
cannot know the circumstances of each sale as
he can with the smaller organization. Unques-
tionably the form letter series, if given greater
attention by the merchant, could be developed
considerably and would then be in wider use.
A number of merchants reported the use of a
combination of form and personal letters. The
collection work in some cases was started with
a series of forms, which, if they were unsuccess-
ful, were followed by personal letters. Several
also reported a system by which they used forms
generally, with a paragraph or so of a personal
nature. The combinations used here are too
many for description.
• Collections by Salesmen
Merchants who reported that they had collec-
tions made by the salesmen who originally made
the sales usually stated that they used this
method as a last resort, using the salesman
instead of the collector, as the former is more
likely to know the circumstances and conse-
quently be in a position to handle the delinquent
customer to better effect. It is not, however, a
method that is generally recommended, as to
mix the functions of selling and collecting is
generally found not to be a good thing.
The Most Efficient Method
The Review's survey shows beyond a shadow
of a doubt that the best collection method is
unquestionably the personal letter. With a vast
majority of delinquents it brings results. Most
of the merchants who furnished information em-
phasized the fact that courtesy should be used
in all letters, even in those that threatened
repossession. Without that, they stated, the re-
sults were never good. In other words, the firm
collector, not the rough collector, is the one
who brings in the money.
New Course in Piano Music
for Junior Music Clubs
National Bureau for the Advancement of Mu-
sic Issues Interesting and Valuable Booklet
on Study of Piano and Piano Music
The National Bureau for the Advancement
of Music has just issued a comprehensive vol-
ume of some sixty pages presenting a course
of study in the piano and piano music for
junior and juvenile clubs for 1924-26. This
is the second volume of a series issued by the
Bureau in co-operation with the National Fed-
eration of Music Clubs, the first volume having
to do with the instruments of the modern sym-
phony orchestra.
The new booklet has been carefully compiled
and in addition to presenting the piano in vari-
ous capacities includes considerable historical
data both regarding the instrument itself and
the music written for it. An interesting feature
is a series of program suggestions both for
lectures and recitals, as well as pertinent ques-
tions offered at various points and suggestions
as to reading material.
The purpose of the course is to aid the clubs
already formed and to stimulate the formation
and affiliation of new clubs. No rigid rules are
laid down for the formation or conduct of clubs,
but there are a number of helpful suggestions.
At the present time there are over 1,000 junior
clubs in various sections of the country, they
having increased from 200 in 1921.
Dependable Changing Name
SOUTH
BEND,
IND., November
29.—Frank
H.
Brown, president of the Dependable Music
Store Co., of this city, has just filed a petition
to have the name of the concern changed to
Frank H. Brown's Dependable Music Store,
Inc. The store is located at 118 North Main
street.
1880
1924
Quality—Service
You will realize a
Greater Profit in 1924
on
Our Dependable Quality
Pianos and Player-Pianos
Write for Prices, Terms and Catalog, also
Thm N*w DmtaiUd Fmaturmm Concerning Our Makm
WEYDIG PIANO CORP.
133rd St. and Brown PI.
Naw York Cltr