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REVIEW
THE
VOL. LXXX. No. 16 Published Every SaUrday. Edward Lyman Bill, Inc., 383 Madison Ave., New York, N.Y., Apr. 18, 1925
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Solving the Problem of Slow Stock
by the Salesmen's Contest
How One Dealer Made a Neglected Portion of His Line a Fast Seller Through a Carefully Planned Con-
test Among His Salesmen—The Plan of the J. W. Greene Co., of Toledo, Ohio, to Move
Slow Stock Through a Contest and the Results That It Is Bringing
VERY piano merchant at some time in
his business career is confronted with the
problem of slow-moving stock. This may
take the form of a certain accumulation of in-
struments on his wareroom floors which, for a
variety of reasons, have not sold as they should,
or else it may mean an unconscious concen-
tration of selling effort on certain instruments
in the line he handles with the result that he
is carrying all his eggs in one basket and does
not do a well-rounded business. The first of
these conditions leads to an increased overhead
expense through the increased carrying charges
of this surplus stock, an increased expense
which is usually invisible, but which neverthe-
less makes itself apparent when the balance
sheet for the year is struck. The second is
dangerous in that a good volume of business,
usually in the lower grades of instruments, is
lost, which reduces the gross sales of the year
to a considerable extent. Furthermore, the busi-
ness, when it is concentrated at one end of the
line, is in much more danger from the general
fluctuations of conditions than it is when a
steady demand for all grades of instruments is
constantly worked for, thus appealing to all
classes of the community in which the merchant
makes his sales.
A year or so ago a certain New York piano
merchant, who handles one of the best known
of the reproducing pianos on the market, found
that his sales were steadily concentrating on
this type of instrument, and that the lower-
priced instruments in the lines he handled were
being almost entirely neglected. This was due
to two causes. The first was that the advertis-
ing and general exploitation work of the house
had been unconsciously been placed on the in-
strument which was most in view, a trend which
will take place with a great many merchants
unless it is closely watched. The second was
that the salesman devoted most of their time to
this instrument as the commission on the sale
of one of them was naturally much greater,
and they figured that although it probably took
a longer time to make it, in the long run their
income would be the larger. This condition,
of course, was helped by the fact that, with the
general publicity work of the house as it was,
it was natural that a greater proportion of the
prospects they received were for the higher-
priced instruments.
E
The first course which this merchant took
was to revise his advertising. The lower-priced
instruments were given a fairer proportion of
the space, and to begin with a comparatively
ONTESTS among the salesmen in a
retail piano selling organization are
one of the most effective means of arousing
the salesmen's interest and developing their
efficiency, providing always that the contest
itself is carefully planned with a definite
aim in view. The two successful experiences-
which are described in the article on this
page shoiv how they were thus used and the
results they achieved. The sales contest
idea is susceptible of much wider applica-
tion, and can find a place in every retail
C
organization.—EDITOR.
large campaign was placed behind them over a
short period. This proved eminently success-
ful. Hut it was soon found that the prospects
were not being handled by the salesmen as they
should be. They were neglected for those for
the better instruments which, of course, were
still being created by the regular advertising.
The salesmen saw the larger commission and
saw nothing else much but that.
The way in which this attitude was overcome
was through a contest. Each outside and floor
salesman was given a house bulletin in which
the reasons for sale of the lower-priced instru-
ments were pointed out, and then he was told
that the one who sold the greatest number of
three designated instruments in the lower-priced
lines over a period of three months would be
presented with an automobile. The appeal here
was based on the fact that all of these men
wanted a car, and that, with a definite, tangible
opportunity of getting it, the larger commis-
sion on the higher-priced sales took a sub-
sidiary position in their minds, enough of one
at least to make the lower-priced sale an im-
portant matter to them. Getting a car by work-
ing for it and getting paid for the work at the
same time is a much more attractive proposition
than getting paid for the work and then en-
deavoring to save enough money out of the
returns in order to buy a car. At least it seem-
ed so with this selling force, for without de-
creasing the volume of sales of the higher-
priced instruments, an increase of nearly 50 per
cent was scored in the sales of the lower-priced
ones. And this tendency was kept up after the
contest was •ended, for the drive opened the
eyes of many of the salesmen to the possibili-
ties in this part of the line.
Here is an instance in which a similar method
is being found successful in moving an accumu-
lation of instruments which a Toledo piano
merchant found himself confronted with on his
wareroom floors. The J. W. Greene Co., of
that city, as the result of a recent inventory,
found itself with sixty-three pianos on its floors,
which had proven to be "stickers," not because
of any inferior workmanship or quality in the
instruments themselves, but largely because of
physical appearance, either in wood finish, or
design, in heavy ornamentation. These instru-
ments were hard to sell, and the salesmen
naturally passed them up for the easier sales
found in the regular lines. Practically every
endeavor that was made to enlist their co-opera-
tion in disposing of them had failed.
Hut they are moving to-day, and the reason
for it is a sales contest which the firm has worked
out. A large blackboard is now a prominent
feature which catches the eye of every visitor
to the offices of this firm. On it is a sketch
map of the railroad line between Toledo and
Chicago, with the various way stations desig-
nated. The firm has announced that each sales-
man in the force who succeeds in selling eight
of these instruments will be given a trip to the
Chicago convention of the National Association
of Music Merchants in June.
Each sale made by one of the competing sales-
men moves him forward to one of the way sta-
tions on the map until the eighth sale is made,
when he is landed in Chicago at the convention
hotel. According to Preston P. Brown, sales
manager of the company, during the first week
of the contest sixteen of these "stickers" were
sold, more than had been sold in a much longer
period previously.