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AUGUST 8, 1925
THE
MUSIC TRADE
REVIEW
9
Go-operation Between Piano Salesmen
and the Piano Tuners
Sales Manager H. Van Sweringen, of Lyon & Healy, Inc., Chicago, States That It Has Been a Big Mistake for
Those Two Important Branches in Retail Piano Merchandising to Act Independently of
Each Other—The Tuner as a Prolific Source of Prospects for Future Sales
O-OPERATION between the salesman
and the tuner: I wonder if we have ever
taken time to consider how important
that is! I am sure we have not. If more
mutual thought were given to it I think tuners
and salesmen would become acquainted with
each other. How many of you men know the
salesmen in our trade in Chicago? Not many
of you, I am certain. I could ask the salesmen
that question with reference to the tuners, and
the answer would be the same.
It has always been a fact that each of these
two branches of our business has gone along
independently of the other. We ought to de-
vise some scheme by which they could know
each other. Doubtless each would find the
other not half bad. The salesman has here-
tofore blamed the tuner for dissatisfaction in
the home after the piano was purchased, and
vice versa. That was the state of affairs a few
years ago, but to-day the situation is fast
changing for the better. I hope the time will
come when they can work in harmony and in
close co-operation.
This harmony and close co-operation will be
accomplished when we realize that satisfaction
to the purchaser and to the prospective pur-
chaser is based on absolute truth and facts.
After all, satisfaction and service are what
we are working for. The more service we
give to the customer the more satisfaction and
happiness the piano owner has, the more joy
music in the home becomes, and the more good
will he has toward the tuner and the house
which sold the instrument. I am sure that
most of us have found that service toward
others is one thing worth while. We forget,
sometimes, that the same axiom is true in busi-
ness. It is true of the piano business, and of
the tuning business, and of all other businesses
in the world. The more we give of ourselves
the more we receive, and that is the foundation
of service.
As to telling the truth in the selling line we
have progressed to some extent, and yet there
are stores where everything is a lie: the sales-
men lie, the advertising lies, the prices lie, the
whole establishment from start to finish is a
lie, and consequently the tuners who work for
these firms are supposed to lie after the pianos
are delivered.
I was young and with no business experience
whatsoever when I began in the piano business,
but the selling tactics in the store where I was
employed made a great and lasting impression
on me. Customers were promised everything
and told anything, and were given a lot of mis-
information about pianos. Facts in general and
the truth about the lines the salesmen were
selling were absolutely never given. Perhaps
we should excuse those salesmen somewhat
for the reason that they were never trained
to sell in what I consider the right manner,
nor were they ever given any facts about the
piano as an instrument of music. If a recent
purchaser happened to return to the store for
some reason, the salesman who made the deal
was usually seen making a quick get-away
out the back door, or seeking a hiding place
behind a conveniently located upright. Condi-
tions were bad in the store I speak of, be-
cause the salesmen thought they had to lie
to sell. Truth is a rock of Gibraltar on which
to build any character and business.
C
I mention the above for the simple reason
that there has been, and still is, so much un-
truth in our business. Doubtless, you gentle-
men have come to see the truth in the tuning
business makes for satisfaction and joy in your
work. Co-operation between you and us can
be based only on that principle. We can never
co-operate if we tell different stories to pur-
chasers, and the stories will always be different
unless they are founded on facts and correct
information. I know that salesmen are much
to blame for not giving the right information
about pianos in general, and about tone in par-
ticular, but perhaps there is some excuse for
them; because I have known salesmen who
sold pianos for years who not only did not
play a note but who also could not even tell
when the instrument was badly out of tune.
Now I know this condition does not obtain
among you men, therefore there is no excuse
for not sticking to the truth with the customer.
The following are a few points which, I be-
lieve, will be of mutual benefit:
Prospects
From a business standpoint, I believe the
tuner or service man to be the best source of
prospects to any firm. And yet it has been my
experience that few tuners take advantage of
their opportunities to bring in prospects, to
work sales effectively and earn their commis-
sions. Now that such a gre^at change is taking
place in our trade, and by that I mean the
passing of the upright, it should be easy to
find prospective purchasers for grands and re-
producing pianos.
We have in our store what is called an "inner
sales division." That is, each employe has
an opportunity to turn in prospects and re-
ceive commissions if sold. As you know, we
have a good sized force of tuners. They have,
with our name and prestige, a great chance to
sell pianos. But there is only one man who
recognizes his opportunity, while the rest do
not seem to be alert. This one man actually
sells all the time while he is tuning every day.
In fact, every month he makes a good sized
addition to his salary through commissions on
sales. I call that co-operation with the sales-
men, because he makes these sales by keeping
in touch with our sales force and working
with it.
I believe that obtaining prospects and making
sales through your tuning customers is merely
a matter of thinking about them.
Now the salesmen, in turn, should explain
to customers that a piano should be tuned
three or four times a year. They not only
ought to explain, but should be made to sell
the idea as we sell pianos. It is a diffi-
cult thing to do sometimes, but it is. getting
easier each year. In our store we try to get
a contract for three or four times a year on
every piano we sell. We are trying to do our
part to teach the purchaser that a piano needs
attention. Each purchaser is a tuning prospect.
Service Department
In the better type of piano store I believe
the service or tuning department is more ap-
preciated than formerly. The tuner is more
and more recognized as a necessary factor in
keeping the customer satisfied with his pur-
chase. The tuner can either make or break a
sale. He should, of course, take care of the
firm's interests wherever possible. I know that
where a tuner is employed by a house that sells
only by "gyp" methods it must be difficult for
the tuner who has a conscience. The only
thing I can suggest to him in such a case is to
go to another house of better reputation.
High-grade service is more necessary since
the advent of the reproducing piano. It is cer-
tainly true that piano tuners need more and
more to be efficient player repair men. They
have to be even more tactful than one who does
just tuning, for the reason that the customer
does not realize that the more mechanism there
is the more adjustments must be made from
time to time. We need tuners who are better
posted on everything, just as we need sales-
men who are better posted on the piano, re-
producing piano, music and musicians in gen-
eral.
The service department, instead of showing
a great deficit each month, is now becoming a
regular money-making department. The tuners
who are employes of the various houses are
in a position to help make this service pay the
house that gives it. You gentlemen who are
working independently can do a great deal to
help people to understand that pianos and play-
(Continued on page 29)
Pratt Read
Products
P i a n o Ivory
Piano Keys
Piano Actions
Player Actions
Established in
1806
at Deep River, Conn.
Still There
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Quality
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Maintained for Convenience
of Dealers
PRATT, READ & CO.
THE PRATT READ
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