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REVIEW
THE
VOL. LXXXIII. No. 10 Published Every Saturday. Edward Lyman Bill, Inc., 383 Madison Ave., New York, N. Y., Sept. 4, 1926
""'{Iff
l O ea? e n t g
The Four E's of Salesmanship That
Sell Reproducing Pianos
Frank L. Grannis, Vice-president of the Southern California Music Co., Los Angeles, Cal., Points Out That
They Are Enjoyment, Entertainment, Esteem and Education, and That the Greatest of These
Is Education — Develop the Last Factor to Its Greatest Extent, He Declares
WING io the fact that most of my ac-
tivities in the music business since 1902
have been, first, with the push-up piano
player, then the player piano, and finally the
reproducing piano, I certainly consider my sub-
ject a very big one because, to me, the results
obtained by a real reproducing piano place it as
one of the greatest marvels of the centurv.
The new phonographs, because of their
wonderful reproduction of sounds of all kinds,
are astounding. I cannot express my amaze-
ment at the wonders of radio.
There is a
mystery attached to radio, however, similar to
the mystery of electricity and this reminds
me of the time when trolley cars were first in-
troduced in a small town in Ohio. A farmer
said to one of the townsmen: "You can't see
what makes them cars go." The townsman re-
plied: "Why anybody knows that, you darn
fool, it's electricity." The farmer replied:
"Yes, anybody knows that it's electricity you
darn fool, but what is electricity?"
No one has been fully able to answer that
question although we use it so commonly that
it is just accepted the same as we are now ac-
cepting radio. We don't know what it is, what
it is all about, but we use it and we are
getting phenomenal results. To me, though, the
reproducing piano is even more wonderful. A
phonograph mechanically reproduces sound
while the radio picks up sound from distant
points. Both phonograph and radio accom-
plish . their results by means of a little
mechanical device, but the reproducing piano
accurately reproduces the playing of the
world's greatest pianists by actual perform-
ance.
The piano is really played, and played just
exactly as the artist played it. This is the
greatest musical achievement of the age in my
estimation, but my fear is that we are getting
so accustomed to it ourselves that we may
lose our enthusiasm and, in turn, may lose an
untold amount of business which we should
get from the sale of these glorious instru-
ments.
There are four motives which influence a
.customer to purchase a reproducing piano.
These are called "The Four E's of Salesman-
ship" and are as follows:
1.—Enjoyment—It's fine to sell reproducing
O
pianos for enjoyment, but the great trouble is
that it is temporary.
2.—Entertainment—This is also a fine mo-
tive but, like enjoyment, it is also only tem-
porary.
3.—Esteem—I am inclined to believe that
this motive is rather limited although some
people do buy reproducing pianos simply be-
r
HE educational side of the selling
problem in the reproducing piano has
too often been neglected by the music mer-
chant. The manufacturers had steadily
stressed this point, realizing that it is one
of the most important elements in creating
this instrument's popularity.
The article
on this page, tvritten by one of the best-
informed men in the Pacific Coast piano
trade, goes into this side of the question in
some detail and is worthy of every dealer's
close attention.
cause their neighbor has one, or some friend.
4.—Education.—To me this is the most
salient feature of the reproducing piano be-
cause its educational value is way above all
the other points put together.
When you stop to realize that a piano stu-
dent by means of the reproducing piano can
have for his instructors hundreds of the
world's greatest pianists we surely can look
forward to hearing, perhaps"in the near future,
greater pianists than the world has ever
known.
In my estimation, we must develop this
educational value of the reproducing piano to
its fullest extent. Often, when we are trying
to interest a prospective buyer in a reproduc-
ing piano he will say: "No, I am not interested,
my children are taking piano lessons and I
am afraid they would not practice if we had a
reproducing piano."
We must overcome this ignorance. I will
give you, in a few words, our method of con-
verting this kind of prospect. We tell them
that if their children were studying French
they would be very happy indeed to have
them associate with French-speaking people as
much as possible in order that they might so
acquire the correct usage of the French
language and the inspiration they would
naturally get from hearing it used con-
stantly and correctly. If their children were
studying painting, would they not take them
to see the world's great masterpieces whenever
and wherever possible? Such being true, and I
am sure you will agree that it is true, why not
give the child the same advantage when study-
ing the piano? It is true that there are to-
day several progressive piano teachers in this
country who use reproducing pianos to show
their pupils the interpretation, correct phras-
ing, correct expression, etc., used in playing
certain compositions by the world's masters,
but I am hoping that the time will come when
most every piano teacher who can possibly
afford it will have a reproducing piano in
their studio to inspire their pupils.
You all know it is a fact that thousands of
vocal teachers have used phonographs to as-
sist their pupils in hearing some of the world's
great voices in order to get their technic, ex-
pression, breathing, phrasing, interpretation,
etc. I believe that every vocal pupil who has
studied with a teacher (using a phonograph
with which to illustrate certain points) has, in
time, become a phonograph owner. I also be-
lieve that every piano student, who could pos-
sibly afford it, would become an owner of a
reproducing piano if they could grasp the un-
limited value it would mean to them in their
studies. In other words, it is my firm con-
viction that in the promotion of the reproduc-
ing piano (from the sales standpoint) we must
spend a great deal of-time, effort and money
on its educational value; first, because the de-
velopment of this value opens up a vast field
which is constantly increasing and, second, be
cause it develops the usefulness of the repro-
ducing piano to its greatest degree.
Undoubtedly one of the greatest sales build-
ers for the phonograph has been its splendid
educational work. Today the phonograph is
in most every public school and is always used
for the music memory contests that are put on
every year.
(Continued"oh page 11)