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REVIEW
THE
VOL. LXXXI1I. No. 9 Published Every Satirday. Edward Lyman Bill, Inc., 383 Madison Ave., New York, N. Y., Aug. 28,1926
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Making the Business Man a Prospect
for the Reproducing Piano
Six Weeks' Campaign Conducted by Kohler & Chase, San Francisco, Cal., in Series of Concerts Exploiting
the Ampico Before the Leading Business Men's Organizations of That Territory Brings Direct
Results — Intelligent Presentation of This Instrument Always Means Sales
N
O more successful method for trailing
the elusive businessman to his lair when
it is desired to sell him a reproducing
piano can be devised than that of demonstrating
the instrument before him when he is with a
group of other business men, enjoys the safety
actually heard by the prospect is without ques-
tion. At the outset there was found an in-
clination in various quarters to consider the re-
producing piano as an improved type of player,
rather than an entirely new instrument distinc-
tive in itself. Such extravagant claims had been
The Men Who Directed and Conducted the Ampico Drive
of numbers, and while off his guard against a made for certain player-pianos in advertising
selling talk can feel free to concede the excel- copy that even a plain statement of facts re-
lence of the performance and the possibilities of
garding what the reproducing piano would do
the instrument as demonstrated.
was discounted by those who were seeking
No small share of the credit for the exploita- something beyond the ordinary player that they
tion of the reproducing piano in the past has must operate and regulate themselves. All this
been due to the foresight of those who created made the actual demonstration of the reproduc-
and took full advantage of the opportunity to ing piano to show what it could accomplish
offer that instrument as an entertainment fea- absolutely essential.
ture before business and social organizations.
Despite the good work that has been done by
Not only were more people reached directly by leading reproducing piano manufacturers, and
means of these massed demonstrations than the amount of money and effort devoted to the
could possibly have been done regardless of ex- presenting of these instruments to the public
pense by treating with the individual, but the under most favorable conditions, there still re-
members of the audience were in a frame of
main many excellent prospects who have not
mind to appreciate the musical value of the in- been corralled simply because of the fact that
strument without the feeling of obligation to a they have not yet been reached by the propa-
salesman, and many listened and enthused un- ganda. Evidence of the richness of the field is
consciously who could not have possibly been
found in the experience of those piano mer-
approached by any direct canvass.
chants who have taken occasion to give serious
That the success of reproducing piano ex- thought to demonstrating their instruments be-
ploitation depends upon having the instrument fore various local organizations. Invariably
such massed demonstrations if properly fol-
lowed up bring actual results from sales that
make them distinctly profitable.
An instance in point is found in the recent
experience of Kohler & Chase, in San Fran-
cisco, Cal., where the Ampico in the Knabc
grand, and to a certain extent in the Fischer,
has been the subject of a demonstrating cam-
paign over a period of six weeks or more car-
ried on by an enthusiastic sales staff under the
guidance of E. Fred Colber, general representa-
tive of William Knabe & Co., who has re-
mained in San Francisco throughout the period
and who has carried a large share of the burden
of the work.
During these six week a spi-cial effort wa<
made to present the Ampico before leading
business men of the city, those in a position to
appreciate the quality of the instrument, and,
more important, in a position to purchase it.
The results of this effort are found in the fact
that during the period the Ampico was
presented before twenty-five or more business
organizations in the city and environs, these in
addition to various art clubs, women's clubs,
social organizations and educational institutions.
The series brought tangible results in the
matter of sales that were highly gratifying to
Kohler & Chase, due to intelligent pres-
entation of the product under Mr. Colber's
direction. The Knabe representative gave a
number of talks before the clubs on musical
appreciation and other topics, illustrating his re-
marks with piano solos and Ampico recordings,
playing by hand in comparison with his own
Ampico records. The services of various local
artists were also enlisted, including vocalists
and violinists who helped to round out the pro-
grams and at the same time demonstrate the
value of the Ampico as accompanying instru-
ment.
That the direct sales realized during the
period of the demonstration" were highly satis-
factory in number is vouched for by Earl E.
Small, recently appointed manager of Kohler
& Chase and who gave his support to the work.
Naturally the top has not yet been scratched in
capitalizing the result of six weeks of demon-
stration. It means that there lies before the
Kohler & Chase salesmen a freshly develooed
(Continued on, page 13)