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THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW, OCTOBER, 19Ul
11
How to Handle
Customers
Dealer adds interesting comments to those of
Dr. Daniel A. Laird who spoke at Convention
makes it easier for them to watch you,
also.
"The second group, the person who has
trouble deciding. There, it is better to
use a rifle and not a shotgun. Yesterday
afternoon a man from the Hartford Auto-
mobile Club called on me for a renewal.
He was a new man. I like to put salesmen
through their paces. I like to get into this
"No Sale" group for a while to make the
boys work. Some salesmen have life too
easy. I said, "No, I am not interested; I
have put out so much money and I
haven't anything for it at all except that
little thing to put on the front of my car
that looks like a Buck Roger's gun, and
that is all the good it has done me."
"I could tell he wasn't experienced.
They have about sixty different points. He
had them pretty well memorized. I said,
that's a shotgun; I am not interested.
"He said, 'Shotgun! Whose pulling a
gun on you.'
"I said, 'Use a rifle on me. My name is
Scotch. I am a Yankee living in New
England. What would you size up as be-
ing the point that might most likely sell
mel
"He said, l Well, at some of these filling
stations around here you get a ten per
cent discount on your oil and gas.'
"I said, sold.
"He took the one thing that I seemed
to be vulnerable on, hammered home on
that, and sold me, using a rifle instead
THE CUSTOMER WHO CAN'T MAKE
of a shotgun that scatters shot all over
UP HIS MIND
the lot.
Regarding the latter he stated:
"Under Rule 2, find the thing that
"Here are some simple rules, and briefly interests the person, and hammer on that.
I am going to give you two evenings' Don't talk about integrity of the make, the
lectures on sales training in a very few importation of the keys, or whatnot. Find
minutes, how to handle the customers out the things that this person seems to
who have trouble making up their minds. be most interested in and where he is
"Rule No. 1. Don't show too much mer- vulnerable, and shoot away on those.
chandise. Show them one thing at a time.
"Those are two vital points that inex-
If they don't like that, put it under the perienced sales people particularly fail in.
counter, out of sight Do not demonstrate And right now as each person repre-
three pianos or three radios in one room; sented here is beginning to feel the effects
have a separate cubicle for each one if of national defense and the loss of re-
you possibly can. When you go into placement of sales help, you have a job
Tiffany's to buy a diamond, do they get in training inexperienced sales help and
out a couple of million dollars' worth and training incapable sales help and making
throw them in front of you? No. It is not them capable. The first thing is to tell
because they are afraid you are going them two things; Don't show too much
to take them and run, even though you merchandise, use a rifle, not a shotgun."
look as though you might. You see one
Commenting on Dr. Laird's Analysis—
«t a time. It makes it easier to decide. Gene Redewill of the Redewill Music Co.,
NDEAVORING to get a
variety of suggestions
regarding the handling
of various types of cus-
tomers THE REVIEW has
asked dealers to com-
ment on the suggestions
which were made by
Dr. Daniel A. Laird in an
address which he made before the mem-
bers of the National Association of Music
Merchants at the annual convention which
was held in New York last July. Dr. Laird
took up separately several different types
which are familiar to piano merchants as
well as to merchants in other lines of busi-
ness.
His remarks were based on experiences
which he has had as Director of a Na-
tional Consumer Research organization in
which he made surveys from coast to
coast and answered complaints of about
2,000 consumers a week. He also stated
that he was familiar with musical instru-
ment merchandising due to the work he
did with an advertising agency in plan-
ning an advertising campaign for one of
the largest manufacturers of radio-phono-
graphs.
He discussed such customers as the one
who can't make up his mind, the "just
looking around" customer, the stubborn
customer, the poorly dressed customer,
the fastidious customer, the time waster,
the buck passer and several others.
In this issue the comments pertain to
Phoenix, Arizona has the following to say:
"Dr. Laird's suggestions on how to
break down a prospective customer who
cannot make up her mind seems to be
SOUND logic. However, in "Rule No. 1,"
we are forced to be the exception that
proves the rule.
"The presence of summer heat in
Arizona during five months of the year—
and which, strange to say, are our busiest
months—would make it difficult to steer
a prospect into a room and display a
single piano. Our one display room
shows everything—all on one floor—from
sixty to seventy five pianos. We find it im-
perative to keep the prospect comfortable
in body and particularly cool of head. Air
conditioning is paramount, and even the
five-and-tens offer comfort which the
shopper demands in this section—quite
unlike eastern and mid-west stores.
"We generally find it closer to the
dotted-line by stressing two or three in-
struments. In fact, the prospect often will
spot a couple of cases herself, and from
experience they "will sell themselves, if
the salesman will lay off sales talk, and
merely state a few reasonable facts of the
merits of each. "Never burn your
bridges" is our watchword. All talk must
be constructive without detriment in com-
parisons. You can never tell when a pros-
pect will switch back to the instrument
you may have knocked to build up the
one you think you can sell.
"To make the show room look more
trim, we never have the "bench to match"
on the floor, but keep it in the bench room
as a "card up the sleeve." After the pros-
pect shows interest in a certain instru-
ment, we ask: "Would you like to see the
bench to match this piano?" If she says
"yes," you know she is definitely inter-
ested, then we allow a little while for the
prospect to be alone and talk confiden-
tially with anyone who happens to be
with her # while bringing out the bench.
A good looking bench is a trump card
which generally closes the deal.
"To prevent being taken advantage of
by the prospect springing a trade-in,
when you are about ready to close, it is
advantageous to ask at the outset: "How
does this tone (or action) compare with
your present piano?" There's nothing ir-
regular about this for reason that a dealer
cannot sell a marked down, short profit
piano and make the trade-in allowance he
can afford on a new instrument.