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REGIONAL MEETINGS
(Continued from Page 121
Byerly Says Selling
Confidence is Essential
George L. Byerly, president of the
Byerly Music Co., Peoria, 111., in his
talk on Selecting and Training Sales-
men, stated that many are of the
opinion that there will be little need
for Salesmen for sometime to come.
"This is a fallacy," he said, "because
if one goes back into history who is it
that creates jobs? The American Sales-
man is the greatest promoter in the
world. He is the biggest factor in
creative consumer demand. War ex-
perience has proved that we can pro-
duce more than we can consume. Who
is it that creates Consumer Demand.
Of course it was always the Salesman.
Seven million pre-war Salesmen, four
million now and we'll need 10,000,000
during this post-war Era. I predict a
400% increase in the present sales
force in the music industry.
"When we get what we want we
don't want it. This has been proven.
Recently we thought it time to dis-
pose of some of our rental pianos and
we exerted some pressure by saying we
needed money to buy new pianos. Im-
mediately the prospect wanted to know
about them, if they were as good as
pre-war pianos, etc., etc. The scheme
didn't work but when another group
was approached on a different angle,
when being told that pianos were hard
to get, but we might be able to help
them out in the near future they im-
mediately wanted to register a deposit.
"Due to an enlightened public the
day of the high pressure salesman is
over. A salesman to-day must have
character that will establish confidence
both for himself and the house he
represents. I believe that now is the
time to start taking stock of our own
sales plans and recruit young men and
women with character. The training
can be made quite simple and there
are numerous sales training materials
that will prove invaluable."
E. F. Novak on Service
E. E. Novak of the Cable Piano Co.,
talked on Service suggesting it is
very wise to take plenty of time to
say "No" and also plenty of time to
see that a piano is right after the sale
is made. "Service must be on a paying-
basis," he said, and in order to keep
it so be honest with your customer.
Service must be sold and when asked
to do a job be sure and find out all
the details and be equipped to do a
little more than required if necessary.
'He profits most who serves best' is a
very good rule to follow."
Hugh W. Randall, president of the
Bradford Piano Co., Milwaukee, in
his topic "Modernization" explained
how his building built in 1879 had
been brought to its modern artistic
appearance without altering the ex-
terior of the building. He showed
photos of this progressive change.
Clair O. Musser, J. C. Deagan Inc.,
talked on Promotion, Curtis Buscher
also spoke on Modernization, and Henry
J. Gearman, president of the Amer-
ican Society of Tuners and Technicians
told the tuners situation at the present
time.
St. Louis Regional Meeting
Has Large Midwestern Attendance
Music Merchants of the midwestern
area, representing Missouri, Kansas,
southern Illinois, Arkansas and Louis-
iana met at a district trade confer-
ence Oct. 1, at the Jefferson Hotel in
St. Louis. The meeting was one of a
series of regional conferences held in
place of the annual convention, which
this year would have been held in
New York, and which was cancelled be-
cause of travel restrictions.
Chairman of this meeting was W.
Perry Chrisler, president of the Aeolian
Co. of Missouri. William A. Mills, ex-
ecutive secretary for the National Asso-
ciation of Music Merchants, keynoted
the meeting in calling for a broadened
base of interest in music. "More music
for the Main Streets of America"
should be the slogan for the trade,
he said. Need for cooperation between
the various branches of the industry
is shown by the way in which one
form of musical arts stimulates in-
terest in another. As an illustration,
the motion picture, 'A Song to Re-
member," aroused unprecedented pop-
ular interest in the piano music of
Frederic Chopin, with a resulting in-
crease in the sale of records.
Further large increase in the sale
of recordings was seen by Herbert J.
Allen, sales manager of the field force
of the record division, RCA Victor
Mfg. Co., who pointed out that sales
had risen enormously in spite of the
limited number of turntables in use,
and that according to all indications,
there would be a great demand for
record-players and radio combinations
when these can be placed on the
market.
The radio industry must be prepared
to adapt itself to changes in broad-
cast technique during the next few
years, W. B. Sherrill Jr., sales mana-
ger of the Magnavox Co., said in dis-
cussing the phase of radio in the
general topic, "What's ahead for the
music industry."
The best market in the immediate
future will be for small table models,
he said, to be followed by radio-com-
binations and more elaborate sets as
trends in frequency-modulation broad-
case and television become definitely
established. Practically every radio set
in the country is obsolete or will soon
be obsolete, he pointed out, and the
industry must place itself in position
to meet the challenge of almost total
replacement.
Pianos will continue to be basic in
music sales, according to H. V.
Williams, of the Story and Clark Piano
(Turn to Page 16)
Mid-Western Denier* attend Luncheon at NAMM's Regional Meeting in St. Louis.
THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW. OCTOBER, 1945