Music Trade Review

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cently, who has discovered that indirect sales approaches
have proved very successful and have brought many a
substantial sale into his store. This dealer claims that
doing many little things which are not required in the
general sense of selling has been the source of bringing
into his store people who have been sent in by those
whom he has befriended or some organization to which
he has made donations in a very substantial manner.
A small hospital needed a piano. He heard about it
and sent one to them with his compliments. To be sure,
it was a used piano but it was a good one. The result
was that several sales were made through his kindness.
A neighbor had a sick child; the child enjoyed music;
the father was tied up somewhat financially. This dealer
knew it, so he prepared a piano, a small grand, called
him up and told him he could have it at cost. The whole
neighborhood "heard about it. There were very few
pianos on that block—there are more there now, because
the people came to this dealer and bought them. Becom-
ing active in various associations and organizations
throughout the community has proved a very successful
move for this dealer, not simply because he joined the
organizations, attends various meetings, but after having
become acquainted with many of the members, he has
performed several little kindnesses which practically
didn't cost anything but built a tremendous amount of
good will for his organization. Of course, as he says,
he works about thirteen hours a day about six days a
week at the business, but at the same time he gets a
tremendous amount of satisfaction out of seeing the
business grow through his policy of indirect selling.
What he cannot understand is why there are not more
piano dealers throughout the country, because, as he
says, it's a very fine business and a piano brings so
much enjoyment to people as well as having such an
exceptional educational value, and he cannot under-
stand why more people do not become interested in
selling them. His logic is—be a joiner but be altruistic
about it and make it pay.
Something That Every Dealer Should Help Promote
HILE we are on the subject of sales promo-
tion, and particularly indirect methods of
securing business and creating piano sales,
we might again remind the piano dealers throughout the
country how important it is for them to enter whole-
heartedly into the movement which is being promoted
by the American Music Conference, the National Piano
Manufacturers Association and others throughout the
country in endeavoring to have piano lessons put into
the public schools. Great strides in this endeavor have
been made during the last five years, because as we
said in our Editorial last month, the proper approach
THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW, JULY, 1951
has been found which has interested music teachers as
well as music supervisors to the extent that they are
now coming to the American Music Conference asking
how these piano lessons can be given. It is gratifying to
know that during the last three years approximately
1500 music teachers have been instructed on how to
conduct these lessons and many cities as well as small
towns are now teaching piano in the public schools. In
addition to this, the parochial schools have become
vitally interested in the project and there are many
classes being developed in these schools throughout the
country. For many years, the various associations in
the music industry which had to do with the merchan-
dising of pianos had tried various methods of interest-
ing the public in the purchasing of pianos. There have
been many hundreds of thousands of dollars spent on
some of these projects, but they have all fallen by the
wayside. In fact, we might say that three times as
much money has been spent on various other projects
which have done practically little if anything toward
the promotion of pianos as there has been on this present
one in promoting piano lessons in the schools. It has
not only proved to be one of the most economical but
one of the most forceful methods, due to the fact that it
can be carried on from generation to generation. It is
proving itself the finest method by which to find out
whether a child is adapted or interested at all in learn-
ing how to play the piano. At first, the individual music
teachers were afraid of it. They feared that it was going
to take pupils away from them, but just the reverse has
happened, because once a child finds out that he or she
is interested in learning how to play the piano, and pre-
liminary instruction proves to the parent that such is
the case, they invariably carry on with a private teacher
after the initial instruction in school. So, here is a
promotion which should be entered into wholeheartedly
by every piano dealer in the country who should give
every support possible in their territory toward helping
establish the piano lessons in the schools. It is the one
method which not only creates present sales of pianos
but will also do so for the future.
Editor
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