PRESTO
April 17, 1920.
POWER OF CIVILITY
IN PIANO SELLING
Common Sense Article From the Baltimore
Sun, in Which There Is Valuable Sugges-
tion for Many Men Who Promote the
Musical Instrument Trade.
There is a tremendous power in common civility
—did business men but know it and put it into prac-
tice. Reference is now made to the kind of civility
that belongs in a world that is safe for democracy;
not the veneered type of civility that goes pussy-
footing through the world under the misnomer of
diplomacy. What is meant is common decency,
such as one would expect to find in any office or
factory in the United States. It is a matter which
must interest all piano men—sometimes piano sales-
men more than some other business men.
The Value of "Thank You."
One of the editors of the Baltimore Sun must
have been thinking along this line when he wrote
the following editorial which appeared in that paper
Lyon & Healy
Apartment Grand
Piano
Sole Makers
Chicago
EatabtUhod lUf
Strauch Bros,
All W«ll-pott»d Piano
Dealers and Salesmen
r«cognif« tk«
of this name on *
Piano Action,
For n«ftiif 50 jtu» it has b««c associated
with the bast products of the piano industry.
It has always raprsaantad
Quality and Merit
When a Piano Action bears the namt of
Strtmch Brot. it is an additional guarantee
of tha quality of the instrument containing it.
STRAUCH BROS.
Pimn»-Action; H*mtnmr*mndR«pmira
22 to 30 Tenth Arenue
New York
Tour Prospective Customers
•re listed in our Catalog of 99% guaranteed Mailing
Lists. It also contains vital suggestions how to ad-
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ing all classes; for instance. Farmers, Noodle Mfrs.,
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Send Them Sales Letters
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Send for free instructive booklet, "Value «/
.Salet Letters."
Ross-Gould
_ Mailing
Si-. Louis
in its issue of April 3: The article is so good, and
may be so profitable in the piano trade, that the
space it takes is well expended:
A business man who was a power in his little
world, and therefore by accepted standards under
no obligation to remember his manners save when
dealing with persons who promised him a profit,
resolved one morning to brush up in the art of
courtesy by practicing it on such of his fellows as
crossed his path, regardless of their station of life.
He bought a morning paper from the newsboy on
the corner and said "Thank you" as he received it.
The boy glanced up suspiciously, but, finding no
hint of sarcasm, grinned his appreciation and
whistled as he went his way.
As the man boarded a car he smiled and wished
the conductor a good morning, and discovered to
his astonishment that conductors are not automa-
tons, but regular humans, with opinions and am-
bitions and everything like that.
And Courtesy Counts.
At the office he took the elevator with one of the
girls who worked for him somewhere on the fourth
floor. As he entered he removed his hat and spoke
to her. Later she reported the incident to her
fellow-workers and voiced the general opinion that
the boss wasn't half as sour and stuck-up as com-
mon report declared him.
The man's stenographer was neither young nor
beautiful, yet he gave her a cheerful greeting and
thanked her when she had taken his dictation. She
colored painfully and resolved to make an effort to
learn to spell.
When department heads were called to the office
they went back to their duties glowing with the
thanks of the boss, and carried with them the con-
tagion of his courtesy, so that as the day wore on
hundreds of workers found themselves saying
"Please" and "Thank you." When the closing hour
came there wasn't a grouch in the building.
Cheerful to the "Cop."
The man walked home to stretch his legs at the
expense of sole leather, and passing a "cop" on a
quiet street called out a cheerful "Good night." The
"cop" answered as cheerfully and was enabled to
forget, for as much as five minutes, the fact that his
landlord had served notice of approaching disaster
in the form of increased rent.
With one successful day to his credit, the man
resolved to continue the experiment. It is true that
his friends accuse him of political ambitions, but
his employes are now working with him instead of
for him, and he has learned that courtesy pays un-
limited dividends, even though it isn't common
stock.
In the Piano Trade.
Of course in the business of selling pianos cour-
tesy is absolutely necessary. No grouch ever made
a success of it. Here the ability to smile and to
say the right thing counts as largely as anywhere in
the world. There have been piano salesmen who
knew nothing at all about piano playing, but who
could outsell most of the experts because of their
ability to convince and win confidence by their
manners and their civility.
Today the playerpiano reduces the requirements
of the salesmen, in that it makes it unnecessary to
possess the skill of the practical pianist. But the
need of the winning elements of cheerfulness and
civility is even enhanced. And it is the piano man
who sustains his civility to customers long after
the sale has been closed, and the instrument de-
livered, lhat wins in the long run. The dealer, or
salesman, who can't greet a customer with a com-
plaint just as cheerfully as before the sale had been
made, is not a success. Civility is contagious, just
as surely as the measles or the "flu." It is a good
thing to cultivate, and it is a priceless asset in any
piano store.
A LEADER FOR ROTHSCHILD'S.
The piano department of Rothschild & Co., Chi-
cago, is to be enlarged according to plans already
made by the management of the big department
store. The Meister piano will continue to be an im-
portant feature in the business of the department,
but if the views of C. L. Morey are acted upon the
Rothschild store will have a high grade line for
leader. The identity of the line sought or secured
has not been revealed by the, genial department man-
ager.
-'•• •-. ?:*•• ^ '- M " - -
NEW HUTCHINSON STORE.
The piano and playerpiano lines of the Smith,
Barnes & Strohber Co. and the Bush & Gerts
Piano Co. will be handled by E. Dickerson in the
new store recently opened by him in Hutchinson,
Kans. Mr. Dickerson is an experienced man in
the piano field in that section. He was formerly
with the J. O. Adams Music Co. of Wichita.
Among the protests to Congress against the pas-
sage of the Stengall and McFadden bills was ons
from the Haddorff Piano Co., Rockford, 111.
29
QUALITY FIRST
AND
FIRST QUALITY
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FACTORIES at New Castle, Ind.
AUSTRALIAN OFFICE:
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"A Name Wall Known Sim* 1S7S"
STEGER
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^Others Follow
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Jackson and Wabash
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AMERICAN
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Felts, C l o t h s , H a m m e r s ,
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A Full Lino of Materials for Pianos a « 0
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When In Need of Supplies
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110-112 E, 13th St,
New Vork
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