Presto

PRESTO
March 1. 1024.
CHRISTMAN
"The First Touch Tells' 9
Two Types of Artistic
Successes
TWO SCHOOLS OF
SALESMANSHIP
Futility of the Doctrine of "Forcefulness" Ap-
plied to Daily Job of Inside or Outside
Salesman Is Shown by Manager
of Retail Store.
DIFFERENCE IN METHODS
Mentality, Not a Strong Jaw, the Most Essential
Quality in the Man Who Would Persuade
Prospects and Close Deals.
CHRISTMAN
Studio Grand
Only 5 Feet Long
Has No Superior in
the High Class Trade
In any Store or Stock it Stands Forth
in Beauty, and in Tone Power and
Quality it presents the Highest Claims
to Popularity with discriminating
buyers.
And No Less Are The
CHRISTMAN
Reproducing
Grands and Uprights
Favorites with Dealers
who sell fine instruments. They are
as Perfect in Operation as can be
made, and they are the True Christman
in Tone and Construction.
We Will be Glad to Send Particulars, Prices
and Terms to Live Piano Merchants
"The First Touch
Tells"
Reg. U S. Pat. Off.
Christman Piano Co.
597 East 137th St.
New York
One thing all the schools and individual teachers
of salesmanship dwell upon is the importance of
"strength of character" and "force of appeal." And
a few define "force" as something a little short of
manhandling, the necessity of staying with the pros-
pect until his endurance is worn out, or until some-
body is called to bounce the forceful salesman.
The meaning of a good deal of the instruction is
that a man should be equipped with a good "front.'
That is, be impervious to the invective of the an-
noyed prospect whose "no" is not taken for an an-
swer. . If you have the nerve to butt into the pres-
ence of a prospect and then the gift of the gab to
talk him, or her, to a fare-you-well r you are up to
standard as a salesman, according to some of the
make-you-by-mail professors. It is wrong doctrine,
and does not work worth a cent in the piano busi-
ness.
Real Force.
Any self-respecting man will have the proper
"front" for selling pianos. And a piano salesman can
be forceful while at the same time he is suave. His
best persuasions are by arguments willingly listened
to. Getting the ear of a person is not always a first
step towards closing a sale. The graduate of the
forceful school of piano selling considers all man-
kind his prospects whereas the most of them are only
his victims.
Successful piano salesmanship is largely a matter
of intelligence. And the intelligent salesman realizes
that the winning sales method is one of suggestion.
The real piano salesman, the one with a record for
sales, is loth to assert in the manner prescribed by
the school of bulldozing. He realizes that people are
far more likely to accept incidental and apparently
disinterested evidence than assertions from the loud
partisan. The suggestion to buy a certain piano is
often more effective than the straight-out verbal ad-
vice to do so.
Intelligent Methods.
The intelligent piano salesman naturally knows the
wisdom of saying as little as possible, and of limit-
ing his words to a proper and effective vocabulary.
A gabby salesman may create a feeling in a prospect
hurtful to his chances of making a sale by the fatal
use of the wrong word. The wise salesman, for in-
stance will never use the word "cheap" in relation to
his own line. Not even when he is alluding to a used
piano. He is a believer in the psychological phases
of the selling job, the necessity for creating the
friendly, not the wary, state of mind in the pros-
pect.
Even when the word "cheap" is used in a compara-
tive way, applied to price it has a bad mental effect,
and a connection of the word with the quality of
the piano is unconsciously made. Of course the
phrase "second-hand," should never be used. That
kind of piano is always "used," or "reconditioned" or
"rebuilt," and it is of "moderate price," not cheap.
Other Objectionable Words.
Even the word "contract" is never used by some
dealers particular about the effects of suggestion.
They prefer "agreement," which has a pleasanter
shade of meaning. To customers unversed in the
technicalities of business the word "contract" has a
terrifying sound.
The power to suggest in a salesman involves the
possession of the quality commonly known as mag-
netism, which is something vastly different from the
forcefulness preached by the mistaken doctrinaires.
The magnetic salesman does not bully, truckle or
palaver. But he makes the prospect feel his ability
because he gets in tune with his nature. He sug-
gests confidence, and in that lies his ability as a good
salesman.
Personality Sticks Out.
Another thing the false doctrinaires insist upon is
the development of what they call the salesman's
"personality." Indeed, they have dwelt upon it so
much in their teaching that the novice endeavors
to develop his personality as he would his voice or
his muscle.
It doesn't work out right. In the interviews with
prospects his personality expands until it obscures
everything, whereas it should be made to take modest
proportions. What chance has the piano if the sales-
man's personality fills the foreground and occupies
nearly all the space in the vicinity. Instead of do-
ing an incisive job of suggesting in a modest man-
ner, his rambunctious ego does a shimmy all over
the room.
Dealing with Skeptics.
An argument for the suggestive method of dealing
with prospects is the fact that most people are skep-
tics. And where the skeptic is fortified against the
flat and maybe forceful statement, the apparently un-
conscious remark creeps into his mind unawares and
scores its impression. The wise piano salesman does
not "know too much," nor does he ever obtrude his
all-embracing knowledge on the skeptical customer.
Instead he lets the skeptic sense his wisdom.
It is true that many customers purchase their pi-
anos on the suggestive effects of the pianos on them-
selves. But the fact is that the best effects are the
results of the suggestion of the wise salesmen who
wait on them.
MARVIN J. LAKE.
HELPS ORGANIZE LOCAL
TRADE ASSOCIATIONS
Trade Service Bureau of the Music Industries Cham-
ber of Commerce Organizes Active Campaign.
Music dealers in all towns where local trade asso-
ciations have not been formed are being urged to ef-
fect that purpose by special propaganda of the Trade
Service Bureau of the Music Industries Chamber of
Commerce. C. L. Dennis, manager of the bureau, is
giving special attention to the work.
A good deal of the preliminary work has been done
by correspondence according to the program out-
lined at the midyear meeting of the advisory board
and executive committee of the National Music Mer-
chants' Association. The aims of local bodies are
outlined in one of the earlier letters sent out:
"The local association has its part in our national
work, but its own function is to interpret this work
in terms of local activity, such as correcting unfair
competition or promoting music. In addition, there
are local problems having to do with deliveries, em-
ployment, closing hours, city ordinances and state
laws such as cannot be covered effectively by na-
tional organization work. We are always ready to
help solve local problems if possible for us to do so,
and frequently our observations of difficulties in other
parts of the country are helpful in solving purely
local affairs."
CHAUTAUQUA LECTURER
ADDRESSES PIANO CLUB
Edyth Baker, Star in "Innocent Eyes," Played the
Piano for Luncheons.
At the noon luncheon of the Piano Club of Chicago
Monday, February 25, Otto Schulz made it possible
for the members to hear Dr. S. P. Long, eminent
divine and Chautauqua lecturer.
Pat Henry provided the musical number, Edyth
Baker, starring in "Innocent Eyes," the big New
York Winter Garden spectacle, now playing at the
Apollo theater.
John McKenna, president, said that all but about
ten tickets of the entire allotment were sold for the
piano club, theater party February 25th at the Gar-
rick Theater.
BILLY SUNDAY'S BALDWINS.
Dealers representing Baldwin pianos in North and
South Carolina and Virginia met recently iii Char-
lotte, N. C, and on several occasions attended Billy
Sunday meetings in a body. The famous revivalist
has always made use of two concert grands of Bald-
win make for the past nine years, and he says it's
Baldwin for him so long as the company wants him
to use the goods. These pianos cost $2,600 each and
it takes six instruments to keep him in two. Two
in the shop, two on way to next meetings, and two
at current services.
PORTLAND STORE CHANGES.
There have been several changes in the personnel
of the piano force of the Wiley B. Allen Company
at the Portland, Ore., store. Dolph Taylor has been
transferred from the tuning department to the piano
sales department, anfl I. G. Pitts from the collection
department to the phonograph department. C.
Freeze, a field representative of the Portland branch,
has come in with a large number of country orders
for both pianos and phonographs and says the coun-
try business is good if you will go after it.
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