Classic Mode

Presto

Issue: 1927 2130

Page 8 Text:

May 28, 1927.
PRESTO-TIMES
The American Music Trade Weeklj
Published Every Saturday at 417 South Dearborn
Street, Chicago, Illinois.
kind of resourcefulness by which an}' business
may be stimulated anywhere and at any time.
The working out of the plan created a chain
of effort in which many elements contributed
to results.
There was, and we believe the prime spirit,
was the zest of conquest. Each retail house
Telephones, Local and Long Distance, Harrison 234
that entered the contest felt a pride of accom-
Private Phones to all Departments. Cable Address (Com-
plishment. Every salesman was stimulated to
mercial Cable Co.'s Code), "PRESTO," Chicago.
do his utmost because he had more than a
Entered as second-class matter Jan. 29. 1896, at tiie
Post Office, Chicago, Illinois, under Act of March 3, 1875.
money prize at stake. He was striving for
Subscription, $2 a year; 6 months, $1; Foreign, 94.
the goal of a winner.
In advance. No extra charge in United States
possessions. Cuba and Mexico. Rates for advertising: on
application.
Then, of course, the monetary reward could
not
help but stiffen the desire to attain suc-
Items of news and other matter are solicited and if
of general interest to the music trade will be paid for cess. And not least in the salesmen's minds
at space rates. Usually piano merchants or salesmen
in the smaller cities are the best occasional corre- was the ambition to place the name of his em-
spondents, and their assistance is invited.
ployer well up toward the top in the honor
roll
of the contestants.
Payment is not accepted for matter printed in the
C. A. DANIELL and FRANK D. ABBOTT •
• Editors
editorial or news columns of Presto-Times.
We believe the story of the Chickering sell-
Where half-tones are made the actual cost of pro- ing contest is one that will prove, not merely
duction will be charged if of commercial character,
interesting, but instructive also to every man
or other than strictly news interest.
When electrotypes are sent for publication it is associated with the trade.
requested that their subjects and senders be carefully
indicated.
Forms close at noon every Thursday. News mat-
ter should be in not later than eleven o'clock on the
same day. Advertising copy should be in hand before
Tuesday, five p. m., to insure preferred position. Full
page display copy should be in hand by Monday noon
preceding publication day. Want advs. for current
week, to insure classification, must not be later than
Wednesday noon.
Address all communications for the editorial or business
departments to PRESTO PUBLISHING CO., 417 South
Dearborn Street, Chicago, III.
SATURDAY, MAY 28, 1927.
NEXT WEEK'S PAPER
In this week's presentation of the plans and
promises of the combined convention of the
several branches of the music industries and
trades, which will begin one week from next
Monday, June 6th, some of the more essential
points of interest in this issue of Presto-Times
are in effect at least, repetition of what may
have already appeared. The same comment
may be made in advance of some items which
will appear in the Convention Issue proper
which will be next week's number of this pa-
per. In that issue the plan will be to present
a complete, even if succinct, advance story
and guide to the events prepared for the edifi-
cation, instruction and promotive results, of
the forthcoming proceedings at the Stevens
Hotel.
One of the special features of next week's
Presto-Times will be an unusually striking
series of groups of modern and very decorative
period styles of pianos. Manufacturers who
may want special service in next week's
Presto-Times may still provide for it if they
act promptly. It will not be a "fat" trade
paper, but it will be a good one and circulated
with special thoroughness.
UNIQUE PIANO CONTEST
Because of its wide-spread interest to all
piano dealers and their salesmen, no less than
to piano manufacturers as well, Presto-Times
this week devotes an unusual amount of space
to a detailed account of the recent competitive
sales contest which served to celebrate the
104th anniversary of the industry of Chicker-
ing & Sons. The event affords a fine illus-
tration of the fact that there is really some-
thing new, all the time, in this old world of
ours, the familiar saw to the contrary not-
withstanding".
And in the contest of the Chickering repre--
sentatives we have a fine object lesson in how
to sell pianos, in which novelty suggests the
CORES OF THE CONVENTIONS
It has often happened that the annual con-
ventions of the National Piano Manufacturers'
Association, as it was originally named, have
had for their purposes the discussion and re-
adjustment of some special problems or evils
of the trade.
At one of the older meetings it was to at-
tempt a correction of what was termed the
"'stencil racket." At that time a booklet was
published in which prominent leaders in the
piano industry protested against the evil and
suggested remedies.
But nothing came of it beyond a vigorous
trade paper skirmish and violent denunciations
of the practice which, it was proclaimed,
threatened the ruin of the dignity of the
noblest of all musical instruments.
At another convention it was bad advertis-
ing that stirred most profoundly the spirit of
the meetings. The debasing puzzle pictures,
the "find-the-faces" monstrosities and the
near-check inanities were the targets of indig-
nant leaders in the industry, and the results
of the denunciations proved set effective that
the practices subsided.
The subject of credits was another of the
special convention topics. At that time a set
of rules for the protection of the manufac-
turers was fixed up and a secret code was de-
vised by which the tricky and irresponsible re-
tailers might be located and reports made to
members of the association in time to protect
manufacturers from bad accounts.
And there were other star topics of discus-
sion formulated for the special attention of
the conventions. Some of these bore special
relation to conditions of national character
and importance. There was the meeting dur-
ing the world war at which all present were
weighted with heavy solicitude concerning
events in France. It was, in fact, a war con-
vention and everything associated with it bore
evidences of the spirit of the times. Even the
banquet program bore the shape of a cannon
and the dinner courses were given names sug-
gestive of the battlefield. It was. of course, a
patriotic event and not much was done that
seemed to belong to the instruments of peace.
One of the conventions that created deep
interest, mixed with much speculation and
some curiosity, was the one at Atlantic City.
It was the meeting at which it was announced
that a large number of old pianos would be
destroyed by fire. The actual conflagration
was not impressive. But ever since that event
the proposition of burning the harmonious
reminiscences has been discussed with vary-
ing intensity.
The convention at the Stevens Hotel week
after next week will have for its central in-
terest the piano playing contest. It will, as
the earlier conventions, have special interest
also because of the piano exhibits. This latter
feature is somewhat different from earlier dis-
plays at the conventions because of the incom-
ing of the period model pianos of which the
exhibits will largely consist. Special attention
to this important feature of the 1927 conven-
tion will be given in next week's Presto-
Times. In the opinion of many veteran con-
vention attendants this year's meeting will
compare in interest with anv that has gone
before.
SEEING THINGS
Does the piano dealer who thinks business
is poor ever reflect that it is his own attitude
largely that makes or unmakes his condition?
He may be following a line of thinking that
is permanently narrowing.
How much better it would be for him to
think thoughts that in themselves would not
be far from deeds. To see new possibilities
in human nature all around him. To tell his
neighbors that a piano in the home purifies
and enlarges the sympathies. That a piano in-
dicates culture, and that culture has a passion
for sweetness and light.
These are success-bringing" thoughts. The.
piano represents the fixing of standards of
perfection that are real. That the ownership
of a piano indicates distinction from the mul-
titude, which is largely ignorant and thought-
less.
Men see things in a new light and do not
know whether it is sunset or dawn. They
cringe at the shadow of a shade and whisper
that business is beginning to decline. A super-
stitious approach to business is too much in
the cat-like movements of a burglar wearing
sneak-shoes. And like the burglar, that sort
of trade is very apt to get "all shot to pieces."
A music store covering a floor space of fif-
teen square feet is the boast of Evansville,
Ind. It contains everything but pianos, and if
the "basic instrument" continues the process
of compression it won't be long before they
may be added without increasing the floor
area. Evansville's midget is called the "small-
est music store in the world."
* * *
A potent restorative for low spirits in the
piano store in spring is to sally forth and close
a deal. The animated cucumber of the staff is
more likely to pull oft a good sale than the
three veterans who sit with their feet propped
up on the steam-heat radiator until 10 a. in.
Good sales are born of enthusiasm.
* * *
An added sign of the place occupied by the
piano as an "essential" may be seen in the
p'an of some great modern hotels of placing
a grand in every guest room. The instrument
of music is becoming as necessary to comfort
as the writing desk or lounge.
* * *
If the farmers' homes contain nearly two
millions of radio sets, it would be interesting
to know what proportion of them have also
pianos. Perhaps the broadcasters could help
sell the farmers more pianos—if they would.
Enhanced content © 2008-2009 and presented by MBSI - The Musical Box Society International (www.mbsi.org) and the International Arcade Museum (www.arcade-museum.com).
All Rights Reserved. Digitized from the archives of the MBSI with support from NAMM - The International Music Products Association (www.namm.org).
Additional enhancement, optimization, and distribution by the International Arcade Museum. An extensive collection of Presto can be found online at http://www.arcade-museum.com/library/

Page 9 Text:

May 28, 1927.
PRESTO-TIMES
FUNDAMENTAL FACTS
IN PIANO BUSINESS
Common Mistakes of Dealers and Their Sales-
men by Which Failure Accrues Where
Should Be Success by Better Sys-
tems of Selling.
A POINTED ILLUSTRATION
Misconceptions of Many Engaged in a Good Business
But Lacking in Knowledge of How to
Conduct It.
The Yardstick Of
Quality
In 1873, as men who have grown up
with the Piano Business know, Max
Tonk started to build Piano Seats and
Stools.
That he built good seats and stools is
proved by the fact that the business he
founded prospered—"You can't fool all
of the people all of the time" you know.
We took the business as he left it to us.
We have held steadfastly to the wise
policies he established.
We have kept step, as he did, with every
forward movement in the industry it
has been and is our aim to serve and
today The TONKBENCH stands, as it
has stood for more than fifty years, as
The Yardstick of Quality in The Piano
Seat Field.
When you visit The Chicago Con-
vention, look at the Benches in
front of the beautiful Pianos in the
displays you inspect.
Many of them will carry the
TONKBENCH Trade Mark.
And remember—
You are inviting criticism, loss of
confidence and dissatisfaction among
your customers when you pinch pen'
nies and fail to furnish a Piano Bench
that matches in Beauty, Quality and
Utility, the Piano of which it becomes
a part in your customer's home.
nng
my
1912 Lewis St.
CHICAGO
Pacific Coast Factory
4627 E. 50th St., Los Angeles, California
By ELMON ARMSTRONG.
It has been said for centuries by the great military
experts that well-fed, well-trained and patriotic sol-
diers are essential to success in battle. It is also the
general opinion of the experts and leaders in com-
merce that well-paid, ably-aided and loyal salesmen
make a success for a business and win its battles.
There is a great deal of responsibility resting upon
the salesmen, and the right kind of salesmen will
assume that responsibility. An institution is judged
by the salesmen that represent it. Therefore, every
representative of this kind should conduct himself in
a manner to have the confidence of the public gener-
ally, and deserve it. The same sacred book that an-
nounced the doctrine "the laborer is worthy of his
hire" also used this language:
"Render value for thy wage in all diligence unto the
Master of thy hire: neither suffer oppression at his
hand nor do unrighteousness for gain."
A Common Misunderstanding.
Some of the piano manufacturers and many of the
merchants may not believe that the foregoing is ap-
plicable to the conduct of the music busines, and I
fear too many salesmen do not give these funda-
mentals to success in life that deep consideration that
they deserve. Every salesman representing a piano
merchant should have a nominal weekly salary and a
bonus at the end of the month based on the volume
of business done, and then that salesman should
work steadily for that piano merchant. He should
systematize his work so that he can accomplish the
most.
I have seen a great many salesmen as 1 have vis-
ited many piano stores in my travels. Outside of the
commission evil, the next greatest factor impeding the
sale of pianos is idleness on the part of the sales-
men. Many piano salesmen sit around stores and
talk, do not go about their work in a systematic man-
ner, and idle away many precious hours.
What's to Blame?
The commission evil has been the cause of much
of this. TJie salesman that gets a nominal salary
weekly, and a monthly bonus, with friendly and
helpful cooperation from the piano merchant, is worth
three times, on an average, to any piano merchant,
what he will earn on a "starvation commission con-
tract." Of course there are some exceptions, but
this is a fact as a general rule, and has been proven
so so many times that it is not a debatable question.
There is no power in selling goods equal to the
plain simple truth, quietly and earnestly told. "High
powered salesmanship." and diplomatic salesmanship,
can be summed up as misrepresentation and decep-
tion. Every salesman should be energetic and give
the piano merchant his entire time and thought.
Two Sources of Success.
One of the greatest successes among men of this
nation made the following statement:
"Next to energy the two greatest things leading to
success are honesty and optimism. Give me a man
who likes the world he lives in, and who has the
capacity to enjoy it. Give me a man who can put his
heart into his work and his play, a man who has faith
in other men and also faith in himself. He must be
able to help others, to stand criticism and profit by it.
but he must have courage to show his employer mis-
takes that are being made in the business. Such a
man, if he has health, will have energy and kindly
judgment. He will have poise. He will command
the respect of all people and will win out."
It is a deplorable fact that many piano merchants
and salesmen regard it as one of the "tricks of the
trade" to secure business by deception, and often
by outright lying. I have heard piano salesmen boast
of closing sales through some fabrication, some de-
ceptive lie, some unjust, dirty trickery, and I have
heard the merchant for whom this salesman worked
commend him for such a course. Is it possible that
a business that fundamentally has so many wonder-
ful things to recommend it, a business with the
essentials that should make it the most honored, the
most respected of any business in the world, has to
be prostituted by such practices?
Co«t and Profit.
There is a misconception as to the actual cost of
pianos, on the part of many salesmen. Salesmen have
a general idea of the invoice price of pianos, and
many of the average salesmen feel that that is the
"cost" of the instrument. To illustrate this false con-
ception 1 will relate the following:
A salesman once told me that he had just sold a
piano and made the piano merchant $200.00. He
said: "I sold this instrument for $350.00. but I could
have made him $100.00 if I had sold it at $250.00."
I asked him the terms of the sale, and he told me
$50.00 as a cash payment, and $10.00 a month. I
figured a little while and told him that, probably, if
the sale was paid out in the usual way the piano
merchant would clear on his investment 15% each
year on that deal, plus the interest on the contract.
In his zeal the salesman questioned my statement and
laughed in a derisive way. But when 1 gave him the
following figures which were verified by a certified
public cost accountant:
General invoice of piano
All the many overhead costs, 40%
$150
60
Making a total of
$210
Plus freights, drayagc, timing and de-
livery
$30
The Merchant's Mistake.
The salesmen thus found that the cost to the mer-
chant to sell that piano and deliver it in the house
was $240.00 and not the assumed $150 that he had in
his mind. Then when he found that the averagt
terms of 30 months lengthened out to about 36
months before the piano was paid out, due to lapses
for one cause or another by the purchaser, and that
if 15% were added each year for this investment of
$240, the merchant would just about get that amount.
To be accurate, if figured on this basis, it would be
necessary for the instrument to be sold for $348
on those terms for the merchant to realize, over a
period of three years, on this transaction the sum of
15% net margin annually.
This salesman was astonished to find that his ob-
sessions for ten years were all in error. He had been
ten years selling pianos and didn't know that it was
a busines? of small profits.
Fundamental Needs.
The piano industry of the country today is suffer-
ing for the want of volume business. Salesmen can
get that volume. The right arrangement of employ-
ment and the proper handling of salesmen will bring
about this result. When the piano merchant has done
his part of the work it is up to the salesmen to be
honest, to be energetic, to serve the merchant in a
conscientious way, to put in full time at work, to
change his attitude from "pulling back" to that of
going forward. There are many methods of securing
business that the salesmen can employ. All these
methods are contributory.
The fundamental thing in the solution of slow
business, at the present time in the piano arena, is the
employment of good, conscientious, loyal, faithful,
steady working salesmen. The other class doesn't
deserve a position with the piano merchant. Wipe
out forever this commission evil, cut out the "starva-
tion commission contracts." Give positions to good
salesmen, pay them a weekly salary, a monthly
bonus, take them whole-heartedly into your work,
cooperate with them, and you will find a change in
the business; you will find an improvement, and you
will see the light that will show the golden dawning
of a grander day.
ROY BURGESS WITH WURLITZER.
Roy C. Burgess, formally of the Continental Piano
Corporation, has been added to the sales force of the
Rudolph Wurlitzer Company and will represent fac-
tories of both the Wurlitzer Grand Piano Company
at DeKalb, 111., and the Rudolph Wurlitzer Manu-
facturing Company at North Tonawanda, N. Y.. in
the southern states. Mr. Burgess has a wide ac-
quaintance in the piano trade and his new connection
is a good one, in which he will, without doubt, do
good and successful work. A good salesman with a
strong house behind him is a never-failing combina-
tion in piano business.
CHOOSES BRAMBACH EQUIPMENT.
"Last week Underwood and Underwood, one of the
leading photographers of New York, were called upon
to produce a manual for a correspondence course in
salesmanship. One of the chapters called for an out-
line of the retail piano salesman and his approach to
the prospect. Knowing the quality of the sales pro-
motion literature furnished the dealer by the Bram-
bach Piano Company, Underwood & Underwood
asked permission of Gordon C Campbell -to feature
the Rrambach selling aids in this picture.
Enhanced content © 2008-2009 and presented by MBSI - The Musical Box Society International (www.mbsi.org) and the International Arcade Museum (www.arcade-museum.com).
All Rights Reserved. Digitized from the archives of the MBSI with support from NAMM - The International Music Products Association (www.namm.org).
Additional enhancement, optimization, and distribution by the International Arcade Museum. An extensive collection of Presto can be found online at http://www.arcade-museum.com/library/

Download Page 8: PDF File | Image

Future scanning projects are planned by the International Arcade Museum Library (IAML).

Pro Tip: You can flip pages on the issue easily by using the left and right arrow keys on your keyboard.