Presto

Issue: 1940 2292

MAN'
THE
THE MHSTEI!
u William
^toward (JSeaSleu
Wm. Howard Beasley, President of the National Association
of Music Merchants
WISH to pay a tribute to our Master Salesmen—those
men of honest purpose, peculiar talents, and specialized
training who facilitate and increase the orderly interchange
of our wants and necessities; those well balanced friendly men
who radiate a quiet contageous confidence, and compose seem-
ing differences into convincing mutual advantages. They are
earnest, eager, active men, yet they are gifted with much
patience and perseverance. They know how to talk and teach,
and yet they are alert to listen and zealous to learn. They
appreciate understatement, and delight in overfulfilment.
Having first cleared the mind, they touch the heart to action,
and deliver to each customer a full measure of the fruits of
his labor, and gather for each industry the bread of its life.
They have preceded the missionary and the flag to remote
places, and they are forever finding new points of interest on
the beaten paths at home. They join present and prospective
supplies with known and unknown demands, and excel in the
difficult art of serving two masters. They serve both producer
and consumer, offer both incentives for enterprise and fidelity,
and obtain for each, thru the medium of credit and money,
the true rewards of industry, prudence, and thrift.
Their achievements, while anticipated months in advance,
are enthusiastically proclaimed upon noisy cash registers and
humble bank books at home, and then are echoed and re-
echoed to every department of the world's vast productive
machine, and the final grand totals are as exciting in high
places as each report is soothing in the front office.
If every salesman in the land should become a Master
Salesman over night, we could retire Roosevelt in a blaze of
glory, and wipe out the national debt before Garner or Van-
denberg is out of office.
You are to be congratulated if you have chosen sales-
manship as a career, for no calling holds greater promise or
is more quickly rewarded for results obtained. The larger
the salesman's check, the greater is the joy of its maker. More
power to the true salesman everywhere. He is the soldier of
peace, the defender of the faith, and our best hope for a more
abundant life.
This address was given before the Piano Salesmen's Clinic
at New York City on January 15th.
I
RADIO RAISES MILLION TO BROADCAST MUSIC
(Just Received By Airmail)
With general cooperation of the broadcasting industry
assured by stock subscription and license fee pledges totaling
$1,140,375, and with additional contracts forthcoming making
certain a minimum collection of $1,250,000, the board of direc-
tors of Broadcast Music, Inc., radio's new music organization,
announced today that the company would become iperative
immediately and set April 1 as the date when it would begin
the licensing of music for public performance.
Principal reason for organization of Broadcast Music,
Inc. rests in the fact that the radio industry has available at
the present time only one major source of supply for per-
forming rights.
Broadcast Music, Inc. will buy, and engage in the pub-
lishing of new music, and new arrangements of music now in
the public domain. Present plans call for the building of a
catalogue of music for its licensees and do not contemplate
the production of profits.
PAGE
RNEH
STYLING
and
SELLING
JSurdett
reen
Secretary
American Walnut
Association
The importance of styling in the piano industry is evi-
dent to all those interested in the industry. What we want is
an instrument that really fits into today's way of life. This
makes a knowledge of styling necessary. You salesmen can
make money out of applying your knowledge of styles and
interior decoration.
Salesmen Must Know More Than Their Customer Knows
Let's put our own selfish reasons first. You salesmen
must know more than your customer does in order to guide
her your way, to sell her the instrument you have, rather
than to lose a sale because you do not have a certain style.
Let's take a practical example: Late 18th Century English
furniture is one of the popular traditional styles today. Her
living room may be done in what she terms "18th Century."
She means late 18th Century English in satinwood or mahog-
any; nevertheless you want to make the sale and you want
her well satisfied. This can bp done with even a meagre
knowledge of history. Knowing this customer's problems,
and unquestionably having on the floor a Louis XV model
let's attempt to satisfy her with this different style. You will
point out that this style was developed during the middle
and latter part of the 18th Cenury. At that time Paris and
other French cities were the source of inspiration for Eng-
lish designers. In the book of Thomas Chippendale (late 18th
Century English cabinetmaker) will be found many lovely
pieces of furniture that are almost pure Louis XV. Surely
your customer will agree that her selection of the Louis XV
piano for her traditional living room is a proper and authen-
tic choice.
Consumers Know More About Styles Today
The majority of buyers are interested in the right way to
do a modern room, or how to harmonize the various types of
traditional furniture and even how to combine modern and
traditional properly. The leading consumer magazines carry
many articles and beautiful illustrations to stimulate con-
sumers. Booklets and manuals have been written on the sub-
ject. Even organizations such as ours, with no specific product
to sell to consumers, have found it profitable to prepare book-
lets on interior decoration. One example is our "Walnut in
the Art of Gracious Living" which condenses this information
and supports it with illustrations. It deals with modern as
well as period styles of furniture, color harmony, and related
subjects.
T H I R T Y
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/
Interior Decorators Influence Style
Until recently many interior decorators have fought
pianos, especially in homes where a special music room did
not exist. You can cultivate the support of this important
group, as you have already commenced to do, by offering a
little wider choice of styles and finishes. Even with their
knowledge of decoration they are none too familiar with the
complete, authentic style-wood picture that is available to
you through such publications as are mentioned here. The
decorators, an influential element in your selling, can be made
an asset rather than an obstacle by proper presentation of
such information.
with the thought of selling the public better pianos than they,
too frequently, think they want. If every piano salesman
left the room with the thought that he must renew his effort
to train his customer up to a piano that will mean more happi-
ness for the customer as well as a better sale for himself, the
meeting was not in vain.
I hope that by the end of April, every piano dealer and
salesman in the country will have attended at least one clinic.
Only the fact that a salesman has no desire to be better
equipped for his work can stop him from attending the clinics
which are being held from coast to coast.
1940 Full of Promise
You are aware, I am sure, of a fact definitely in your
favor for 1940—in 1940 you will be showing better styled
pianos, suited to the homes of today, of finely figured cabinet-
woods, and properly finished. Actually, this is a pleasing
prospect for you salesmen.
THE llll III
III CLINICS
au/rence
COMING CLINICS
These clinics will follow the general lines of the recent
New York Clinic.
General Chairmen
Mar. 11, Muehleback Hotel, Kan. City, Mo.; John W. Jenkins
Mar. 18, Adolphus Hotel, Dallas, Tex. Wm. Howard Beasley
Mar. 22, Biltmore Hotel, Los Angeles, Cal.; A. B. Fredhold
Mar. 25, St. Francis Hotel, San Fran., Cal.; D. F. McCormack
Mar. 28, Olympic Hotel, Seattle, Wash.; Don C. Preston
Apr. 8, Raddison Hotel, Minneapolis, Minn.; Harold J. Sneller
Apr. 15, Peabody Hotel, Memphis, Tenn.; Tannen Hollenberg
Apr. 18, Atlanta Biltmore Hotel, Atlanta, Ga.; W. W. Garder
Apr. 22, William Penn Hotel, Pittsburgh, Pa.; Art. O. Leckner
elz
As this is written,
seven hundred music
men in America have
sat at sales clinics.
Approximately that
many more will at-
tend clinics being
held through the West
and South in the next
Lawrence H. Selz
two months. What
does this mean?
As I said in my opening remarks at the clinic held in
New York on January 15th, all religions have some period
or day on which their members meditate on all their sins of
the past year and consider how to live a better life in the
future. Selling pianos is a religion and I view these sales
clinics as the day on which our members view their sins of
the past and consider hew to remove them in the future.
At the clinic in New York, the 243 persons, a new record,
who filled the hall heard some of the outstanding merchandise
authorities of New York City and also men who are leaders
in the piano industry. As they heard these things, each per-
son in the audience was thinking how he could do a better
job of selling pianos.
During the afternoon, much discussion was concerned
THE JRNUflRY PIRNO SHIPMENTS
PROVE SURVEY CORRECT
On pages eight and nine of this edition is to be found a
survey of the music business. In addition to the letters pub-
lished we received a number of others. The consensus of
opinion was that 1940 would show an increase of at least 15%
in music business. We found in making a close study of other
sources that it was generally anticipated that business would
increase by that percentage. Just while we were in the process
of publishing this edition we received a report from Mr.
Mennie giving us the figures for piano shipments for January
which show that the increase was 15.78% over January 1939.
The number of pianos shipped during the month was 9,862
of which 8,200 were uprights or 83.15%, and 1,622 were grands
or 16.85%. There was an increase of nearly 2 % in uprights
for last month over the same month a year ago.
This is one time when the prophets were correct, and we
hope the profits will be correspondingly correct.
ENGRAVERS AND LITHOGRAPHERS
PRINT ANYTHING IN MUSIC - BY ANY PROCESS
ESTIMATES GLADLY FURNISHED
ESTABLISHED 187b
RE F E RENC E 5 . ANY PUBLISHER.
THE OTTO Z I M M E R M A N &-SON CO.,INC.
CINCINNATI

OHIO
P A G E
T H I R T Y - O N E
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/

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