Music Trade Review

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THE MUSIC TRADE
theory because, applying the same rule which is operative now in
the railroad world there should not be preferential rates on any-
thing. One man under the law can secure freights just the same
as another and. no advantage is offered the larger shippers. It
would seem as if we must revise a good many of our old time
habits in order to come down to sound modern business principles.
One price should mean absolutely no discount or special privileges.
In the piano trade there should be no graft in the way of commis-
sion for services which were never performed. We have always
noticed that the houses that have held to one price long enough to
convince the people that they were rigid upon the price question
at all times, have gained tremendously in public esteem. There is
no adequate reason why favored classes should be given discounts
of any kind, particularly when no services are rendered. At a
recent meeting of an organization of retail merchants this fall in
Buffalo the list of professionals and institutions securing discounts
covering a variety of trades and professions numbered to the amount
of twenty-six.
In the piano business it is perhaps no more than right to pay
for services rendered, and if a music teacher or any other profes-
sional develops patrons they should be remunerated for their work,
but there are many fraudulent claims made upon piano men for
services and for discounts which do not merit the slightest con-
sideration, and yet the conditions are such in this industry that
many of the dealers have been afraid to resist these influences sim-
ply because they are afraid that their trade will go elsewhere and it
is in many instances a form of petty blackmail.
C
AN store equipments be too lavish is a question which is pro-
pounded more or less by merchants in all trades. In equip-
ping a store it all depends on what kind of wares one has to offer
and to what kind of trade one is directly catering. For an ex-
clusive trade, store equipments cannot be too expensive or too im-
pressive because they give to the beholder a most desirable impres-
sion upon entering a business establishment, but in the music trade
line over-sumptuous store betterment may act as a deterring force
and in the end react against the business.
We have in mind a well-known establishment in which a
splendid piano business was built up. Generous advertising, court-
eous treatment and a democratic atmosphere in the store drew
thousands of purchasers and as a result the business grew vastly
each month, but this same establishment has now gone to the other
extreme and conducts a most elegant and artistically arranged store.
The effect upon entering is almost overpowering and the magnifi-
cence is such that it actually frightens away timid persons, and
under these conditions the business does not show the growth that
would have been expected. In this case it was simply carrying
store betterment to the other extreme. One has got to consider the
kind of trade upon which dependence is placed for patronage and
the intermediate classes are not favorably affected by overpowering
store magnificence. They do not buy as readily and they think that
perhaps they are called upon to pay for some of that lavish adorn-
ment. The equipment of a store needs careful consideration and
the most experienced dealers to-day agree that it can be overdone
for certain purposes.
T
H E crop reports of the Department of Agriculture show that
the corn crop will run ahead of 1904 and 1905. In other
words a good average crop of corn is practically assured.. The
wheat crop runs nearly one million dollars behind that of 1906,
and this will be seventy million bushels greater than the total wheat
harvest of 1904. The average yield of oats is also not big and
although the crop of barley is thirty-million behind that of 1906
it is ten million bushels greater than that of 1905. With the higher
prices now prevailing for cereals which are probably destined to
continue there is every reason to believe that the condition of the
farmers of 1907 and 1908 will be no less satisfactory than it has
been for some years past, and as we have stated in previous issues,
the battleground for piano trade this year is the Middle West
where these great crops are adding such material wealth to the
country.
O
NE piano dealer recently placed a placard bearing the follow-
ing announcement in one of his show windows: "Some
piano men have bargain days—we give bargains every day." Not
bad, surely.
REVIEW
Persistence pays good dividends.
Quality is the keynote of the piano business to-day.
Negative measures never accomplish anything in the way of prog-
ress. Don't watch the clock.
The world is always seeking a man who has an original way of doing
things.
There are no dull seasons in trade for the man who understands his
business.
If you want to succeed and get to the top of the tree devote all your
thoughts to your profession or your business.
When I see "a-best-in-the-world" ad I think of the truth of the saying
of the immortal bard: "Thou dost protest too much."
The Cackling Old Woman of Paris slipped on a large stencil tack
recently and she has been sputtering ever since.
The effect of irregular hours on the road may be largely overcome
by an enforced regularity in the other matters of living.
If the President would only turn some of his surplus energy to the
regulation of the stencil family he might meet with excellent results.
The man who wanted to attend the customer with no coat on might
do well in a barber's shop, but he is certainly out of place in a piano
store.
The salesman who knows his goods and knows how to present them
is confidently aggressive in his work, and people speak of his personality
as forceful.
It isn't always the largest ad that is the best ad. What would you
think of a man who took the largest pair of shoes in order to get the
biggest value? The shoes must fit, and the ad must fit.
WHY HE FAILED TO MAKE A PIANO SALE.—He talked too
much; he gave the prospect no chance to explain his needs or position.
He couldn't answer questions and objections intelligently, concisely and
convincingly.
Absolute belief in the merit of your instruments is the only thing
that enables a salesman to put the pressure on. There is no "short cut"
to business success, or successful salesmanship, for the reason that sys-
tematic work is operative in the conduct of every sale.
THOROUGH PREPARATION.—"You say you are giving your son a
thorough classic education, supplemented by a course in ten modern lan-
guages. What profession do you expect him to follow?"
"He hopes to get a job doping out names for cigars, sleeping cars and
apartment buildings."
No man should patronize a trade paper simply for good will. There
are those who think that to stay out of a paper will bring down upon
them the ban of displeasure; but it is belief without foundation. Any
paper that assumes such a position need not be feared; its influence is
nil, and whatever course it pursues will have no result that need be taken
into consideration.
"N. G."—Great men are not always good spellers, as is instanced in
the case of an eastern Congressman who, last session, was making out
with his secretary a list of appointments for speeches in the neighborhood
of Philadelphia.
"What's the matter with Trenton?" asked the secretary, as he ran
his eye down the list.
"Nothing at all!" exclaimed the Solon,surprised. "Why do you ask?"
"I see you have marked it 'N. G.' "
"Well, that's all right, isn't it?" asked the statesman, irritated.
'N. G.' stands for 'New Jersey,' doesn't it?"
ALL RIGHT AFTER ALL.—Passenger Manager W. W. Jeffries, of
the International Mercantile Marine, was discussing in New York the
other day the record-breaking army of tourists that is now returning
from Europe.
"The size and the opulence of this multitude," said Mr. Jeffries,
"speaks well for our grand country's prosperity. The people are bring-
ing back many things with them from abroad. And the men are bring-
ing back, among other things, some good stories.
"A Chicagoan told me yesterday of an incident that happened in a
Highland inn.
"In the smokeroom of the inn the Chicagoan complained that he very
much regretted his inability to speak Scotch.
" 'Hoot, mon,' said the pretty, rosy-cheeked barmaid, 'ne'er mind
that so long as ye can swaller it.'"