Music Trade Review

Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
THE
MUSIC TRADE
REVIEW
TOWEL.
M
ANY people nowadays complain that competition is much
keener in the music trade industry—in fact, in every line—
than it was years ago. This is true, but the subjective effect of
competition on all merchants is exceedingly valuable. If it were not
for serious competition hundreds of men would be merely store-
keepers, and would never develop into first-class merchants. One
thing that the present condition in business has brought about is
that the man who desires to win out must be ever alive to develop-
ments and betterments in his field of activity. He cannot afford
to go on year after year without attempting to overcome the diffi-
culties that face him. In other words, too many men are prone to
continue old-fashioned methods in coping with the trend of modern
business. This is wrong. The wide-awake man must not spend
his time lamenting over a condition which he knows exists. He
must either eliminate it or it will master him. There is no depart-
ment of business to-day where such a revolution has been so ap-
parent as in the matter of sales and the sales force. Those "happy
days" when orders came without solicitation and people had to wait
in line in order to secure pianos have gone by. To-day the sales force
must consist of a body of men of the highest possible degree of
efficiency, and to attain this desired status it is necessary that the
wareroom manager should carefully drill his staff in the require-
ments of their position and the policy of the house.
•t it it
I
N this connection there is no one factor of more value than
weekly or bi-weekly meetings of the entire sales force. While
these may be "experience" meetings, they should also serve as a
"school for instruction/' with the manager or some other competent
party discussing the weak points of the men and of the business,
thus strengthening the ability and faith of the weakened ones and
making them better acquainted with the science of selling. They
should be fired with a desire to become more than mere automatons.
They should know their stock, and everything relating to pianos and
their manufacture in a most thorough manner, and the best method
of demonstrating and displaying the instruments which they are
representing, so that every "prospect" may be turned into a pur-
chaser at the earliest possible moment. The late Jacob Doll thor-
oughly comprehended the value of these weekly meetings, for he
made it a point that his five sons, who are associated in the Jacob
Doll business, should assemble when the entire progress and de-
velopment of the business were discussed and such plans perfected
as would lead to its further development. This admirable policy of
Mr. Doll succeeded in not only helping to build the business, but it
enthused those associated with him and worked wonders in the suc-
cess of the enterprise. This is an illustration well worth following
by every manufacturer and by every manager of warerooms. The
closer those in authority get to those associated with them, the better
it is for the business, because it results in an interchange of ideas,
all of which tend to the advancement of the business. If nothing
more results from these meetings than arousing loyalty, a sense of
important responsibility and a desire to do justice to the business and
to its patrons much will have been accomplished.
T
AKE the piano advertising in the magazines to-day compared
with a year ago. Why has it fallen off? Little over a year
ago piano manufacturers were spending money in these so-termed
"national publicity" mediums with little thought of benefits. It
rarely occurred to them whether their chain of representatives were
of sufficient number to make some kind of a distribution showing.
It reads well: "So and So gets inquiries. Inquiries will get you
business." And that was the synopsis of the alluring literature sent
by the magazines to the piano trade, and some who were as unpre-
pared for magazine advertising as they would be for the Heavenly
touch, fell for it. It certainly reads well, particularly while enjoying
a quarter perfecto following a big dinner. The time to judge a
problem of that character is before breakfast. After a dragon
chasing "restful" night—the first question should be, "How is my
present distribution ?" Be it remembered that inquiry is not de-
mand—far from it. A magazine inquiry may be from a child who
wants to see the pictures, maybe from a curiosity seeker, or from
a habitual magazine ad-answerer—a biped species found to a great
extent on magazine lists and one to whom "free sample" or "write
for catalog" is like an alarm to the fireman. "It" answers at once
to the delight of the postal department and the catalog printers—
both of whom need the money. But why should piano manufac-
turers, who cannot afford it, strive for the honor of wiping out the
postal deficit? Sales, not inquiries, alone show demand.
*
it it
HE drop in "national publicity" bearing on pianos as compared
with last year shows that there is something wrong with the
medium for many houses. There are a few manufacturers who use
magazines and seem to like them, but they are old-time makers; the
name of their instrument is quite familiar to the dealer, but they
did not attempt this kind of advertising until after an output was
required to care for an established trade. What live dealer
is going to push an unknown piano? Where does the live dealer
get his introduction and acquaintance with pianos? When a sales-
man calls on a dealer, which is it better for him to hear: "A. B. C.
piano? Why I never heard of it," or "A. B. C. piano? Yes! I feel
already acquainted. I've read a lot about it in the Music Trade
Review." Which gets an order for the salesman? No amount of
argument can change the fact that the dealer in his locality is king.
It is up to him to sway patronage one side or the other. Pianos,
shoes, shirts, clothing, foodstuffs—it is the same. And, further-
more, the dealer will consciously and unconsciously push that com-
modity foremost in his mind. This particularly applies to pianos,
and if a dealer reads about a certain piano in his line week after
week, and another piano that he "keeps" is not heard of except by
occasional calls—isn't he going to sell the former? The "live"
people are the largest.advertisers in trade papers; they are "live" by
"live" advertising. The drop in magazine advertising will probably
serve as a warning to some manufacturers about ready to try it
themselves who may think that "inquiries will force the dealer into
buying my piano." But it won't.
T
THE MOST VALUABLE SPACE IN THE STORE.
(Continued from page 5.)
window displays. He had worked them out in the dummy window
in his studio, photographed them and added a plain, full description
of how they were prepared.
"He had also prepared a layout for a page of newspaper adver-
tising, with pictures, titles of books, etc. There was no time to have
the cuts made from the pictures, but he sent the copy forward with
the other matter, asking the booksellers to have them made out
there at the publishers' expense and forwarded after they had been
used.
"The plan made a good impression. The store was naturally
a large advertiser and adopted the suggestion of a page of advertis-
ing as a good one. The plan was carried out with the result that
the Grosset & Dunlap stock, including both what had been bought
from the jobber and that bought direct, was cleaned out in less
than six weeks, instead of six months, and the department store was
therewith established as a regular and enthusiastic buyer.
"This was perhaps an exceptional case, as to minute-man work.
Ordinarily all plans, copy and cuts are prepared at least a month
ahead and everything goes out together 'on rollers' the first of the
month, so as to reach the dealer at the very time he is considering
what to do with his invoice."
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