Music Trade Review
Issue: 1912 Vol. 55 N. 9 - Page 11
Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
THE
MUSIC TRADE
REVIEW
INCREASING THE EFFICIENCY OF THE SELLING FORCE.
The Importance of the Proper Choice of a Policy—What Should Constitute the Manager's
Work—Uniform Sales Talk Essential—Creating Sense of Self-respect—The Necessities of
Successful Player Selling Summed Up—Unceasing Vigilance One of the Secrets.
(Conclusion.)
We have discussed in the previous articles of laid down which must be observed if success is to
this series certain requirements that sc.m to touch be won.
the bottom of things successful in the handling
First, then, comes the rule of uniform sales talk.
of a retail player business. It has not been our It is absolutely essential that all the salesmen in
concern to deal with the financial or administra- the house should use selling arguments that balance
t.ve ends of such a business, because it has not each other. The terminology employed should be
been within our present province to consider such uniform. Each salesman should call the same part
matters. We have had, on the 0th; r hand, to con- by the same name and give the same description
fine ourselves to the sales department, deeming of its meaning. Salesmen who are unwilling to
this, in the end, the one most important and the learn ought not to be retained in the service of a
one actually essential.
player house. Nothing is more inefficient and time-
Demonstration, maintenance and thorough knowl- wasting than a sales force in which there is no
edge of the mechanical side of players are features agreement as to the terms employed, the selling
in player selling which have been cons'dered al- arguments, and the methods of demonstration.
ready at some length. To these we may add one The most conspicuously successful retail player
other, which is both a supplement and a climax. business in the world has been built up by a system
of training salesmen from the ground up. Every
And that is Supervision.
Enough has been said in this and other places man who undertakes to sell players should have
to prove that no business in the world needs closer a thorough knowledge of the proposition, from the
supervision in its sales department than does that demonstration of rolls in the library to the clinching
with which we are now concerned. The player- of big player sales to captious and critical music
piano proposition is one which as yet is in its in- lovers. The enforcement of a uniform method
fancy. The surface only has been scratched. The in sales talk and terminology is one of the first
great period of development is just beginning. and largest tasks to be included under the head
•
Upon the kind of foundation that is now laid, and of supervision.
upon the system of sales strategy which in the next
The second of these tasks is the crsation of a
few years is to be developed, will finally depend
sense of respect for the player proposition. The
the entire future of this great business. It be- old feeling that the player is only a sort of toy has
hooves us to look well to what we are doing, to by no means died out. One can understand this sort
think out our pol'cy to the end; and when we are of feeling as existing among professional musi-
sure, then to go ahead fearlessly.
sians. One can even understand, though one must
deplore, the narrow-minded and altogether incor-
Obviously, the planning of policies is a part of
rect position tak^n by such an authority as the
that general function which we term supervision.
Upon the heads of houses rests the duty of think- latest edition of Grove's Dictionary, where the
writer of the article on "Automatic Appliances
ing out the game in advance. The subordinate can
but carry out the tasks laid at his door. And the Connected With Music" shows an utter ignorance
of recent developments in the piano player indus-
work of plann'ng is, perhaps, the most important
feature in the general supervision of a business. try. The mere fact that the whole subject of
player-pianos is included as a mere sub-heading in
Here, however, before we consider the matter
of planning, we should speak of supervision in a an article entitled as above is enough to show the
small estimation in which professional musicians
narrower sense. Th.j mere matter of keeping an
eye on the salesmen and other subordinate elements yet hold the player. But it is not enough to cite
such evidences as indicating any excuse for a
in a business involves tasks of no small magnitude.
similar state of mind on the part of those who
Where a house is b g enough, there is no doubt that
sell players. And yet it is perfectly true that many
the employment of a sales manager is wise policy.
salesmen who make a living from the player-piano
Not alone is this so, but the player trade of to-day
•is such that the sales manager should also be the express privately the utmost contempt for the in-
advertising manager. So intimately are the pub- strument.
licity methods of the player business bound up_
The mere fact that any number of salesmen do
with the means of selling, and so necessary is it hold such views is proof positive that conditions in
that the salesman's talk should correspond with
the retail player business are very far from being
the advertising—and vice versa—that the man who what they ought to be. To enforce and maintain a
plains the publicity ought logically to be the man feeling of respect for the player must always be the
who bosses the sales department. The idea that
biggest of all the tasks fall'ng upon an executive.
an advertising manager should be m:rely a man Of course, one cannot compel men to respect a
who knows the little tricks of buying space, and
thing. But one can show them, through plain
whose knowledge of player construction may be as demonstration of the facts, that the player is actu-
l'ttle as is conceivable, is a bad idea. An adver-
ally worthy of their respect. They must give that
tising manager in a player business must be first of respect voluntarily. And voluntarily they will give
all a copy writer; a man who knows how to write
it when they know and understand it, and not be-
copy that will bring customers into the store. To
fore. Ignorance is the parent of prejudice. Preju-
do that he must know players, know music and
dice begets contempt.
know people. The great trouble with most adver-
But even when a sales force has been drilled into
tising managers is that they know people but do an accurate understanding of the methods which
not know either players or mus:c.
seem good to the head of the house and into a re-
spect for the whole proposition, it still remains
Plainly, however, the kind of advertising man
that the sales policy must first be planned, then
of whom we have spoken is the sort who will also
thought out, and then carried out. To think out
make a good sales manager. The parallel is obvious
plans involves a knowledge of what the business is
enough from start to finish.
•in its relation with public opinion. To plan pub-
Where a house is in such position that its head
must be sales manager as well as financial director., licity and have it in accordance with the policy of
the house involves the necessity for an harmonious
the task of supervision is rendered all the more
difficult. But, in either case, certain rules may be organization. Above all, a head fit for planning is
needed. And, on top of that, a plan that is once
made is of no value whatever until it has bsen
carried out, consistently and successfully.
Planning and supervision, then, are seen to be
separate aspects of the same thing, separate parts
of one function, if such a non-exact simile can be
introduced. The task that lies within the province
of the executive head is of no small magnitude. It
demands unceasing vigilance and a persistent faith.
Perhaps this is just as well. If everything were
easy, the probability is that nothing worth while
would ever be done. For if we never had to strive
the certainly is that strive we seldom should. Just
exactly why this is so we need not consider. Rather
let us leave such unprofitable discussion to the
moral philosopher. For ourselves, we may com-
placently point to our daily task and thank God
that we have it to do.
Knowledge, demonstration, publicity, mainte-
nance, supervision; these are the elements of suc-
cess in building an efficient sales organization for
cne disposal of player-pianos to the public.
APOLLO FOR DISTRICT ATTORNEY.
Recent Sale of Interest in Milwaukee—Billings
Boys Now Managing El Paso Restaurant.
(Special to The Review. 1
Milwaukee, Wis, Aug. 27, 1912.
The banner player sale of the week in the Mil-
waukee market was made by Hugh W. Randall,
manager of the player department of the J. B.
Bradford Piano Co., who disposed of a Melville
Clark Solo Apollo to Guy D. Goff, of Milwaukee,
United States District Attorney for the Eastern
Wisconsin District. The sale was made in com-
petition with practically every player represented
in Milwaukee, so it is regarded as a genuine vic-
tory for -rtrc Melville Clark.
Earl R. Billings, son of F. C. Billings, head of
the Billings Spring Brass Flange Co., of this city,
has resigned his position of traveling salesman
with the Cable Company, of Chicago, and has gone
to El Paso, Tex., where he will assume the man-
agement of the latest restaurant to be opened in
El Paso by the Billings interests, according to
news received lure. Henry Billings, another one
of the enterprisirg Billings boys, is in charge of
the first El Paso restaurant opened by the Bill-
ingses, while Fred Billings is looking after th->
Billings retail piano store in El Paso, where the
Gram-Richtsteig is being featured.
PAf ENTS MUSIC ROLL SPOOL.
(Special to.The Review.)
Washington, D. C, Aug. 26, 1912.
Patent No. 1,036,079 on a music roll spool was
granted last week to Geo. Howlett Davis, of West
Orange, N. J.
This present invention is designed as an im-
provement upon each of the spools, and has for its
object not only the reduction of cost in manufac-
ture but also the construction of the spool body of
material which will retain its shape under all con-
ditions of atmospheric change, and further provide
a spool which will run perfectly true at all times
•in its bearings.
A further object of this invention is the utiliza-
tion of the waste products of music roll manufac-
ture. These waste products consist of strips of the
roll material spoiled during the process of perforat-
ing or otherwise.
If you are a salesman, tuner or traveler, and
desire a position, forward your wants in an ad-
vertisement to The Review in space not to ex-
ceed four lines and it will be inserted free of
charge and replies sent to you.
NATIONAL V\f>P\riP
Ttie
me
w
No Trouble*'
"No
Trouble- Player
Player
NEW ART STYLES
MANDOLIN, a n d the New VIOLIN-FLUTE
ATTACHMENT
l J 1 V/ V/ I 1 I V
NATIONAL PIANO PLAYER CO.
OREGON-ILLINOIS
Write lor Descriptive Catalogue
LI
PIANO
Nickel-In-tlie-Slot
Continuous Roll, and Automatic
Rewind Styles—Also 88 Note Pedal
and Combination Pedal and Elec-
tric Styles.
THE
MUSIC TRADE
REVIEW
INCREASING THE EFFICIENCY OF THE SELLING FORCE.
The Importance of the Proper Choice of a Policy—What Should Constitute the Manager's
Work—Uniform Sales Talk Essential—Creating Sense of Self-respect—The Necessities of
Successful Player Selling Summed Up—Unceasing Vigilance One of the Secrets.
(Conclusion.)
We have discussed in the previous articles of laid down which must be observed if success is to
this series certain requirements that sc.m to touch be won.
the bottom of things successful in the handling
First, then, comes the rule of uniform sales talk.
of a retail player business. It has not been our It is absolutely essential that all the salesmen in
concern to deal with the financial or administra- the house should use selling arguments that balance
t.ve ends of such a business, because it has not each other. The terminology employed should be
been within our present province to consider such uniform. Each salesman should call the same part
matters. We have had, on the 0th; r hand, to con- by the same name and give the same description
fine ourselves to the sales department, deeming of its meaning. Salesmen who are unwilling to
this, in the end, the one most important and the learn ought not to be retained in the service of a
one actually essential.
player house. Nothing is more inefficient and time-
Demonstration, maintenance and thorough knowl- wasting than a sales force in which there is no
edge of the mechanical side of players are features agreement as to the terms employed, the selling
in player selling which have been cons'dered al- arguments, and the methods of demonstration.
ready at some length. To these we may add one The most conspicuously successful retail player
other, which is both a supplement and a climax. business in the world has been built up by a system
of training salesmen from the ground up. Every
And that is Supervision.
Enough has been said in this and other places man who undertakes to sell players should have
to prove that no business in the world needs closer a thorough knowledge of the proposition, from the
supervision in its sales department than does that demonstration of rolls in the library to the clinching
with which we are now concerned. The player- of big player sales to captious and critical music
piano proposition is one which as yet is in its in- lovers. The enforcement of a uniform method
fancy. The surface only has been scratched. The in sales talk and terminology is one of the first
great period of development is just beginning. and largest tasks to be included under the head
•
Upon the kind of foundation that is now laid, and of supervision.
upon the system of sales strategy which in the next
The second of these tasks is the crsation of a
few years is to be developed, will finally depend
sense of respect for the player proposition. The
the entire future of this great business. It be- old feeling that the player is only a sort of toy has
hooves us to look well to what we are doing, to by no means died out. One can understand this sort
think out our pol'cy to the end; and when we are of feeling as existing among professional musi-
sure, then to go ahead fearlessly.
sians. One can even understand, though one must
deplore, the narrow-minded and altogether incor-
Obviously, the planning of policies is a part of
rect position tak^n by such an authority as the
that general function which we term supervision.
Upon the heads of houses rests the duty of think- latest edition of Grove's Dictionary, where the
writer of the article on "Automatic Appliances
ing out the game in advance. The subordinate can
but carry out the tasks laid at his door. And the Connected With Music" shows an utter ignorance
of recent developments in the piano player indus-
work of plann'ng is, perhaps, the most important
feature in the general supervision of a business. try. The mere fact that the whole subject of
player-pianos is included as a mere sub-heading in
Here, however, before we consider the matter
of planning, we should speak of supervision in a an article entitled as above is enough to show the
small estimation in which professional musicians
narrower sense. Th.j mere matter of keeping an
eye on the salesmen and other subordinate elements yet hold the player. But it is not enough to cite
such evidences as indicating any excuse for a
in a business involves tasks of no small magnitude.
similar state of mind on the part of those who
Where a house is b g enough, there is no doubt that
sell players. And yet it is perfectly true that many
the employment of a sales manager is wise policy.
salesmen who make a living from the player-piano
Not alone is this so, but the player trade of to-day
•is such that the sales manager should also be the express privately the utmost contempt for the in-
advertising manager. So intimately are the pub- strument.
licity methods of the player business bound up_
The mere fact that any number of salesmen do
with the means of selling, and so necessary is it hold such views is proof positive that conditions in
that the salesman's talk should correspond with
the retail player business are very far from being
the advertising—and vice versa—that the man who what they ought to be. To enforce and maintain a
plains the publicity ought logically to be the man feeling of respect for the player must always be the
who bosses the sales department. The idea that
biggest of all the tasks fall'ng upon an executive.
an advertising manager should be m:rely a man Of course, one cannot compel men to respect a
who knows the little tricks of buying space, and
thing. But one can show them, through plain
whose knowledge of player construction may be as demonstration of the facts, that the player is actu-
l'ttle as is conceivable, is a bad idea. An adver-
ally worthy of their respect. They must give that
tising manager in a player business must be first of respect voluntarily. And voluntarily they will give
all a copy writer; a man who knows how to write
it when they know and understand it, and not be-
copy that will bring customers into the store. To
fore. Ignorance is the parent of prejudice. Preju-
do that he must know players, know music and
dice begets contempt.
know people. The great trouble with most adver-
But even when a sales force has been drilled into
tising managers is that they know people but do an accurate understanding of the methods which
not know either players or mus:c.
seem good to the head of the house and into a re-
spect for the whole proposition, it still remains
Plainly, however, the kind of advertising man
that the sales policy must first be planned, then
of whom we have spoken is the sort who will also
thought out, and then carried out. To think out
make a good sales manager. The parallel is obvious
plans involves a knowledge of what the business is
enough from start to finish.
•in its relation with public opinion. To plan pub-
Where a house is in such position that its head
must be sales manager as well as financial director., licity and have it in accordance with the policy of
the house involves the necessity for an harmonious
the task of supervision is rendered all the more
difficult. But, in either case, certain rules may be organization. Above all, a head fit for planning is
needed. And, on top of that, a plan that is once
made is of no value whatever until it has bsen
carried out, consistently and successfully.
Planning and supervision, then, are seen to be
separate aspects of the same thing, separate parts
of one function, if such a non-exact simile can be
introduced. The task that lies within the province
of the executive head is of no small magnitude. It
demands unceasing vigilance and a persistent faith.
Perhaps this is just as well. If everything were
easy, the probability is that nothing worth while
would ever be done. For if we never had to strive
the certainly is that strive we seldom should. Just
exactly why this is so we need not consider. Rather
let us leave such unprofitable discussion to the
moral philosopher. For ourselves, we may com-
placently point to our daily task and thank God
that we have it to do.
Knowledge, demonstration, publicity, mainte-
nance, supervision; these are the elements of suc-
cess in building an efficient sales organization for
cne disposal of player-pianos to the public.
APOLLO FOR DISTRICT ATTORNEY.
Recent Sale of Interest in Milwaukee—Billings
Boys Now Managing El Paso Restaurant.
(Special to The Review. 1
Milwaukee, Wis, Aug. 27, 1912.
The banner player sale of the week in the Mil-
waukee market was made by Hugh W. Randall,
manager of the player department of the J. B.
Bradford Piano Co., who disposed of a Melville
Clark Solo Apollo to Guy D. Goff, of Milwaukee,
United States District Attorney for the Eastern
Wisconsin District. The sale was made in com-
petition with practically every player represented
in Milwaukee, so it is regarded as a genuine vic-
tory for -rtrc Melville Clark.
Earl R. Billings, son of F. C. Billings, head of
the Billings Spring Brass Flange Co., of this city,
has resigned his position of traveling salesman
with the Cable Company, of Chicago, and has gone
to El Paso, Tex., where he will assume the man-
agement of the latest restaurant to be opened in
El Paso by the Billings interests, according to
news received lure. Henry Billings, another one
of the enterprisirg Billings boys, is in charge of
the first El Paso restaurant opened by the Bill-
ingses, while Fred Billings is looking after th->
Billings retail piano store in El Paso, where the
Gram-Richtsteig is being featured.
PAf ENTS MUSIC ROLL SPOOL.
(Special to.The Review.)
Washington, D. C, Aug. 26, 1912.
Patent No. 1,036,079 on a music roll spool was
granted last week to Geo. Howlett Davis, of West
Orange, N. J.
This present invention is designed as an im-
provement upon each of the spools, and has for its
object not only the reduction of cost in manufac-
ture but also the construction of the spool body of
material which will retain its shape under all con-
ditions of atmospheric change, and further provide
a spool which will run perfectly true at all times
•in its bearings.
A further object of this invention is the utiliza-
tion of the waste products of music roll manufac-
ture. These waste products consist of strips of the
roll material spoiled during the process of perforat-
ing or otherwise.
If you are a salesman, tuner or traveler, and
desire a position, forward your wants in an ad-
vertisement to The Review in space not to ex-
ceed four lines and it will be inserted free of
charge and replies sent to you.
NATIONAL V\f>P\riP
Ttie
me
w
No Trouble*'
"No
Trouble- Player
Player
NEW ART STYLES
MANDOLIN, a n d the New VIOLIN-FLUTE
ATTACHMENT
l J 1 V/ V/ I 1 I V
NATIONAL PIANO PLAYER CO.
OREGON-ILLINOIS
Write lor Descriptive Catalogue
LI
PIANO
Nickel-In-tlie-Slot
Continuous Roll, and Automatic
Rewind Styles—Also 88 Note Pedal
and Combination Pedal and Elec-
tric Styles.
Future scanning projects are planned by the International Arcade Museum Library (IAML).