Music Trade Review

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THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW
RESOLVE TO WASTE NO TIME.
(Continued from page 3.)
Is it more fair, more honest, more just, to give short weight in love and friendship than in
mercantile matters?
The man who expects to receive the favors which love and friendship are only too ready to
dispense must give love and friendship in return. Not only must there be a reciprocation, but a mete
reciprocation, and to the degree in which we fail to meet these obligations of life, we may expect to
be disappointed likewise.
Why not make new resolutions at the beginning of the year covering friendly relations with our
fellowmen—the resolve that there should be no wasted time—the resolve that in our dealings there
should be that fine sense of reciprocity which makes the whole world kin—the kind of reciprocity that
gives a delight and charm to life and an added pleasure to business!
The trade skies are bright, and why should we not all be influenced by them and resolve that no
time shall be wasted?
The rising sun of the New Year is full of hope—of life and promise.
The clouds that the rising sun paints and illumines mean beauty and
freshness, unknown to the clouds of the later day.
And this is the morning of the New Year!
This was the last editorial written by the late Colonel Bill.
if it is an old scheme worked to death that is being revived, any
and every paper will be a failure; no particular advertisement nor
any individual paper need be blamed for the failure, for the secret
lies in the proposition. Successful advertising begins with the
business itself. Advertisements and good papers are simply a
means to an end. If advertisers learn this lesson there will be
fewer failures and less discontented talk.
O-OPERATION in the selling of pianos does not mean merely
that the salesman does his particular share of work, but that
he can do the work in such a manner that it will not impose un-
necessary labor upon his co-worker. In other words, salesmen
should observe the policy of the store and tell the truth regarding
its policies, which method carries with it no possibility of there being
a "come-back" after an instrument is sold or a sale lost because the
salesman's promise is not lived up to.
We hear a great deal of the one-price system in piano selling,
of the salesman who names his price and sticks to that price, but
what about the salesman who, while maintaining the given price of
the instrument, is too prone to offer special inducements in the way
of tuning, polishing, refinishing, special kinds of benches, or scarfs,
in order to clinch a doubtful sale?
It is the man who trails off the beaten path in this particular
who makes trouble for his fellow salesmen and his manager. The
prospect is much impressed with the arguments presented in his
home and is probably induced to buy and then comes to headquar-
ters to have some of the promises fulfilled only to discover that the
salesman had no right to make the promises and that the store will
not stand by them.
As an experienced manager puts it: "Tell the truth at all
times and there will be nothing to apologize for." And it is a motto
that works out with excellent results, not merely from the moral
point of view, but as a straight business proposition. If the man
who is closing or has closed a sale tells the absolute truth, and the
ihside man who closed the sale or who hears complaints also tells
nothing but the truth, the stories will correspond exactly and there
will be nothing to shake the confidence of the customer. The truth
telling policy of a house not'only benefits the institution as a whole,
but also aids the individual salesman because when the policy is once
recognized he is not put off by the prospect with the idea that he,
or she, can see another salesman or deal directly with the house
and secure better terms. It means more sales closed on the
C
WINTER & CO.
220 SOUTHERN BOULEVARD, NEW YORK
spot, and sales that stick because of the confidence of the cus-
tomers.
O
NE of the most pleasing aspects of trade during the closing
and busiest months of the past year was the demand for
grand pianos and high-priced uprights and player-pianos. This
condition emphasizes that the American people when they have the
money to spare want the best product there is. And this brings
forcibly to mind that piano merchants would do well in their
advertising and in the development of prospects to lay emphasis on
the line of quality pianos which they handle. It is not the time
for preaching cheapness, nor is it the time to place extravagant
values on cheap instruments for the purpose of hoodwinking the
public. Thanks to the campaigns of national publicity by many
of our manufacturers, the people are being made aware of the value
of names of manufacturers of national eminence in the piano field,
and people are differentiating in the purchase of pianos, whether
expensive or otherwise.
I
N order that his legion of friends throughout the country may
have some memento of the late Col. Edward Lyman Bill, we
are presenting in this issue of The Review his latest and favorite
portrait, printed on heavy calendered paper, and so prepared that
those who wish to do so may preserve the same by framing or
mounting. May it serve as a constant reminder of that kindly soul
who
". . . turned his clouds about,
And wore their silver lining inside out."
T
HE world respects a man who pursues his aim steadily, regard-
ing neither success nor failure, going on from one duty to the
next, from one day's achievement, however slight or however great,
to the tasks of the next morning.
Honor to him, the steady-going man, the man of constant
spirit, of flexity of purpose, of earnestness unwavering! Such as
he are needed in this world, where there is too much impetuosity,
of fickleness, of going by "fits and starts.'' Like the constant
dropping that wears away the stone, it is the constant man who
accomplishes the great works of the world, the enduring structures
of men's hands and men's minds. His example is not exciting,
but better, it is encouraging; it helps to achieve undertakings; it
serves a useful end and conduces to make life better.
Manufacturers of
Superior Pianos
and Player Pianos