Music Trade Review
Issue: 1921 Vol. 73 N. 6 - Page 3
Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
THE
MUJIC TIRADE
VOL. LXXIII. No. 6
Published Every Saturday by Edward Lyman BUI, Inc., at 373 4th Ave., New York. August 6, 1921
Much
Blni
%.J )o S! eerB
^?
Procrastinating
N a recent trip through the West the writer came upon a phrase that most aptly describes the frame of
mind of a great many business men of the country, including some of those in the music industry,
regarding the present trade situation and the outlook. In addressing a number of retailers, a whole-
saler remarked that too many of them w r ere suffering from what he termed "procrastinating optimism"
and were losing valuable time in waiting for their optimistic prophecies to be fulfilled rather than making
efforts right now to fill them.
"I have been in close contact with a great number of dealers," said this wholesaler, "and have found
that the pessimistic, down-in-the-mouth type is a rather rare bird. Business is poorer in some sections than in
others, but the average merchant believes that it is only a temporary condition and is of the opinion that the
Fall months at least will see a reawakening of the buying spirit and a more or less general return of good
business.
"The trouble, however, is that too many merchants feel rather content to move along according to normal
impulses, and to wait for the turn of the tide, rather than to do their share individually to stimulate sales by
increased effort. They are at heart optimistic, but are simply procrastinating and waiting for the expected
good business to drop out of the sky, as it were.
"The old adage to the effect that the Lord helps those who help themselves is to be applied most success-
fully to the business situation to-day. The fellow who is simply an optimist and waits for good times to come
is bound to lose ground. What we want is the optimist who has enough faith in the future to get out and
hustle now so that he can have a first-class running start when the break in business comes."
The wholesaler happened to be in a line connected in some respects with the music business, and his
sermon might be taken to heart by a number of members of the music industry in all its branches. It is a self-
evident fact that the methods that brought business a year or two ago are not producing results now, nor can it
be expected of them. The change in the industrial situation has made it necessary to look out for, and cater to,
new classes of buyers. The "white collar" man, for instance, is again coming into his own slowly but surely,
and is again worthy of consideration as a prospect for musical instrument purchases. Then, again, new selling
methods must be given consideration—selling methods that are not only calculated to appeal to the new buying
classes, but which may be expected to have a proper effect upon the public as a whole.
Just simply waiting for the break to come, whining and complaining a little, perhaps, but doing prac-
tically nothing outside of the regular routine to stimulate sales, is not going to get the average merchant
anywhere. If he gives the matter any real consideration he must realize that the competitor who is increas-
ing and gingering up his sales staff, spending more money for advertising and using more energetic methods
right along the line is not only capturing all the business that might be expected to come to his store in the
ordinary course of events, but is also getting business that might properly be expected to go to the other fellow, -
in this instance the neighboring merchant who is marking time.
Nineteen hundred and twenty-one has been described quite aptly as the year for fighters, and it is certain
that the "procrastinating optimist" is not to be included in that class. It is all very well to sit still and make
plans for the bright future that is to come, for it is good generalship to make plans, but it is the quick carrying
out of those same plans before the opposition takes similar steps that wins battles, whether it be in war or
in business.
For over six months of the year business authorities and economists have predicted a turn of the business
tide in the Fall, and the indications right now are that the predictions have an excellent chance of being ful-
filled. But the Fall is right here, and the time is right here likewise for effort and not conversation.
O
THE
MUJIC TIRADE
VOL. LXXIII. No. 6
Published Every Saturday by Edward Lyman BUI, Inc., at 373 4th Ave., New York. August 6, 1921
Much
Blni
%.J )o S! eerB
^?
Procrastinating
N a recent trip through the West the writer came upon a phrase that most aptly describes the frame of
mind of a great many business men of the country, including some of those in the music industry,
regarding the present trade situation and the outlook. In addressing a number of retailers, a whole-
saler remarked that too many of them w r ere suffering from what he termed "procrastinating optimism"
and were losing valuable time in waiting for their optimistic prophecies to be fulfilled rather than making
efforts right now to fill them.
"I have been in close contact with a great number of dealers," said this wholesaler, "and have found
that the pessimistic, down-in-the-mouth type is a rather rare bird. Business is poorer in some sections than in
others, but the average merchant believes that it is only a temporary condition and is of the opinion that the
Fall months at least will see a reawakening of the buying spirit and a more or less general return of good
business.
"The trouble, however, is that too many merchants feel rather content to move along according to normal
impulses, and to wait for the turn of the tide, rather than to do their share individually to stimulate sales by
increased effort. They are at heart optimistic, but are simply procrastinating and waiting for the expected
good business to drop out of the sky, as it were.
"The old adage to the effect that the Lord helps those who help themselves is to be applied most success-
fully to the business situation to-day. The fellow who is simply an optimist and waits for good times to come
is bound to lose ground. What we want is the optimist who has enough faith in the future to get out and
hustle now so that he can have a first-class running start when the break in business comes."
The wholesaler happened to be in a line connected in some respects with the music business, and his
sermon might be taken to heart by a number of members of the music industry in all its branches. It is a self-
evident fact that the methods that brought business a year or two ago are not producing results now, nor can it
be expected of them. The change in the industrial situation has made it necessary to look out for, and cater to,
new classes of buyers. The "white collar" man, for instance, is again coming into his own slowly but surely,
and is again worthy of consideration as a prospect for musical instrument purchases. Then, again, new selling
methods must be given consideration—selling methods that are not only calculated to appeal to the new buying
classes, but which may be expected to have a proper effect upon the public as a whole.
Just simply waiting for the break to come, whining and complaining a little, perhaps, but doing prac-
tically nothing outside of the regular routine to stimulate sales, is not going to get the average merchant
anywhere. If he gives the matter any real consideration he must realize that the competitor who is increas-
ing and gingering up his sales staff, spending more money for advertising and using more energetic methods
right along the line is not only capturing all the business that might be expected to come to his store in the
ordinary course of events, but is also getting business that might properly be expected to go to the other fellow, -
in this instance the neighboring merchant who is marking time.
Nineteen hundred and twenty-one has been described quite aptly as the year for fighters, and it is certain
that the "procrastinating optimist" is not to be included in that class. It is all very well to sit still and make
plans for the bright future that is to come, for it is good generalship to make plans, but it is the quick carrying
out of those same plans before the opposition takes similar steps that wins battles, whether it be in war or
in business.
For over six months of the year business authorities and economists have predicted a turn of the business
tide in the Fall, and the indications right now are that the predictions have an excellent chance of being ful-
filled. But the Fall is right here, and the time is right here likewise for effort and not conversation.
O
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