Music Trade Review

THE
4
MUSIC
TRADE
REVIEW
OCTOBER
6, 1923
Grand Pris..•..••. • Pari. Exposition, 1900
Silv.r Medal .. . Charleston Exposition; 1902
Diploma . ••• Pan·American Exposition, 1901
Gold M edol . .... St. Louis Exposition , 1904
Gold Medal·-Lewi.·Clark Exposition, 1905
that of several other prominent concerns in the trade, has shown
that individual compa nies are well qualified to institute and carry
on campaigns of national adyert isin g that compare most favorably
with those presented by any other industry. The magazine copy in
th e Hramhach advertisements, which will reach a circulation of
approximately 13,000,000 for the seven weeks from :-.J'ovember 1 to
D ecembe r 13, inclu sive, is of th e sort that will appeal to the di s­
criminating, and th e tie-ups arranged for the dealers a most im­
portant, if not the most important, factor in making a national cam­
paign effec tive, are logi cal, constructive, and sure to produce results
locally.
It takes courage for a company with a comparatively limited,
or separated, di str ibuti on en joyed by the average piano manufac­
turer to put sume thousands of dollars into national publicity where
a certain amount of circu lation is bound to be in loca lities not imme­
diately adjacent to a reprnentative of the line and which must be
valued from its prestige-building qualities rather than from the
direct results it is likely to produce.
The secret of .success, of course, in this connection lies in the
effectiveness of the local ti e-up and the willingness of dealers to
co-operate to a maximum degree in cas hing in on such proportions
of the magazine circulation as come within their immediate terri­
tories. It is a plan of publicity that requires ability, thought and
hard work on the part of the manufacturer and a full spirit of
co-operation, as well as hard work, on the part of the dealer, who is
the direct beneficiary.
The Brambach Piano Co. is to be congratulated on its VISion
in preparing and carrying out national advertising campaigns such
as that inaugurated again this Fall. Likewise are th e other piano
manufacturers using national advertising to be congratulated on
their work, for it not only reflects credit upon themselves and the
dealers representing them, but len ds prestige to th e piano business
of the country as a whole.
TELEPBONES-V ANDERDILT 2642-2643-264'-26411-2641-2648
Cable Address: "Elblll, New York"
I SALE DOES NOT ALWAYS MEAN THE ALLOWANCE I
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THE
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Exposition Honors Won by The Review
Vol . LXXVII
NEW YORK. OCTOBER 6, 1923
No. 14
PROPER FINANCING MEANS PROPER SELLING
N advising dealers to cash th eir paper for the purpose of en­
abling them to provide for a more frequent turnover in stock,
take their discounts on cash purcha<;es and increase their profits
generally, the Baldwin Piano Co. is rendering a real service. The
kernel of the whole matter, and it is properly empha!'ized, is that,
to be easily negotiable and to appeal to the loca l banker, the paper
must bear the signature of re spo nsibl e people. Tn other wordf;, to
fina nce properly the dealer must first se ll properly.
This point was also strongly emphasi,-ed in the ser ies 0 [
articles "Financing a Piano Business," which ran in The Review
ea rly in the year and created wide interest in trade circles .. Proper
selling is the foundation of good busines s. If the dealer is care l e~s
abo ut granting credit:; and does not give proper con sideration to
the caliber of the people to whom he sells instruments on tim e
he is not building up assets that will prov e suffi ciently liquid in
time of need.
Piano paper, or, for that matter, any instalmen t paper, is good
only so far as is the credit back of it good. The signa ture on the
dotted line means nothing unless the obligations of th e contract
are met promptly and the purchaser is in a positi on to meet them
promptly. Piano paper is theoretically protected in three ways,
first by the signature of the customer , next by the in strum ent itself
as security and, thirdly, by the endorsement of the dealer. But
if th e security of the customer's signature is not sou nd, the other
two fac tors will have little value in the eyes of the banker.
I
THE BRAMBACH NATIONAL PUBLICITY
ARTICULAR interest attaches to the announcement of the
national advertising campaign of the Brambach Piano Co. de­
signed to stimulate the sale of Bramhach small g rands during the
holiday and pre-holiday season and give thc dealer effective pub­
li city at the time when it is likely to be the most productive of
results. The interesting feature of the announcement is that it
means that the new campaign is justined by the results reali zed from
simil a r ones carried on last year and the year before.
Perhaps the piano trade is not yet ready for a co-operative
national campaign, but the work of the Brambach Co., as vvell as
P
PIANO retailer recentl y had exce llent prospects for th e sale
of a $4,500 reproducing- pia no, the best he can'ied, to a local
business man who owned a home that wa::i lit tle sho rt of being a
palace, both in construction and interior furnishings. Th e impor­
tance of the individual and the value of th e deal served to flust er
the dealer some\\·hat. :::;0 when he was called upon to place a value
on the old grand offered in exchange he thought it the better part
of valor to retire and think over the matter quietly and at leisure.
\tVhen a manufacturer who had done some real bareh anded selling
in his day dropped into the dealer's store the latter was in a cold
sweat for fear that the allowance he had in mind, and which he
admitted was several hundred dollars more than was justified by the
condition of the instrument, would seem too small to the customer
and thus kill the deal.
The manufacturer offered to see what he could do. He went
out to the pro::ipect's home, talked the matter ove r with him and was
invited to view his art gallery, where he learned the pictures had
cost in excess of $100,000. There were other art objects scattered
abo ut the house that the prospective customer confessed had "e t
him back as much more. The conversation turned to automobile s
and the prospect mentioned casually that he had traded in a car for
\,v hich he had paid $4,000 for an allowance of $600 towa rd a new
motor. Then the manufacturer got busy, asked a price of $5,000
for th e new reproducing grand, including some ad ditional equip­
ment, of course, quoted an allowance of $300 on the old grand as
again st the dealer\ suggested $700, and closed the deal without a
murmur from the prospect. \ Vhen the contract had been sign eel
there was a brief di scussion rega rding allowances on old pianos and
the custome r remarked: "A fellow offered lIl e S800 the other day
for that old grand in part payment 011 a new in strum ent , but I turn ed
him clown. I cou ldn't see where the old piano was worth the money
and I fig ured out that if he, heing in the business, had a poorer
idca of values, than J, il layman, then he wasn't a good man for me
to trade with."
It is just such incidents that prove that the sale does not always
rest upon allowances that are ridiculous rven in the eyes of the
laym an pr0spect, but often falls through just because of those ex­
cessive a ll owa n ce~ which crfate in the mind of the prospect the
idea that the dealer or his salesman has no accurate idea of hi"
business or rather of the value of the products he handles.
A