Music Trade Review

THE
VOL. LXXVII. No. 18 Published Every Saturday. Edward Lyman Bill, Inc., 383 Madison Ave., New York, N. Y. Nov. 3, 1923
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Utilizing the Full Value of thej:Trade Paper
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i T extensive
survey made some time ago to determine just what value the average merchant got out uf his
trade paper brought to light some interesting facts, chief among them being the discovery that too
many trade members in other lines of industry, as well as in the music trade, lose much of the poten­
tial benefits from their trade papers through not making them available to their organizations.
Efforts were made through direct questioning to determine just what the average dealer did with his
trade papers; "vhether he read them simply for their news contents or whether he took full advantage of the
valuable information offered in the feature articles such as hold a prominent place in the columns of The
Review. It \:Vas significant that a surprising number of the dealers interviewed shovved in their responses to
the questions that they have read and ahsorbed the <;uggestions offered in the special articles, but in only a few
cases had they seen fit to pass the information on to the members of their sales forces who could best profit by it
~iS wel l.
It happens frequently that a man who has been in the piano and music business for several decades has
developed methods and business policies which have proven successful, and he appears quite content to continue
those policies without adopting plans and suggestions [hat have been used with g'ood effect by other members
of the same trade. In short, this trade veteran feels that his experience is sufficiently broad to make unneces­
sa ry the use of ideas from outside sources, completely ignoring the fact that business and economic conditions
genE-rally change at frequent intervals and that methods which were successful a decade or twu ago may not be
meeting the situation as it exists to-day, even though he fondly believes they are.
Granting that the head of the business knows all he needs to know about selling, collecting, financing,
etc., what is he doing to pass that information along to his employes? Unless he has rlaily conferences and
access to a wealth of information, he is liable to find that his employes remain serenely in the dark regarding
trade developments of the utmost importance. It is, therefore, not only advisable but essential that the trade
paper be placed in the hands of as many employes as possible, and it is particularly desirable that individual
copies be secured for them.
The Reyiew is offering, and has offered, a wealth of feature articles in each issue based on carefully
gathered statistics and information and telling the retailer and his salesmen the things he needs to knO\,v about
successful merchandising, collection and financing methods. Such articles placed in the hands of the salesman
giYC' him a better insight into the business, tell him of successful methods adopted by other houses and \vhich
he could put to good use in his o1,.vn territory, impress him with the fact that the credit man is an important
individual in the retail business and that the salesman should co-operate with him rather than regard him as =l
hard-hearted wretch w'hose main joy is to put the ban on possible sales.
The trade paper puts before the retail merchant each week a wealth of information regarding his own
industry that he could not possibly obtain through any personal effort even though he visited the leading piano
centers weekly and spent the intervening time traveling about the continent. That information is particularly
ya illable to the salesman who needs it in his contact with the customer. It is his business to know :J.bout the
changes among the manufacturers and about the new products offered to the public even though his house may
not handle them. Such knowledg'e is vital in meeting competition on a sounrl basis.
The old-fogy idea of keeping the member.;; of the sales staff in the dark regarding traJe acti\·itie:-. has
passed, for modern conditions demand well-informed sales people. It might be well for music merchant:;, gener­
ally to follo\~; the practice of an Eastern dealer in pasting a slip on the cover of The Review each '~ll:ek listing
the page numbers of the articles that impress him, each salesman getting the paper in turn and initialing the
slip as an indication that he has read the marked item. The practical results have more than compensated for
the time and effort involved.
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