Music Trade Review

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REVIEW
THE
VOL. LXXXIV. No. 15 Published Every Saturday. Edward Lyman Bill, Inc., 383 Madison Ave., New York, N.Y., April 9, 1927
Outside Selling
""'g.
Outside Selling Force of the Barber Music
House of Great Falls, Montana
Creates Bigger Sales Volume
Selling Territory of the Barber Music House, Great Falls, Mont., Extends
as Far as Automobile Truck Gives It Radius—Salesmen Give Demon-
strations in Towns Visited by Impromptu Concerts and House Increases Volume
T
H E old-time method of loading the piano
on a wagon and hauling it about the coun-
try until by means of direct energetic
salesmanship it was placed in the home of the
farmer or the small-town citizen is not by any
means archaic. The wagon and team have given
place to the modern motor truck, but the old
idea of bringing the merchandise to the front
door where the customer can see it and hear it
while the salesman is delivering his talk still
produces results in many sections of the coun-
try. It is quite evident that results would be
greater if more dealers were willing to desert
the comfort of the warerooms and with their
salesman go afield for the business that only de-
velops when it is stirred up at the source.
This selling from a truck is not a matter of
theory, for dealers are actually doing it, among
them the Barber Music House, Great Falls,
Mont., of which R. J. Barber is the head. H.
W. Rieke, salesman for the company, has for
the past four months been selling an average of
two pianos a week off a motor truck, despite
bad roads and other unfavorable conditions that
come with the Winter season.
Some weeks
his sales have reached as high as four pianos,
all disposed of by bringing them to the farmer's
door on the truck. One sale of which he is par-
ticularly proud is a $1,375 Ivers & Pond grand
which was loaded at the store and driven forty
miles out into the country just on a prospect.
Some real high-pressure selling put the piano
in the home.
At the present time the Barber Music House
is operating two large trucks capable of carry-
ing two pianos at a time. Mr. Rieke operates
one truck, and Fred V. Ferguson the other.
They start from the store with two instruments
each and frequently other instruments are
shipped to them at railroad points which they
pick up and sell before returning to headquar-
ters. The company features the Gulbransen line
very strongly, and the trucks start out as a
rule with one registering and one straight piano
apiece.
The trucks are kept in first-class condition,
carry the company's name on the side, and on
the panels appear pictures of the Gulbransen
3
baby and other advertising matter relative to
the lines carried. Each truck is equipped with
a siren similar to those used by fire depart-
ments, and upon entering a small town a few
judicious toots serve to attract the desired at-
tention. In Montana apparently the local offi-
cers do not prohibit the use of such sirens as
they do in some other sections of the country.
The plan that the company's salesmen have
found to be most effective is that of giving im-
promptu concerts in the various small towns
through the territory, featuring Gulbransen
registering pianos as well as various types of
straight instruments. Each salesman is equipped
with a set of Gulbransen slides and experi-
ences little difficulty in persuading the local mo-
tion picture operator to show the slides on the
screen. This makes an effective tie-up, espe-
cially in connection with a concert.
For those who question the results of the
efforts such as those put forth by the Barber
concern, it may be said that for the first three
months of the present year the sales volume of
(Continued on page 4)