Music Trade Review

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B rings Sales
I. TUJNNKLL
It usually develops that it is an upright that
has been owned for some years; resulting in
the salesman reminding her that the one he is
talking of is a grand. Of course, mentioning a
repossessed piano is to hold the prospect on
the line until some conversation can be had.
It usually develops that if a sale is closed, it is
for a new piano."
By studying the residential sections of the
city, salesmen for this firm are able to judge
pretty well the type of prospects and their abil-
ity to buy by the streets on which they live.
Individual information concerning many of
these prospects is preferable, but not essential.
For calling those owning the better type homes,
a different sales approach is made, such as:
"Mrs. Brown, this is Mr.
of the W. L.
Pace Piano Co. I tried to get you all yesterday
afternoon, but your line was busy. Yes, Mrs.
Brown, I haven't been inside your home, but I
have been past there several times and believe
we have something here that would fit into your
plans perfectly.
"You see, Mrs. Brown,
we have just received
a new shipment of
pianos—and we have
one little grand here in
Name
particular of the newest
Address
design. I thought about
Business Address
you. It's in the win-
dow now—can't I ex-
Date
pect you and Mr.
Prices Quoted on
Brown this evening to
TERMS PROPOSED
see it?"
Cash Payment
To be taken
In many instances a
in Exchange
d e f i n i t e appointment
to
vjom.
for the salesman to call
at the home or for the
Remarks:
prospect to call at the
store is made. In other
instances a future date
is set, or some expres-
sion obtained for a fu-
t u r e telephone fol-
low-up. But in the
event the prospect cannot be interested in a
piano, the salesman ends the conversation by
mentioning a radio, which leads to some radio
sales.
Lists of prospects filed by teachers, names
given by friends and customers and other leads
are always followed up by telephone first in
this store. In this way many cold trails are
spotted without the loss of time or money;
while in other instances the prospect is con-
tacted quickly and economically to close the
sale before it goes to someone else.
Fifty per cent of all first contacts made by
this piano firm are made by telephone. In this
method of selling Mr. Pace considers that he
has been able to reach a larger and better pub-
lic, to sell a better volume and better quality
of merchandise, which has actually meant fewer
repossessions since using telephone selling, as
his repossessions
have been reduced
to less than ten
per cent.
Direct mail ad-
vertising is used to supplement the telephone
selling; but since using the telephone, better
results have been obtained in an advertising way
while the appropriation has been reduced from
five to three per cent of the annual volume.
This successful merchant says: "This is a day
when every member of the organization must
be a producer. The executive must be a sales-
man and attend to his executive duties also.
Pianos must be merchandised truthfully and
honestly with a fair mark-up. It is a wrong
conception to believe that a price reduction will
stimulate volume—people are not looking for
mark-downs generally. The merchandise must
be fairly priced in the beginning; then sold in-
telligently.
"In our Houston store three salesmen assist
me, including V. W. Anderson, sales manager
tail piano merchants from many sections and
in fact a large number of them do utilize the
telephone to a considerable extent in their sales
work. Of course the value of the contacts thus
made depends in no small measure upon the
standing of the house in the community, but
with scores of piano retailers established for
periods ranging from ten to forty years or
more, this standing should be assured in most
instances.
There are those sales managers who are not
keen about the telephone as a selling aid on
the plea that it does not offer sufficient oppor-
tunity for bringing selling pressure to bear—
in other words, it is too easy for the prospect
to hang up the telephone and end the interview.
Yet these same men forget that where per-
sonal canvassing or selling is resorted to it
is just as easy for the
housewife to shut the
door and by that means
PROSPECTIVE SALE
end the sales talk.
One thing about tele-
Phone
phone selling that the
Business
Pace Piano Co. has
found out is that the
Standing
telephone always brings
Instrument Wanted
an answer if there is
anyone at home, and
this applies whether
Per Mo. $
the housewife is in neg-
At $
ligee or evening gown.
Address
After the phone is an-
swered, of course, de-
pends upon the charac-
ter of the sales talk and
the ability of the sales-
man to put it over for
actual results.
The big saving in use
File Card for the Prospect List
of the telephone, of
of the Houston store. In Beaumont are C. C. course, is in time, for it is possible to contact
Miller, vice-president of the company and man- six to ten prospects in widely separated sec-
ager of that store; and D. R. Webb, secretary- tions of the city in a single hour by the wire
treasurer. They are assisted by two additional route, work that would probably take a day if
salesmen. We have a capital and surplus now the salesman had to journey personally from
of two hundred thousand dollars, the outgrowth one home to another.
of a very modest business started by my father,
The Pace Co. not only uses the telephone for
W. L. Pace, some forty years ago. Our two cold canvassing, but finds it particularly valu-
stores combined now do an average monthly able in checking up on lists of prospects ob-
volume of thirty thousand dollars, more than tained from various sources and particularly in
twenty-five thousand of it being in pianos. And following up prospects who have already been
as we are able to form half of our first contacts called upon personally and have put off buy-
over telephone, we have found our profits are ing. Each call is so handled that it represents
convincing proof that telephone soliciting is the a personal contact and the results show that
logical procedure for the piano merchant of to- this company's system at least is right.
day, who is thinking in terms of net profit."
The telephone will never take the place of
The success of the Pace Piano Co. staff in the living salesman in his personal contact and
developing prospects and selling over the tele- closing work, but properly used it does smooth
phone can be duplicated in part at least by re- the road to sales.