Music Trade Review

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HER PLAN
BRINGS LIVE
PROSPECTS
By FLORENCE I. HARLEY
Teacher canvassers in Des Moines gather fine
MRS. FLORENCE G. ATWOOD
I
crop of prospects for musical instrument sales
T has been emphasized very strongly and on many occa-
sions that under existing conditions the problem of the
piano retailer is primarily one of developing a constant
flow of new prospects upon which his salesmen may work.
In short, it is necessary to have an increasing number of con-
tacts so that the proportion of actual sales made will prove
worth while. A close study of the situation has shown that
approximately seventy per cent of piano sales are made within
thirty days after the prospect has been listed and seventy-
eight per cent within sixty days. The fact that only fifteen
per cent of sales are made after the ninety-day period indi-
cates that it is a costly procedure to waste effort on pros-
pects who have been on the cards over three months, and
this means that they must be put aside in favor of new and
more promising names.
This question of getting new prospects who are worth while
and getting them economically is a rather serious one for the
music merchant. In the first place while he has many chan-
nels open, such as telephone and city directories, tax lists, etc>
the cost of breaking down and weeding out such lists to a
point where the names remaining may be considered those
of live prospects, is often prohibitive.
Of all the plans that have been tried for developing active
prospect lists probably the most successful are those which
are carried on through the medium of, or in co-operation
with, music teachers, for their pupils, and prospective pupils
are naturally interested in music and in most cases are almost
certain to buy some type of instrument. Where teachers and
dealers work together the results are generally satisfactory to
all concerned, and this fact has been well demonstrated
through a campaign recently carried on in Des Moines, Iowa,
by Mrs. Florence G. Atwood. It calls" for personal canvass
but on a basis that has proven both economical and effective.
Mrs. Atwood, herself a teacher of piano, knew the prob-
lems of music teachers in building up classes of pupils for in-
dividual instruction and especially in these times of so much
competition. She made an arrangement with several dealers
in Des Moines whereby she was to receive a commission on
sales made from these prospect lists. Then Mrs. Atwood
interviewed some thirty-five teachers of various musical in-
struments, presented her plan for building classes for them.
She found the teachers very enthusiastic about her plan. The
teachers were to give free of charge to prospective pupils pre-
senting a coupon signed by Mrs. Atwood and her representa-
tive five free lessons. It worked out that teachers were able
to keep 50 per cent or better of these pupils on at her regu-
lar lesson rate. And while the teacher lost the time on the
demonstration lessons she was put in touch with pupils which
in all probability she would not have had any contact.
Mrs. Atwood organized a groupi of six women who can-
vassed the city, calling house to house, presenting the coupon
for five lessons for $1.25. It was made clear that there was
no obligation to take more lessons with the teacher but if a
pupil wished to continue after the five lessons were finished
the rate would be whatever that particular teacher charged.
Choice of teacher was allowed. The response to this was
surprisingly good. The canvasser received $1 from each
sale thus made and the remaining 25 cents was turned in to
Mrs. Atwood.
The canvassers kept an accurate list of the names of per-
sons thus secured with addresses and of all others who were
prospective buyers of any sort of musical instrument. These
were turned in to Mrs. Atwood who, in turn, gave them
to the dealers interested in each prospect. Later several danc-
ing teachers were added to the list and prospects were gained
through building up the dancing classes.
The arrangement proved to be satisfactory from at least
four standpoints, dealer, teacher, organizer and canvasser.
And that does not include the good results of connecting
teacher and pupils.
The canvassers were assigned districts to cover. The
women were shifted from time to time over the city.
Mrs. Atwood has found the plan so satisfactory that she
sent a large crew out again this year during the fall months
when pupils were returning to school and lessons, and in need
of instruments. She finds this time of year, too, a good time
to locate prospects for radio sales both for the best radio
season of the year and for the holiday season.
The method has the advantage of cutting down the cost of
securing prospects for the reason that each prospect obtained
is available to both the teachers and the dealers and there-
fore the expense is not confined to any one concern or in-
dividual. Where the dealer or the teacher makes a similar
survey independently the cost of each live prospect secured,
after the dead material has been eliminated, is often found
to be so high as to be prohibitive.
THE
MUSIC
TRADE
REVIEW,
November, 1931