Music Trade Review

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CONVENTION of the
MUSIC MERCHANTS
T
HE open forum plan for the annual
meeting of the National Association of
Music Merchants, which met with con-
siderable approval when tried out some two
years ago, proved a hundred per cent success
at the session held at the Palmer House, Chi-
cago, on June 8 and 9, for never in the
history of the association has there been such
frank and open discussion of merchandising,
advertising and credit problems.
ADVERTISING BY RADIO
Otto B. Heaton, president of the association,
presided and proved particularly capable in
directing the discussions along helpful chan-
nels. The first speaker was Edwin R. Weeks,
of Weeks & Dickinson, Binghamton, N. Y.,
the Knight-Campbell Music Co., Denver, who
described at length the state-wide piano play-
ing contest originated by the music dealers of
Denver and carried on under the sponsor-
ship of the Music Teachers' Association and
the State Federation of Music Clubs in co-
operation with The Rocky Mountain News.
The dealers participating in the event were
the Knight-Campbell Music Co., Charles E.
Wells Music Co., the Baldwin Piano Co.,
and the Darrow Music Co. The contest re-
sulted in a great amount of publicity for the
piano, aroused the interest of teachers and
resulted in a number of real sales. Nine
prize cups were given in the three divisions
of the contest and the total cost to the piano
men was $351 or less than $90 each. This
Colorado State Contest was described at
length in the May issue of THE REVIEW, to-
gether with a reproduction of the section
of the teachers' directory page.
large proportion of the prospects of the house
and most of the sales are directly creditable
to these teachers, who receive no commission.
The company considers the free use of the
hall sufficient compensation.
The statement by Mr. Heaton that his com-
pany got many prospects through the sheet
music department resulted in a lengthy dis-
cussion of the value of such a department
not alone as a pTofit maker but as a prospect
feeder. The Heaton house, for instance, pro-
vides teachers with "prescription blanks"
upon which the teacher notes the selection to
be secured by the pupil. The slips carry the
Heaton name at the top and when they are
turned in the company's store the teacher is
credited with five cents with each sheet of
H O W L O N G IS A PROSPECT ALIVE?
OTTO B. HEATON
Retiring President
who explained in some detail the manner in
which his company utilized radio for adver-
tising. In Binghamton they have lawyers',
doctors', merchants', housewives', club and
children's hours, and some part of the pro-
gram is devoted to the members of the paT-
ticular trade, profession or group singled out
for attention.
Mr. Weeks conducts the programs and they
have become so well established that many
citizens of Bi igh.imton in all walks of life
send in comments and suggestions for them.
In a substantial number of cases these com-
ments have resulted in direct sales. The
experiences of Weeks & Dickinson were pre-
sented in detail in an article in THE REVIEW
in February, copies of which will be sent to
interested dealers so long as the supply holds
out.
COLORADO PIANO PLAYING CONTEST
The next speaker was W. W. Bradford, of
THE
MUSIC
TRADE
The next matter which came up for dis-
cussion was the period during which a pros-
pect should be considered alive. It has been
urged recently that a prospect who was not
sold in sixty days should be discarded in
favor of someone more liable to buy, and
while the dealers present did not agree in
this, the majority felt that if a prospect did
not respond promptly any extended intensive
effort was wasted.
Charles E. Wells declared that too little
effort was being made by many dealers and
their salesmen to analyze prospects in a man-
ner to avoid waste and that weak excuses
were often accepted too easily with the re-
sult that the actual closing was delayed.
Chairman Heaton stated that in the case
of his company it was found that eighty-two
per cent of piano sales were made within
three weeks after the filing of the prospect,
and unless the sale was made in sixty days
the prospect was considered as dormant.
Charles H. Yahrling, of Youngstown, O.,
stated that prospects were carried on the
active list for four months. Three calls were
made by the same salesman or different ones,
as the case requires, immediately after the
filing of th.e prospect. Mr. Detrick, of the
Fitzgerald Music Co., Los Angeles, and P. A.
Lehman, of the Lehman Piano Co., St. Louis,
also spoke on the subject.
H O W TO SECURE PROSPECTS
The discussion then switched to ways and
means of securing prospects. Mr. Detrick
outlined the experiences of his house in co-
operating with teachers. In the Fitzgerald
Co.'s Glendale store, for instance, the Tecital
hall is offered free to teachers for student re-
citals and this year seventy-four teachers
have made use of it at various times. A
REVIEW,
J u l y , 193
DELBERT L. LOOMIS
Executive Secretary
music sold. In some cases, during the rea-
son, teachers receive as much as $8 to $10
per month in such commissions, although in
a number of cases the slips are presented to
competing stores and do not earn a commis-
sion. Similar plans are being used by other
dealers.
VALUE OF SHEET MUSIC DEPARTMENT
The results have brought out that in a
great majority of cases sheet music depart-
ments properly equipped and staffed to give
service prove distinctly profitable in their
own right. In several music stores the de-
partments have staffs of from four to seven
people who are well paid and run up sales
records ranging from $30,000 to $60,000 a
year. In addition the contacts thus made
with teachers and pupils keep prospect lists
alive and lead to many sales.
John Harden, president of the National.
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