Music Trade Review
Issue: 1940 Vol. 99 N. 3 - Page 5
Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW, MARCH, tHO
such shaped pianos from toilet seat
wood and sling shot material that
henceforth we'll use one or two adjec-
tives to tell what kind of grands we
mean when we refer to this type of
piano. Back to Macy, however—this
house is one of the few great merchan-
dising forces in the world; when it adds
a department, it is optimism for the
entire industry. Macy tosses out de-
partments and adds them according
to trends of long wheel base char-
acter (it dropped automobile supplies
two years ahead of its general col-
lapse) so regardless of what personal
opinions may be, Macy's ok actually
gives a green light to the piano indus-
try, and if this skill omits grands in
piano selling which now must be
alarming to grand piano men.
B
EST ad gag of the month:
That Lysol copy showing a
girl lying over on the music
rack of a grand, tearful pose,
and evidently crying because she
hadn't used that product for body
hygiene . . . and no one staid in the room
to hear her play. For a newspaper
ad, this is top in piano props.
N
O available data is attainable
as to the length of time re-
quired to make a piano sale—
from the time the prospect's
name is secured to the delivery of the
piano. Perhaps the average for this is
1 1 / 2 years, altho other industries have
this all figured out. Figure this out
sometime just for the fun of it, but in
all seriousness, we urge the purging of
your prospect list. Streamline it up to
date, because if you were to make a
general mailing, 35% of the literature
would come back. Salesmen keep their
"registered names" too long, and we
advocate if a name isn't sold after a
year, that it become general property
or cut off. There are too many hopeless
names on lists on which too much time
is being wasted—the same wasted time
profitable. I n c i d e n t a l l y , too many
salesmen are in a rut—they don't know
how to dig up live prospects. We know
a pushover method, and so do the smart
salesmen earning three figures a week
and who find the getting of new leads
the easiest thing in the world.
R
ECONCILING piano sales by
the B.P.U. — buying power
units—again proves the same
figures and shows that 100
dealers will turn in half of the piano
sales. We listed the names of a
number of these "top" dealers some-
time ago, and altho many new dealers
have come into the field during the
past 3 years, the big dealers continue
to forge ahead regardless of numbers
in competition. Development of the
small town market looks like a smart
policy for next year.
B
Y the way, just what is a "music
merchant"? Just what classi-
fication properly applies to a
man who buys and sells
pianos? Our retail industry composed
of so many different types of dealers
haven't for years had any particular
name to designate them, such as the
hardware dealer, druggist, etc. Actu-
ally, a "music merchant" is one that
only sells sheet music. A man who
sells pianos is really a piano dealer. A
man who sells band instruments, etc.,
is a musical instrument dealer. Some
men sell nothing but pianos; others
who sell pianos, may sell radio, phono-
graphs and records. He may sell radio,
phonographs and records. He may sell
one, two or all of these products, and if
the latter, what kind of a dealer is he?
There also may be included refriger-
ators, washers and small electric ap-
pliances. Does the volume he does in
each give him his classification, and if
so, aren't there many men who could
be classified as radio dealers?
S
UCH houses as Sherman-Clay,
Jenkins, Grinnell, etc., actually
are "music-department" stores.
Jordan-Marsh, Wanamaker,
Hudson, etc., are actually department
stores with a piano department. Were
we to analyze our classifications of
"piano consumption" we would make
some startling discoveries as to just
where pianos are going, proving that
piano distribution is practically done
on a side-line basis. In other words,
our industry is forced to fight for a per-
centage of a dealer's time, and if we
don't get a proper percentage of it, the
industry will face future selling prob-
lems.
THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW, MARCH, tHO
such shaped pianos from toilet seat
wood and sling shot material that
henceforth we'll use one or two adjec-
tives to tell what kind of grands we
mean when we refer to this type of
piano. Back to Macy, however—this
house is one of the few great merchan-
dising forces in the world; when it adds
a department, it is optimism for the
entire industry. Macy tosses out de-
partments and adds them according
to trends of long wheel base char-
acter (it dropped automobile supplies
two years ahead of its general col-
lapse) so regardless of what personal
opinions may be, Macy's ok actually
gives a green light to the piano indus-
try, and if this skill omits grands in
piano selling which now must be
alarming to grand piano men.
B
EST ad gag of the month:
That Lysol copy showing a
girl lying over on the music
rack of a grand, tearful pose,
and evidently crying because she
hadn't used that product for body
hygiene . . . and no one staid in the room
to hear her play. For a newspaper
ad, this is top in piano props.
N
O available data is attainable
as to the length of time re-
quired to make a piano sale—
from the time the prospect's
name is secured to the delivery of the
piano. Perhaps the average for this is
1 1 / 2 years, altho other industries have
this all figured out. Figure this out
sometime just for the fun of it, but in
all seriousness, we urge the purging of
your prospect list. Streamline it up to
date, because if you were to make a
general mailing, 35% of the literature
would come back. Salesmen keep their
"registered names" too long, and we
advocate if a name isn't sold after a
year, that it become general property
or cut off. There are too many hopeless
names on lists on which too much time
is being wasted—the same wasted time
profitable. I n c i d e n t a l l y , too many
salesmen are in a rut—they don't know
how to dig up live prospects. We know
a pushover method, and so do the smart
salesmen earning three figures a week
and who find the getting of new leads
the easiest thing in the world.
R
ECONCILING piano sales by
the B.P.U. — buying power
units—again proves the same
figures and shows that 100
dealers will turn in half of the piano
sales. We listed the names of a
number of these "top" dealers some-
time ago, and altho many new dealers
have come into the field during the
past 3 years, the big dealers continue
to forge ahead regardless of numbers
in competition. Development of the
small town market looks like a smart
policy for next year.
B
Y the way, just what is a "music
merchant"? Just what classi-
fication properly applies to a
man who buys and sells
pianos? Our retail industry composed
of so many different types of dealers
haven't for years had any particular
name to designate them, such as the
hardware dealer, druggist, etc. Actu-
ally, a "music merchant" is one that
only sells sheet music. A man who
sells pianos is really a piano dealer. A
man who sells band instruments, etc.,
is a musical instrument dealer. Some
men sell nothing but pianos; others
who sell pianos, may sell radio, phono-
graphs and records. He may sell radio,
phonographs and records. He may sell
one, two or all of these products, and if
the latter, what kind of a dealer is he?
There also may be included refriger-
ators, washers and small electric ap-
pliances. Does the volume he does in
each give him his classification, and if
so, aren't there many men who could
be classified as radio dealers?
S
UCH houses as Sherman-Clay,
Jenkins, Grinnell, etc., actually
are "music-department" stores.
Jordan-Marsh, Wanamaker,
Hudson, etc., are actually department
stores with a piano department. Were
we to analyze our classifications of
"piano consumption" we would make
some startling discoveries as to just
where pianos are going, proving that
piano distribution is practically done
on a side-line basis. In other words,
our industry is forced to fight for a per-
centage of a dealer's time, and if we
don't get a proper percentage of it, the
industry will face future selling prob-
lems.
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