Music Trade Review

Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW, MARCH, 19U1
of the present piano salesman would
be close to 50, for until the past 2 years
there has been little incentive for deal-
ers to hire new men or for young men
to get into the piano business. This
problem is now being studied closely
by association executives and it is prob-
able that plans will be created so that
junior men can be taken on and trained.
While we have enough salesmen to do
the actual selling, the formula of sales
development needs much more man-
power than is now employed by deal-
ers. In the process of selling a piano
at retail, but little intensive work is
done to develop new leads and to soften
them up sufficiently so that they can be
"picked." We are very enthusiastic
over the possibilities of retail piano
selling, for the public is gradually
believing that piano ownership is not
only a musical instrument, but, like-
wise, a delightful piece of furniture for
the living room.
NOTHER bottle neck is the
training of piano tuners as
i the delightful old gentlemen
' that now comprise the tuning
profession will have to be reinforced
by what is termed the "younger gen-
eration." There is plenty of business
for tuners, for the educational angle of
more tunings per year has never been
promoted, and with such a campaign
the tuner business could be doubled in
volume for the country. This problem
is likewise being handled by associa-
tion men and some solution will be
found shortly.
A
T
HESE bottle necks are not pre-
sented to scare anyone be-
cause it is much better to have
such problems as enumerated
above, with the sale of pianos going on
nicely, and is much to be preferred
than the situation with so many other
industries whereby the major problem
is how to sell the goods, but in a grow-
ing business like pianos, the human
element must grow with the production
and sales development. When other
dealers who would like to open a piano
department can't do so because they
can't find the men, it is a situation most
amazing and shows that the factor of
manpower development has been ne-
glected in the excitement of so much
business.
A
UGUST issue of our band in-
strument paper Musical Mer-
{ chandise carried this edi-
• t o r i a l : General outlook for
musical instruments is the best it has
been since Hectora had pups. It is a
trade mood after the first cocktail, and
while enjoyable, it is dangerous a/c of
having a few more. We're going back
to a wild 1943, comparable to 1929;
1942 to 1928; 1941 to 1927. Since
1940, much has occurred to cement this
predicition.
Sales expansion is a
contagious disease that develops the
Napoleon personal grandeur, and un-
less a piano dealer is so well heeled
that he can afford new stores, higher
rents, staff loading, and other things of
questionable value on the net profit re-
turns, it would pay to keep plugging
away on the same basis, letting the
profits accumulate in bankable dollars
(but little if any stock market, real
estate and the brother-in-law's ideas on
safe investments). First move would be
to discount bills from vendors, and the
next step, handle your awn paper. If
you own property with a mortgage, pay
that off, for it is an out of date idea that
should have a mortgage because "the
property will sell more quickly." After
these three ideas are accomplished,
keep the feet on the ground by piling up
a cash surplus. Don't be irritated at not
getting 6% on the bank balance — it's
just the premium for peace of mind,
which 4 years from now, you'll want.
Paste this in your hat and look at it
when the itch for doing something
nutty comes along.