Music Trade Review

Music Trade Review -- © mbsi.org, arcade-museum.com -- digitized with support from namm.org
THE MUSIC TRADE REVIEW, SEPTEMBER, VJU1
Direct Mail
Advertising
As Outlined by C. D: Dietrich -
a Continuation from the June Issue
THOSE WHO HAVE COMMERCIAL AND Most of such organizations publish rosters.
Get them . . . and analyze the names
COMMUNITY ESTABLISHMENTS
thoroughly, according to the factors prev-
Of course, there are additional prospect iously mentioned. At this point let me
groups: club rooms, restaurants, schools, give you a warning not to build these
church halls, taverns, hotels, and other lists as separate lists . . . keep them all to-
non-domestic places- This group is too gether in one group, alphabetically by
well known to need more than the mere city, and under city by name. If you build
mentioning.
separate lists, there's danger of much dup-
lication, resulting in direct-mail waste and
BUILDING THE MAILING LIST
Give that school teacher, student, pastor, embarrassment. If you keep all names in
piano tuner, or not-so-busy housewife one list, then duplications will be elim-
credit of so much per new and analyzed inated, or almost so. Beyond the club-
name, or so much per name re-analyzed, membership lists, you can be helped by
credit available for the purchase of sheet interior decorators who have entree to
music, or a music brief-case, or a music the finest homes. Society has its "climb-
cabinet, or a metronome, or the piano ers" who make good reporters on all
lessons if you have a teacher on your activities and potentialities of the social-
staff. In that manner you lower your own minded . . . oftentimes college or high-
cost of building up a mailing list, at the school sudents who pal with the elite . . .
same time making sure that payments and they can be persuaded to report the
definitely stay in the piano industry. In names of people who have no pianos, or
that way you make sure that Mrs. Smith need better and newer pianos to har-
gets behind your plan to have her Nelly monize with the general atmosphere. In-
build a mailing list for you, for it helps cidentally, after all other classes of pros-
pay for Nelly's piano lessons, buys her pects have been added to your mailing
sheet music, and thus solves the problem list, you can safely add all remaining
names in the better neighborhoods as
of keeping up Nelly's musical training.
candidates for the "esthetic" group—on
the
assumption that though they aren't
ESTHETIC AND SOCIAL GROUPS
on your customer list, were not reported
The job becomes harder when you try by your customers, have no chldren in
to add to your mailing list those who schools, or belong to no clubs, they have
would buy a piano for decoration or a sense of beauty or seek social prestige.
social uplift, but who cannot play and Another source of such names is the voters
don't intend to learn how, and may not list published for each precinct . . . pub-
even be able to differentiate between lic property. That is one good way to get
discord and harmony. God bless their the names of apartment dwellers, es-
empty souls . . . but even they will be pecially if they haven't private phones
better internally as well as externally and are not listed in phone books.
when you have added a piano to their
home. Just as many a man feels infinitely
NAMES THRU PIANISTS
better informed as soon as the Ency-
clopedia Brittanica or Americana is on
The fourth class those who have
the living room bookshelves, even tho friends and relatives who play the piano,
he never opens the books, so the family but have no piano of their own, is of
with a piano in the home, even the un- course best obtained through those
touched, feels that it has become a part friends and relatives. There again, your
of he Mozart-Beethoven-Bach aristocracy. first group, your customers, can well
Of course, that class of prospect won't supply the names . . . names of those
be found on the other side of the rail- whom they visit frequently, and where
road track; he and she live on this side, they would gladly duplicate the musical
and usually quite far from the tracks. atmosphere of their own homes were
Size of home and income is important. there pianos available. Why pay the price
Club membership makes a good tart. . . . of a guest room to house one's guests, and
the Chamber of Commerce, Kiwanis, not have in the living room the very
Rotary, Lions. Dinner Club, City Club, musical instrument the house guest would
Athletic Clubs of the non-athletic types. enjoy most if a pianist, namely a piano?
Engineers clubs, business clubs, golf Isn't that plain logic? You cook what your
clubs, noonday clubs. Elks, Shriners, etc. guest likes to eat, you invite the friends
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whom your guest enjoys. You play the
games your guest prefers, but you don't
supply the piano to enable your guest to
give expression to his innermost feelings.
Perhaps a piano will give him his oppor-
tunity to say in song what he cannot find
the fortitude to reveal on bended kneesl
The third and last part of this article hab
to do with WHAT to mail and how to
mail it. The mailing list has been built,
and each name has been thoroughly
analyzed into these factors
piano or no piano
type of piano, and approximate age
children, and their ages
who plays, and who is learning to play
income bracket
home size, as a piano size factor
visited by pianists frequently enough
to warrant investment
club membership and activity
did he buy from you, and when, thru
what salesman, and how much did
he pay
And there are undoubtedly other fac-
tors which your particular sales plans
may involve.
MAILING LIST ON RECORD CARDS
Keep each name on a separate card,
preferably a 5 x 8 so you have plenty of
room for memoranda as to what mailed
and when contacted and by whom,
latest status as a prospect and for what
type and make and price. Keep on that
card full family information . . . don't
cheat your future chances by saving time
today. What's on those card records will
determine your direct-mail work and
your sales calls . . . so be very sure that
all possible factors are fully recorded up
to date. Every time a salesman makes a
call, he should have a duplicate of the
card with him, and show no fear of cor-
recting it in the presence of his prospect.
Miss Jones will be only too glad to assist
your salesman in making whatever cor-
rection is necessary so that future direct-
mail will be addressed to her as Miss
Jones and not as MRS. Jones . . . and with
her help, her 21-year old brother will
get the type of message meant for him,
and not the type of letter you mail to 8-
year-old boys. If your direct-mail is to be
handled in the most productive manner,
these factors must be known and kept ac-
curate.
Here is some more data that should be
added to each card record, for very ob-
vious reasons to be stressed shortly:
date of marriage
birthday of each child
engagements . . . and approximate date
of coming marriage
expected graduation time of each high-
school and college student in the
family
type of music interesting various fam-
ily members
other musical instruments played by
the family
The card should be fully tabbed along
the upper edge to reveal all classification.
For example, should you have a direct-
mail piece with contents intended for