Presto

PRESTO
April 12, 1924.
PACKARD IN KANSAS
HOLDS HOLIDAY
IT IS A FACT
That SEEBURG ELECTRIC
PIANOS can always be
relied upon.
IT IS A FACT
(Continued from page 3.)
quaintancc with practically all of the dealers in the
state makes him the man for that occasion and the re-
sults of his work proved that he had the arrange-
ments well in hand.
A Representative Gathering.
There was a good showing of the active piano men
of Kansas present and the enthusiasm was charac-
teristic of Packard representatives wherever that may
happen to be located. R. E. W. Sperry, who was
years ago prominently associated with the Packard
that SEEBURG ELECTRIC
PIANOS are dependable.
IT IS A FACT
that SEEBURG ELECTRIC
PIANOS are durable.
IT IS A FACT
that SEEBURG ELECTRIC
PIANOS when sold on in-
stallments bring back the
money quicker than any
other piano sale.
IT IS A FACT
that SEEBURG ELECTRIC
PIANOS are real pianos,
built to stand the hard
usage a c o i n - o p e r a t e d
piano gets.
IT IS A FACT
that your stock is incom-
plete without SEEBURG
ELECTRICS.
IT IS A FACT
that you ought to write
to-day for catalogue and
particulars.
Do it!
J. P. SEEBURG
PIANO CO.
CHICAGO
ILLINOIS
AL. BUENNING.
selling forces, and whose return to that work was
noted in the trade papers last December, was one of
the speakers at the Salina meeting.
Mr. Sperry discussed the Packard piano from the
creative point of view, and presented a fund of knowl-
edge which must prove of value to the dealers. It
was practical information, designed to help Packard
dealers with the very kind of facts that sell fine in-
struments—the arguments to be used in impressing
prospects and bringing the sales talk to practical
results.
In earlier meetings of the Kansas Packard dealers
President A. S. Bond delivered the chief addresses.
This year Alexis Mahan, sales and advertising man-
ager, gave a good talk which was enjoyed by every-
one present. Lively extracts from what Mr. Achen-
bach said follow. They will be found to contain many
points of practical value to any piano salesman, wher-
ever located or whatever instruments they sell.
Some Good Talks.
It takes a long time to explain what one doesn't
know. A man can't sail a boat in a straight line un-
less he picks out some particular object to point at,
and a salesman can't talk with any effect unless his
mind is fixed on definite, specific ideas.
You have all found that it isn't good policy to talk
to a prospective customer in terms they do not under-
stand, and to carry a customer into a description of
the mechanical make-up of a piano won't get you very
far, for very few would understand what you were
talking about.
At the same time you will occasionally come in con-
tact with the man or woman who is thoroughly posted
on piano construction, and about the worst thing that
could happen would be to let such a prospect get you
cornered on your own proposition.
Pianos Not All Alike.
We find that there are many piano salesmen, and
even some dealers, to whom all pianos look very
much alike. A piano to them is something to sell,
and beyond knowing its price and name, they know
nothing about that piano that makes it different to
them than any other piano. With this mental atti-
tude it is impossible to get the true sales viewpoint,
which is based on the reverse, a thorough knowledge
of and love for the line you are offering, immediately
tunes in on the heart or emotions of the man you are
talking to, which is the first step toward closing the
deal.
Perhaps to some of you here Packard does not
mean as much as it means to Al Buenning, Sperry and
myself, who are constantly in touch with the spirit
of the Packard organization.
But there is one thing that you can see, or will
see when you begin building your Packard business,
and that is the intense loyalty and friendliness of
those people to whom you have sold Packard pianos.
My saying Packard is better does not make it so.
But there is something not new to any of you that is
responsible for the making of Packard a better piano.
That something is the Packard business policy, or
the Packard system.
That policy is written word for word in the Pack-
ard catalogue and I am going to ask everyone here
to read it.
The Packard Policy.
It is the Packard policy as placed before each Pack-
ard employee by our president, Mr. A. S. Bond, that
has made possible the conditions existing inside the
walls of the Packard factory, and, even deeper, inside
the hearts of that group of skilled craftsmen, who
have learned to give to their work the best of their
ability and skill, the fullest amount of their experi-
ence, the most of their thoughts, to make their prod-
uct, the Packard piano, the outstanding fine piano
value in the world.
The big thing that the Packard business policy has
done is to give us a keen sales viewpoint of our job,
and this should be extended all along the line, as it is
a great factor in selling.
The sales viewpoint deals with the spirit of selling.
That elusive something which is the motive power
and driving force of business is yet very intangible.
It is your mental attitude toward the marketing prob-
lem of your job.
Some people call it vision, some imagination, others
terms it native sales ability.
It means working in accordance with the funda-
mental law of cause and effect.
The sales viewpoint is the ability to appreciate
what is good business and what is not good business.
You, as piano dealers, must possess it. If you
didn't already have a certain amount of sales view-
point, you wouldn't be in business today.
Overcoming Objective.
Most salesmen consider an objection raised by the
prospective buyer as a negative sign, when in reality
it is a positive proof of interest and an indication of
desire.
Only the prospect who takes no interest in what
you are offering refrains from objections.
Correctly viewed, an objection appears to the sales-
man an encouragement rather than a discouragement.
R. E. W. SPERRY.
N
An objection should be handled, therefore, as a
help to the salesman and not a hindrance, and should
not be disregarded, but met in the proper way and
disposed of.
1. Try to anticipate the objections which a cus-
tomer will raise and prepare replies which will fit the
case.
2. Try to dodge rather than to answer excuses.
3. Forestall possible objections if you can antici-
pate the raising of such objections.
4. Be sure that the prospect understands your
proposition. Many objections are due to ignorance.
5. Be ready with cold facts to answer the objec-
tions of the hard-headed prospect.
6. An objection may be due to the struggle be-
tween the heart and the mind of the prospect. Go to
the aid of the heart and help the prospect. Satisfy
his mind that he should have a piano.
7. Pass objections that the prospect doesn't expect
answered.
8. Suggestion is often as powerful an ally as rea-
son in making sales.
9. Cultivate the ability to understand and appre-
ciate the prospect's point of view.
10. Go to the interview equipped with appropriate
answers to the most common objections.
A Successful Meeting.
Short talks were also made by Packard represen-
tatives throughout Kansas, and the meeting was voted
one of the best of the series thus far. The Packard
piano has attained to a place in the Sunflower State
which creates for the famous instruments from Fort
Wayne a dealer-value not surpassed by any line
wherever produced.
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