Presto
Issue: 1924 1993 - Page 16
16
October 4, 1924.
PRESTO
DEALER CONFESSES TO
MISTAKES IN SELLING
Al Barton, by Fortuitous Incident at Last
Discovered He Was Wrong in His
Methods.
Tonk Topics for September-October has an inter-
esting story that preaches a good piano sermon pleas-
antly and effectively. It is an analysis of the motive
behind the piano salesman. The article follows:
"When I first started in the music business years
ago," Al Barton, a successful middle-western mer-
chant, recently confessed, "I made the mistake of
trying to sell pianos.
"I knew pianos thoroughly. And I just couldn't
resist the temptation to air my knowledge. When-
ever and wherever I could get a prospect cornered,
I would launch into a technical description of the
piano—reciting all of the details of tone, finish, work-
manship, etc. The result was that I succeeded in
boring most of my prospects, and made mighty few
sales.
"Then, suddenly, one day I came to my senses
and saw that I was making a big mistake. I reasoned
that, after all, comparatively few people were inter-
ested in the technical features of a piano. 'Folks
don't buy pianos,' I said to myself, 'they buy music!'
And so I decided to sell music instead of pianos.
"I distinctly recall the first prospect who came into
the place after I made this decision. The man was
Bart Hollingsworth, foreman of the chair factory,
over on Cedar street, and he had his sixteen-year-old
daughter, Katie, with him. Bart had no intention
whatever of buying a piano. To tell the truth, he
and his daughter simply dropped in to side-step a
sudden shower. But I decided to try out my new
sales plan anyway. Carefully avoiding anything ap-
DECKER
mJ
EST. 1856
SL SON
Grand, Upright
and
Welte-Mignon
(Licensee)
Reproducing
{Electric)
Pianos and Players
of Recognized
Artistic Character
Made by a Decker Since 1856
699-703 East 135th Street
New York
For a
Bigger and Better
Business
proaching a sales talk, I suggested that Katie play a
few selections to while the time away.
"As Katie played, I placed Bart where he could
watch his daughter's eager face, and read the look
of longing in her eyes. Then I began to talk to him,
not of tone or finish, but of music. I painted a pic-
ture of the Hollingsworth family circle, gathered in
the parlor after supper, with Katie playing old, famil-
iar songs, and now and then a lively jazz selection.
I pictured her entertaining Sunday afternoon callers
with musical offerings. Then I changed the scene,
spoke of rolling back the Brussels carpet, taking out
the furniture and staging a friendly neighborhood
dance. Katie and one of her girl friends taking turns
at the piano, and even old Bart himself 'shaking a
leg' with the youngest of them.
"And as I talked Bart listened—as he would never
in the world have listened to a technical description
of the piano. I had him sold, and I knew it! I didn't
close the deal right then and there. Hardly expected
to, in fact. But a few weeks before Katie's next
birthday, Bart stepped into my office and announced
that he had come to buy a piano. I said nothing, but
I knew better. As a matter of fact, Bart didn't
buy a piano at all. He bought pleasure and recrea-
tion for the family plus a musical education for
Katie. In short, he bought music. But he paid the
price of a piano, so I'm not complaining!"
Cable Piano Co., of Chicago, Fit Instructive Facts
to Attractive Mason & Hamlin Publicity.
Now and then an advertisement appears in which
the character of the piano promoted seems to be sug-
gested by the phraseology of the publicity man. Fol-
lowing is a good specimen. It is from a well dis-
played advertisement of the Cable Piano Co., of
Chicago, in last Sunday morning's newspapers. It
bore the heading, "Beethoven's Dream Realized":
Beethoven dreamed of an instrument adequate to
express his musical conceptions. If he could but
know it, his dream is at last realized in the Mason
& Hamlin, musically the most beautiful piano the
world has even known.
Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata, beloved of all the
world, was written for the harpsichord—an awkward
instrument with two keyboards and strings exces-
sively long, the tone of which was "harsh and raw."
Each lovely sonata, each mighty concerto was a
challenge to the manufacturers of his day to create
an instrument upon which they could fittingly be
played.
The Mason & Hamlin piano is such an instrument.
Not even a Beethoven—or the most ultra-modern
of our own day—can tax the resources of the Mason
& Hamlin.
Mechanically it has attained a perfection beyond
anything even thought of a few years ago. The
rich, mellow tone fulfills all the requirements of
artistic beauty. Responsive to every mood, it is the
supreme source of inspiration to the musician of
today.
OUTHERN BRANCH: 730 Gandler BIdg., ATLANTA, GA
FROM THE BIGGEST
ORCHESTRION
"Built on Family Pride"
Represent the Artistic
in Piano and Player Piano
Construction
711 Milwaukee Avenue
CHICAGO
Style C-2
NEW INDIANA FIRM.
M. SCHULZ CO.
M. SCHULZ CO.
RESTAURANTS, CAFES and
A M U S E M E N T CENTERS
Glen Crum has opened the Starr Musical Shop, at
corner 10th and Main streets, Fountain City, Ind.
Last week Mr. Crum, who is assisted in the store
by his son Glen, made this announcement in the
newspapers: "We hereby announce to the public
that we have opened a brand new music store and
have a complete stock of instruments and music.
Now is the time to think of your Xmas presents.
We'll be glad to hold them for you. Our stock is
brand new. Anything in music, call us."
Doll & Sons
You will never do anything better
than when you get in touch with
FOR
GRACEFUL LITERATURE IN
FINE PIANO ADVERTISING
There is nothing to compare
with the complete line of
The Players are RIGHT in
everything t h a t means
money to the dealers and
satisfaction to the public
COINOLAS
JACOB DOLL & SONS
STODART
WELLSMORE
Jacob Doll & Sons, Inc.
Southern Boulevard, E. 133rd St.
E. 134th St. and Cypress Ave.
NEW YORK
Tiny Coinola
THE SMALLEST
KEYLESS
Manufactured by
The Operators Piano Co.
715-721 N. Kedzie Ave.
CHICAGO
Enhanced content © 2008-2009 and presented by MBSI - The Musical Box Society International (www.mbsi.org) and the International Arcade Museum (www.arcade-museum.com).
All Rights Reserved. Digitized from the archives of the MBSI with support from NAMM - The International Music Products Association (www.namm.org).
Additional enhancement, optimization, and distribution by the International Arcade Museum. An extensive collection of Presto can be found online at http://www.arcade-museum.com/library/
October 4, 1924.
PRESTO
DEALER CONFESSES TO
MISTAKES IN SELLING
Al Barton, by Fortuitous Incident at Last
Discovered He Was Wrong in His
Methods.
Tonk Topics for September-October has an inter-
esting story that preaches a good piano sermon pleas-
antly and effectively. It is an analysis of the motive
behind the piano salesman. The article follows:
"When I first started in the music business years
ago," Al Barton, a successful middle-western mer-
chant, recently confessed, "I made the mistake of
trying to sell pianos.
"I knew pianos thoroughly. And I just couldn't
resist the temptation to air my knowledge. When-
ever and wherever I could get a prospect cornered,
I would launch into a technical description of the
piano—reciting all of the details of tone, finish, work-
manship, etc. The result was that I succeeded in
boring most of my prospects, and made mighty few
sales.
"Then, suddenly, one day I came to my senses
and saw that I was making a big mistake. I reasoned
that, after all, comparatively few people were inter-
ested in the technical features of a piano. 'Folks
don't buy pianos,' I said to myself, 'they buy music!'
And so I decided to sell music instead of pianos.
"I distinctly recall the first prospect who came into
the place after I made this decision. The man was
Bart Hollingsworth, foreman of the chair factory,
over on Cedar street, and he had his sixteen-year-old
daughter, Katie, with him. Bart had no intention
whatever of buying a piano. To tell the truth, he
and his daughter simply dropped in to side-step a
sudden shower. But I decided to try out my new
sales plan anyway. Carefully avoiding anything ap-
DECKER
mJ
EST. 1856
SL SON
Grand, Upright
and
Welte-Mignon
(Licensee)
Reproducing
{Electric)
Pianos and Players
of Recognized
Artistic Character
Made by a Decker Since 1856
699-703 East 135th Street
New York
For a
Bigger and Better
Business
proaching a sales talk, I suggested that Katie play a
few selections to while the time away.
"As Katie played, I placed Bart where he could
watch his daughter's eager face, and read the look
of longing in her eyes. Then I began to talk to him,
not of tone or finish, but of music. I painted a pic-
ture of the Hollingsworth family circle, gathered in
the parlor after supper, with Katie playing old, famil-
iar songs, and now and then a lively jazz selection.
I pictured her entertaining Sunday afternoon callers
with musical offerings. Then I changed the scene,
spoke of rolling back the Brussels carpet, taking out
the furniture and staging a friendly neighborhood
dance. Katie and one of her girl friends taking turns
at the piano, and even old Bart himself 'shaking a
leg' with the youngest of them.
"And as I talked Bart listened—as he would never
in the world have listened to a technical description
of the piano. I had him sold, and I knew it! I didn't
close the deal right then and there. Hardly expected
to, in fact. But a few weeks before Katie's next
birthday, Bart stepped into my office and announced
that he had come to buy a piano. I said nothing, but
I knew better. As a matter of fact, Bart didn't
buy a piano at all. He bought pleasure and recrea-
tion for the family plus a musical education for
Katie. In short, he bought music. But he paid the
price of a piano, so I'm not complaining!"
Cable Piano Co., of Chicago, Fit Instructive Facts
to Attractive Mason & Hamlin Publicity.
Now and then an advertisement appears in which
the character of the piano promoted seems to be sug-
gested by the phraseology of the publicity man. Fol-
lowing is a good specimen. It is from a well dis-
played advertisement of the Cable Piano Co., of
Chicago, in last Sunday morning's newspapers. It
bore the heading, "Beethoven's Dream Realized":
Beethoven dreamed of an instrument adequate to
express his musical conceptions. If he could but
know it, his dream is at last realized in the Mason
& Hamlin, musically the most beautiful piano the
world has even known.
Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata, beloved of all the
world, was written for the harpsichord—an awkward
instrument with two keyboards and strings exces-
sively long, the tone of which was "harsh and raw."
Each lovely sonata, each mighty concerto was a
challenge to the manufacturers of his day to create
an instrument upon which they could fittingly be
played.
The Mason & Hamlin piano is such an instrument.
Not even a Beethoven—or the most ultra-modern
of our own day—can tax the resources of the Mason
& Hamlin.
Mechanically it has attained a perfection beyond
anything even thought of a few years ago. The
rich, mellow tone fulfills all the requirements of
artistic beauty. Responsive to every mood, it is the
supreme source of inspiration to the musician of
today.
OUTHERN BRANCH: 730 Gandler BIdg., ATLANTA, GA
FROM THE BIGGEST
ORCHESTRION
"Built on Family Pride"
Represent the Artistic
in Piano and Player Piano
Construction
711 Milwaukee Avenue
CHICAGO
Style C-2
NEW INDIANA FIRM.
M. SCHULZ CO.
M. SCHULZ CO.
RESTAURANTS, CAFES and
A M U S E M E N T CENTERS
Glen Crum has opened the Starr Musical Shop, at
corner 10th and Main streets, Fountain City, Ind.
Last week Mr. Crum, who is assisted in the store
by his son Glen, made this announcement in the
newspapers: "We hereby announce to the public
that we have opened a brand new music store and
have a complete stock of instruments and music.
Now is the time to think of your Xmas presents.
We'll be glad to hold them for you. Our stock is
brand new. Anything in music, call us."
Doll & Sons
You will never do anything better
than when you get in touch with
FOR
GRACEFUL LITERATURE IN
FINE PIANO ADVERTISING
There is nothing to compare
with the complete line of
The Players are RIGHT in
everything t h a t means
money to the dealers and
satisfaction to the public
COINOLAS
JACOB DOLL & SONS
STODART
WELLSMORE
Jacob Doll & Sons, Inc.
Southern Boulevard, E. 133rd St.
E. 134th St. and Cypress Ave.
NEW YORK
Tiny Coinola
THE SMALLEST
KEYLESS
Manufactured by
The Operators Piano Co.
715-721 N. Kedzie Ave.
CHICAGO
Enhanced content © 2008-2009 and presented by MBSI - The Musical Box Society International (www.mbsi.org) and the International Arcade Museum (www.arcade-museum.com).
All Rights Reserved. Digitized from the archives of the MBSI with support from NAMM - The International Music Products Association (www.namm.org).
Additional enhancement, optimization, and distribution by the International Arcade Museum. An extensive collection of Presto can be found online at http://www.arcade-museum.com/library/
Future scanning projects are planned by the International Arcade Museum Library (IAML).