[CAUT] loan programs

[James Schmitt]

Dennis-
   I think the thing that schools fail do in this whole consideration is the responsibility to give the store a strong mailing list.  6000 names doesn't cut it.  The sales that work the best are the ones where a school is willing to give names that are outside of PFA.  Something like 40,000 names. Otherwise,as you have seen, the loan program doesn't work for the store.  That is where good communication between the store, tech and PFA deans become critical.

James Schmitt
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Dennis Johnson 
  To: caut at ptg.org 
  Sent: Friday, April 02, 2010 3:28 AM
  Subject: Re: [CAUT] loan programs


  James-


  These are some very good suggestions and I see a few things we may have done differently, but in any case our program is though a single dealer, in fact the owner is an alumni.  Bottom line for him is that he wasn't selling enough pianos, grands especially.  


  thanks,


  Dennis Johnson
  St. Olaf College


  ___________________



  On Thu, Apr 1, 2010 at 1:36 PM, James Schmitt <pianotenor at comcast.net> wrote:

    dear Dr.Nicolaides,
      Here is what needs to be in place for me to support one of my universities starting a loan program
    1.  There needs to a local dealer that will loan the pianos apart from a manufacturer program.  I have found that the post sale support for those purchasing and the quality of the pianos loaned is much better and more flexible.
    2.  The school needs to be willing to support a sale with a strong mailing list not just a token list.
    3.  The dealer needs to have a policy for sharing profits from the sale so that there is a real way for the school to purchase pianos and eventually have a strong fleet of there own instruments.  At two of my universities both schools have purchased nice pianos without using any of the university resources.
    4.  The school needs to support the sale being held at the dealers store.  so that all the dealers resources can be available for the sale.
    5. service of the loaned pianos can be paid for by the dealer with a refund of the money spent for service coming from profits of the sale.
      The above points are making these programs work for both the school and the dealer.


    James Schmitt 


    On Mar 31, 2010, at 9:50 PM, Dr. Henry Nicolaides wrote:


      I think loan programs are common with other industries and manufacturers.  This gives them an opportunity to expose their product to a target audience and is considered a long term marketing strategy.  It benefits the college as well as the manufacturer.  Problems are encountered when the college depends too much on loans and does not have enough of their own inventory.  I for one would be interested in what you have learned.  Though we have a good inventory of studio and performance pianos our practice rooms are sadly in need of replacement pianos.  Not that all of the studio pianos are new, some needing rebuilding, they are keepers.  Budgets being what they are, if you are fortunate to have a budget, loaner programs serve a useful purpose.

      Henry Nicolaides
      Piano Technician, School of Music
      Southern Illinois University

      > From: pianotenor at comcast.net
      > To: caut at ptg.org
      > Date: Wed, 31 Mar 2010 21:16:18 -0700
      > Subject: [CAUT] loan programs
      > 
      > Hi all,
      > I am the new kid on the block and understand you have done a fair 
      > bit of talking about the subject of loan programs. If anyone is 
      > interested I would be happy to let you know what I have learned that 
      > is making two significant programs work for two Universities I serve. 
      > But it may be that everyone is tired of the subject. Anyone interested?
      > James Schmitt
      > Service tech for University of Portland


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