Guy, Karen, and Tor Nichols wrote: > I thought that almost everything mattered, when dealing with a customer's > perceptions of our trade. We may separate service from retail, but a lot of > customers will lump all the piano people together if they feel like they've > been deceived. Guy,I think you nailed it with this sentence. The key is "a customer's perceptions." Whether we like it or not, there is definately a Wal-Mart mentality out there. People, as a marketing statistic, seem to prefer the illusion of the big deal, extravaganza type sale with lots of people, lots of hype and a lot less service and personal attention than if they had walked into your store with fewer customers where they could have had your personal attention. Seems to be a part of our acquisitive, use-it-up and throw-it-away society. Regardless of personal feelings, if the customer didn't demand it, the manufacturer wouldn't supply it! Danny Moore Houston Chapter > > > >From Frank: > " If we tolerate unfair or illegal > practice, sooner or later we will become victims of it ourselves, and in > many cases the law will hold us just as guilty as the perpetrators. " > > Tacit tolerance is usually looked at as endorsement.. > > Wim said: > "And no matter how it is done, for us as piano tuners, > the more pinaos sold to the pulbic, the better it is for us." > > Well, now, there's the rub..... IS IT REALLY??? Nothing is better "for > us" when it devalues our trade - business - livelihood by presenting a > deceptive practice as being "normal". > > I'm a "participator" in University sales. I make a fair amount of money > for our effort. Several facts about our efforts compared to some others: > > }The manufacturer "eats" a LOT of interest income for the whole school year > in order to be a part of the event. In our case, Baldwin looses the > potential on almost $100k, retail. That's not just "0ne or Two Pianos", as > mentioned in another post. That's not insignificant. Do they make money > when the product turns? Yep, that's why they bet on it. There's a balance > there, though, that isn't always super - profitable. The Artist series > would sell, anyway, and production doesn't always keep up with demand. > > }Our participation can involve lots of extra moving, prep, and break-in > type work. We make sure the appropriate piano is in the office, class, > rehearsal room, etc. We deal with the profs around the extra tunings that > may be needed, and do all we can to protect the cabinet for the future owner.. > > }We conduct the sale "on-site" AFTER the spring semester has ended (I > understand some other sales don't wait), and schedule for the consideration > of the music department.. > > }Our advertising, from direct mail to print ads, lays it on the line. It > has a brief description of the loaner program, and lets the public know > just what dealer is involved. It is MY name, after all, and I plan on > wearing it for a while. We give the buyers a descriptive brochure when they > arrive at the event, and answer any and all questions about which pianos > came from where, etc. I understand that a lot of events aren't promoted > that way. (like the one my competitor pulled off two weeks before my last > event... they never did say what university they were getting their pianos > from) > > }The last three years of our program with the local university have > generated a bucket of dollars and product for the music department.. > > Just now, Del brings up another point: > > " Besides, my concern with these "University Sales" (and the "Armory > Sales" that > preceded them) is only partly with ethics ethics involved. Just think of > the long term damage they are doing to the piano > industry. Aside from demeaning the instrument in the eyes of the public, > once these manufacturers and mass-marketers have > their markets saturated, who is going to bring back the small, but > important, dealers that have been wiped out in the > process?" > > The "Armory" sales have proven to be rough on the market. Some university > sales aren't good for the market, either. In our case, we've been impressed > by how many of the new customers were just that... new. They had not really > seriously considered buying a piano until the university opportunity came > along. A lot of them were faculty, etc. Our first event "created" over > twenty "new" piano students. In households that should have included music > anyway. We feel comfortable with that. A lot of the other buyers were > upgrading, and their used pianos went on to serve another household. That's > OK, too.. > > I could go on, with negative stuff about "other" programs, but that's not > really the point. The POINT is, that we/you/us "consumers" should NOT put > up with or ignore practices that are blatantly deceptive. It's not that we > should tell our tuning customers all the poop about a particular sale or > whatever, it's that we should let the dealer and/or manufacturer know how > we feel about their method(s). > > To endorse bad business through tolerance IS bad business. "And no matter > how it is done,"...... holy frijoles, man, REALLY?? Don't you CARE? Our > code of ethics is pretty clear on that puppy. Promote, practice, fair.... > etc. Perhaps the technical of the next chapter meeting could be " READING > the BACK of YOUR CARD".. > > I let my competitor know how I felt about his boo-boo. I let the Dept.. > head of another university we service know what he wasn't getting from the > dealer and manufacturer with his program (both out of town) I let the > manufacturer for that out-of-town program know about the non-institutional, > un-prepped pianos at that site. > > If I hadn't, then I would have at least been "approving", if not > endorsing, deceptive business that hurts us all. Hurts us all. Hurts us all.. > > Guy Nichols > > "All the water in the world can't sink a ship.......unless it gets on the > inside." > > Ed Foreman
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