Rob, After reading the dealer's tirade yesterday, I thought, "...whoa, boy. Is this moron gonna get slammed!". You did a pretty good job showing he has the reason of an action screw and a mouth like a teamster. I thought I'd point out that any dealer willing to post an e-mail like his isn't going to be around too long anyway. Old school sales says 'sell it, close it, deliver it, forget it...'. Get the deal! Don't let 'em get away without a deposit! Pound them! Kill! KILL! KILL!! There rings a familiar tone with our clueless dealer, doesn't it? The buyers that sales guru's like Zig Zigler have approached for the last half of the 20th century no longer exist. Today's buyer is savvy, better educated, and less likely to fall for sales ploys. Service is the key. I'll say it again. Service is the key. Service is the key. Service is the key. Service is the cheapest form of advertising a dealer can use to create repeat sales. Take care of your customers and they'll take care of you. It increases a dealer's reputation which in turn increases the dealer's sales volume. Hoping to survive in today's selling climate by touting a name like 'Baldwin' (or Yamaha or Steinway) without backing up the ol' warhorse with quality and service is futile. Sure, some dealer's do nicely selling a name, delivering a P.S.O. (piano shaped object), and then praying that they will never see that customer again. But those dealers are becoming less and less due to the elimination of the "weakest link" factor of the piano business. Our hapless dealer's tirade is filled with frustration. He's frustrated with piano technicians. He's frustrated with Baldwin. He's frustrated with boot-wearing lesbian witch commies who've infiltrated our beloved piano industry and ruined our American way of life. In short, he's screwed and he knows it. If he were a competing dealer in my area, I'd have'm for lunch. I wish I could collect a growing stack of his business cards from my new customers. He's the best competition a piano salesman could wish for. Small-minded, rude, arrogant, surly, and probably a bed-wetter, this guy needs to find a new career. He might have 30 years in the business, or maybe only 30 days (it's hard to tell), but, trust me, he treats his customers the same way he treats his e-mail. Which finally begs the point: If Baldwin fails, is it the fault of the product and management structure, or can we focus on the actual "nail" in Baldwin's coffin, the dealer network that has relied on a venerable name like 'Baldwin' as a golden goose? Many of these dealers have gotten soft and lazy, forgetting who the most important person really is. Service and quality fell to name and price. If you want to talk "anti-American", discuss the lack of values dealer's like this moron incorporate every day into the operation of a Baldwin franchise. Not all Baldwin dealers are lazy and inept, but the numbers don't lie. If it isn't the quality of the Baldwin piano that is causing it's demise, it probably is the dealer network and their attitude toward customers. As proven to piano tech's from all over the world by this example of e-drivel submitted by a frustrated "Wannabe McDonald's Worker". Sales, service, and education will continue to prevail over price and name recognition. Maybe not in the short run. Dealer's who use deception and greed as motivation to sell pianos will ultimately screw themselves in the long run. And they can cry and wail and lament the passing of a giant like "Baldwin", but ultimately they can cast no stones except at themselves. Service is the key. Regards, Eric Frankson Family Music Center Las Vegas, NV
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