RAVE: It gets worse "ONLY BECAUSE OF ASSHOLES LIKE YOU!!!

[Tom Servinsky]

Eric,
Well stated.  But how do really feel?
Tom Servinsky, RPT
----- Original Message -----
From: <EricFrankson@AOL.COM>
To: <pianotech@ptg.org>
Sent: Friday, June 01, 2001 2:45 PM
Subject: Re: RAVE: It gets worse "ONLY BECAUSE OF ASSHOLES LIKE YOU!!!


> 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