“We are offering a 5 percent discount to any customer who gives us their e-mail address. From that e-mail address, we then send to them once a month our newsletter with our current sale items, the concerts we are promoting at that time, new music classes that are coming, and general info. We have a small clear box at the register that for $2, you add your name, phone number, and e-mail address and once a month we raffle off a guitar, piece of gear, etc. Most of the items we raffle are either pieces we bought used for cheap or items we cannot move. We are starting up a twice-per-month music series at a local hall highlighting regional artists for one concert and the other is strictly for dancing. We already have a very successful outdoor summer series under parachutes and lights called Acoustic Café. The owner of the hall is only charging us $250 a night, local benefit organizations handle the alcohol license ($25) and we get a 30 percent cut from those sales for creating the venue and food is catered in for sale as well. We average 150 to 250 people per event and keep it to twice a month so we are not killing our already overworked staff, create more branding for the store, and a new revenue stream. We have a ‘Fast-Lube’ store next to ours. We put in a tent card in the waiting area there that states ‘come on over while you wait, discover music, and save 5 percent on anything in the store.’ If they say they are from next door, we will automatically enter them into the raffle and voilá, we get their e-mail address as well. We pray to the retail Gods daily and offer up instrument sacrifices to the ‘Wall of Fame’ outside in our courtyard. We are beginning to build into our store Web site the ability for us to be the ‘go-to’ spot, offering a community music calendar highlighting events, bands, concerts, gigs, various venues. The site will also be the place where anyone can purchase tickets for these events via PayPal or credit cards. We charge a 10 percent sliding scale fee back to the band or venue for our service and in turn it provides a lot more traffic to our site. Processing and Pay Pal fees alone will account for 3 to 4 percent, so it is a small profit but creates a lot of traffic and visibility, and is a good community-building based service. We are taking our smaller ‘dead’ product items and offering them up to either school music programs or benefit raffles. Both give us high visibility as well as generate write-offs and go to good causes feeding the local music market. (Don’t really need more write-offs though. We created a new music school, Treblemakers, which has a small recital or performance hall venue).”
—Spencer Brewer, Ukiah Music Center, Ukiah, Calif.
“We have been very fortunate down here in Louisiana, all things considered (i.e. Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, Gustav, and Ike). Although our economy is holding up better than most, we have been in guerilla mode for about five years now (with all the Internet price wars and big box tactics). We use every sales strategy at our disposal and focus on selling every customer who walks in! How? Well, we are willing to talk shop or hype up the gear, play a song, teach a lick, or even perform a drum solo for them or their kids. We are having fun and it wears off on the customer. We have also concentrated on the youth with lessons, clinics, and camps. Of course, we are also monitoring our expenses carefully.”
—Troy J. Percle, Hofman Music, Thibodaux, La.
“Our biggest change has been the re-education of our staff on the new appraisal side of the business which has grown by 14,222 percent since last year, according to our books! We are conveying the advantages to our customers in us only carrying name-brand instruments. We let them know it is a wise purchase for their economic investment. It gives them higher value as a trade-in later on, for a step-up, a resale, or the worldwide recognition of our brands at other stores if they moved out of the area. We offer them a trade-in discount on that low-quality instrument they bought elsewhere. We also set-up by appointment, people like it as their time is valuable and take us much more seriously.”
—Rebecca Apodaca, A&D Music, Laguna Hills, Calif.
“With today’s current downturn in the economy, customers still want a good value, but more are asking for the ‘cheapest’ or ‘used’ item. Such may not be the best choice for their needs. We advise customers not to buy cheap, but buy smart! Accessories are sellers, but even those times are hit and miss. Less venues for bands to play or make any decent money also contribute to the downturn. Our sales approach is to have clinics, and promote our lesson program. However, if customers are not going to buy, no matter what the price, the item will not sell. The musical instrument marketplace is already overcrowded.”
—Phil Sollar, Drum World, San Francisco
“The biggest change I have made in my business is investing in people. I needed to replace some people anyway, and it would have been very easy to save the salary dollars and ‘tough it out’ on my own but I felt there was a better way. So I looked for candidates with a good attitude, who liked talking to my customers, and who had enough musical background to be effective in a strong educator-focused business. I found all of those qualifications and more and now have a waiting list of folks eager to come on board when there is space. As Jim Collins advises in Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap and Others Don’t (2001, HarperBusiness) I was able to get the right people on my bus. They helped me make the most of our market and brought a fresh perspective to my business. We meet and talk often, formally and informally and I am very open with them about our financial situation and where I hope we will be as we move forward. They inspire me every day and, best of all, have increased my business to the point where the increased payroll is manageable.”
—Drew Parker, Separk
Music, Winston-Salem, N.C.
“Musician’s Advocate has always been an E-commerce operation with a limited local business relationship with the casinos and churches here in Las Vegas. We have always been ‘Appointment Only’ for local will call pickups, and would generally ship to institutional clients here in town. We were due to launch our first full-service retail outlet on Oct. 1 after a hefty investment in displays, security and surveillance, merchandise on the floor, ad campaigns, etc. We have decided to shelve this plan indefinitely for now, until the economy improves. I have taken the position that spending $5,000 per month on advertising, and having more employees is not a great return on investment when even the local Guitar Center locations are down right now. Guitar Center is the absolute king of merchandising, and bringing people through the doors—in my opinion—and if they are struggling, why would someone drive across town to an unknown independent to buy their gear in this economy? We have also seen up to a 60 percent decline in our online business, so this downturn is prevalent in every channel of this industry. While we are solvent, I find myself spending an increasing amount of time during the day speaking to credit people at the manufacturers about getting extended terms, etc. I feel we are all in this together, and that cooperation and honesty are the buzzwords of the day here. I am however, optimistic that this is not a longterm recession, and that things will turn around sooner rather than later.”
—Bradley Hagen, Musician’s Advocate Inc., Nevada
“In the midst of the economic crisis, we have continued to get back to the basics of who we are. We are constantly working on our product/brand mix along with our sales training. This has been our focus for several years, so it is really not a change for us. I think whenever times are tough, it speeds up the thought process for decisions and programs that might have been put on the back burner before. Our philosophy still remains the same; to further the lifelong activity of music for today’s music maker.”
—Tim Pratt, Dietze Music, Omaha, Neb.
“What we think about, we bring about. We, as a country, are spoiled. Contrary to what some might want us to believe, we live in the best country of all time with the most opportunity, we have the most material goods, suffer the least, and consume more than any society in history. People get free medical care, they get free food, clothes, shelter, and all kinds of support to help them get back on their feet. As a government and privately, Americans help many more poor and impoverished individuals in all parts of the world with all kinds of aid and support. The U.S.A. throws away as much useful goods yearly which is equal to or greater than some countries’ gross national production! We at Replay Music are grateful for what we have, not mournful for what we don’t have. We are grateful for our customers, our facility, our health, the love of our family and friends, and so much more. Although our numbers may go up and down with trends, seasons, and the economy, we’re doing what we enjoy to do, we keep our overhead low, and continue to be optimistic even in the worst of times. Believe me, these are NOT the worst of times: Far from it! We keep an ‘attitude of gratitude’ which manifests abundance, and good things keep happening to us here. When customers ask us, ‘Well, how are you doing with the economy the way it is, gas prices, etc.?’ I say, ‘We’re doing fabulous,’ and I mean it. We are doing fabulous! And have you seen the gas prices lately? They are less than half what they were only a couple months ago. That’s GOOD NEWS folks! That’s GREAT news! I’ve had many customers tell me, ‘Len, do you know why I come here? Because you make me feel good!’ How we ‘feel’ has everything to do with our quality of life, and what we get out of life. Don’t ever allow someone to come into your store without extending to them a sincere, positive greeting. Welcome them, and ask them how you can help, or if there is anything in particular they are looking for. This is simple, basic salesmanship. If you ask your customers questions, in most cases, they will tell you EXACTLY why they came into your store. I can’t understand why so many retail outlets never even extend a kind greeting to those who are responsible for their livelihood, survival, and success. They allow customers to wander around the store without ever exchanging one word with them and sometimes hardly even look at them. The customer eventually leaves empty handed. A lost sale, and a lost customer!”
—Len Volpe, Replay Music, Spokane, Wash.
Our responses even came from far from the mainland. And we’re not taking about Hawaii. Even further. R. Gregory Sablan of American Music Guam in Tamuning, Guam said: “Operating our MI shop out in the middle of the Western Pacific is a very challenging business venture in itself. With the addition of fluctuating economic conditions, our tiny island of Guam (U.S. territory) has been affected by both the Asian economy (tourism) and the U.S. economy (product costs). American Music Guam has seen a moderate change in demographics of its customers and in their spending habits. We have had to find a balance for our pricing strategy related to customer budgets, fuel and shipping costs, and product costs vs. MSRP. The Big Internet retailers are somewhat of a sore spot in regard to pricing. Although we hear about a lot of problems consumers have experienced with shipping to Guam, Internet savvy customers still come in the store wielding the ‘dreaded catalog’ where the online retailer is selling at MAP or cost to move gear. Obviously we can’t match dollar for dollar because of their volume purchasing and our brick and mortar associated costs. We do however win most of these customers over with knowledge and service and also the fact that our product is here now and not damaged. Returns via online purchases is the ultimate nightmare and smart consumers know this. At the NAMM show, we will be focusing a large part of our business on companies that have focused programs for the independent retailer.”
“We continue to find new ways to network with our customers and referral sources that don’t add to our expenses. We have done very little paid advertising in the last year. Anything we were doing was not bringing the return we needed or expected. We find that we get a lot more mileage from partnering with a radio station for a guitar giveaway than just buying air time. Customers are not coming in the door, so we have to go find them. We’ve been outside of our stores more than ever.”
—Tony Falcetti, Falcetti Music, Massachusetts and Connecticut
“I do not see this economy turning around anytime soon. Michigan has been in this terrible economic environment for a long time. As a result, I find myself in the position (for the first time in 15 years) of either talking to my suppliers and working out a compromise concerning their required opening orders and/or stocking requirements or parting ways with them. I need to focus on merchandise that has a good sell-through. I cannot afford to carry items that sit on my sales floor for long periods of time; something that I may have been able to do in the past. As a dealer, I do not have the sales (at this time) to enable me to continue to purchase inventory like I did in the past. Personally, I think it is unrealistic for some suppliers to expect us (as dealers) to buy as if there were no economic downturn. I have worked hard to acquire the lines I offer. I do not want to lose any of them, but I am afraid it may come to that. In the past, I have used my Web site as a means to advertise the lines that I carry. I will soon begin to start selling through my site in order to reach customers in other areas of the country not as hard hit as Michigan. I hope this will enable me to meet those buy-in requirements. I have opted to cut back on advertising. It has been said that when you advertise in times like these, you gain market share. The way I see it, ‘why advertise if people are not buying?’ I will, however, use my usual approach during November and December. I know that people will buy, I just think that they will spend less. I think they will buy fewer large-ticket items and more small-ticket items. I am advertising lessons. That is something that I did not have to do in the past. Students came in regularly. Now, we have openings instead of a waiting list.”
—Michael Grass, The Music Man, Brighton, Mich.
“We can’t do much about the economy. While it’s not wise to ignore the realities of the business world, it makes no sense to obsess about how ‘bad’ everything is. We are making a concerted effort to buy the right product for our demographic; and then market better and sell harder. In a sense, it’s business as usual. I’m kind of amazed to see the business we’ve transacted in the last 30 days. I am of the belief that making music or keeping children involved in music is a very high priority for most consumers. My IRA is in the tank but I can still play guitar every day.”
—Ray Guntren, Midbell
Music, Sioux City, Iowa
“We are adding six to eight different group classes in eight-week sessions starting this month to boost our lesson program. We have sent out over 1,000 coupons to people who have taken lessons with us in the last year to try to entice them back to lessons or shop in our store for the holiday season. I am spending more time on training staff on sales techniques and motivation.”
—Doug Ponier, Ponier Music, (three stores in Georgia with a fourth coming soon)
“We are doing more direct mail to our current customer base and investigating revamping our private lessons program. But, if anything, we are being more aggressive. With catalogs and the Internet, the slowdown for music stores started a long time ago. Three years ago, we made a decision to add more music-store friendly brands, brands that had guaranteed sales areas and prohibited catalog and Internet sales. We still carry the major brands and work hard to promote and support them, but the music-store friendly brands have made a big difference in our bottom line. And that has put us in a better position with our local competitors. While everyone else is pulling back, we are running more commercials, hitting more schools and investing in our repair shop.”
—Todd Manning, Manning Music, Kansas
“At Friendly River we see the storm as an alert to make things around here a bit more seaworthy. We started by installing a new, more efficient heating system. Let’s spend more money on guitars; less money on oil. That is especially true when they are made here! Next week, a new energy saving entrance will be completed. This will improve our appearance and help contain our overhead. (I just hope it doesn’t wreck our image).
We are talking more with our suppliers. I have found that most want to work with you to help create unique promotions that will work for you and your customers. In times like these, people seem to be more than willing to think outside the (Big) box. Together, you can really make great things happen. Go ahead, right now, pick up that phone! Have you noticed how popular new ‘reliced’ or distressed guitars have become? Good ones are not cheap and we have plenty! Personally, I love them! But we also have dozens of reconditioned American-made guitars that have been reliced naturally over the years and actually cost less than they did when they were new! Golly! New and pristine? We have those too, but so does everybody else. We are also emphasizing factory-authorized service now more than ever. We currently handle over 60 percent of all instrument repairs while the customer waits, watches, and asks questions. Ever watch a fret job at Best Buy? How about Bed Bath and Beyond? Just imagine.”
—John Barton, Friendly River Music, Cornish, Maine
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