What's right with being personal? - In Unison - Retail Print Music Dealers Association 2002 convention news

American Music Teacher, Dec, 2002

Earlier this year, the Retail Print Music Dealers Association (RPMDA) asked me to develop and moderate a panel discussion for its 2002 convention. The purpose of the panel discussion, which took place on May 9, was to provide a forum for piano teachers to tell print music dealers and publishers what they really want and need for their studios. As you know, a focus group such as this is one of the most valuable tools retailers and publishers have for knowing how to meet your print music needs.

The successful panel discussion led to additional focus groups and a survey of music teachers. RPMDA President Richard Rejino recently shared the results of these activities in the Hal Leonard newsletter In Touch. I am reprinting his article for you because he has some interesting insights that are relevant to music teachers, as well as music dealers.

--Gary L. Ingle, Executive Director

Support Your Local Music Store: It's Personal

by Richard Rejino

In the movie You've Got Mail, Tom Hanks plays a character whose family owns a national chain of bookstores and who has decided to open a mega store in Manhattan. The competition causes "The Shop Around the Corner," a neighborhood retailer, to close its doors after many years. The owner, played by Meg Ryan, is devastated. Hanks tries to mend a broken personal relationship with her by saying that "It was just business, it wasn't personal." Ryan's character responds with disgust, "I'm so sick of that. It was personal to me. What's so wrong about being personal? Whatever else anything is, it ought to begin by being personal!"

Today's piano teacher has the luxury of so many purchasing choices and the local music retailer stands alone in the midst of more outside competition than ever before. "The Shop Around the Corner" took pride in personally knowing their customer's needs. They developed relationships with the children of families that extended to more than one generation. Yet, in the end, they closed their doors. Imagine if this same scenario happened to your local music retailer!

Let's consider why supporting your local dealer is so important and why making the effort to establish a personal working relationship with them is worth your time.

Your local music store is not unlike The Shop Around the Corner. It is a place of familiarity. You attend teacher meetings, publisher workshops, and have recitals there. Your music store may provide you with pianos for ensemble rehearsals and performances. Perhaps they have a recital hall that they make available to you. They may also provide a place for you or others to teach. Ultimately, it is a place where you regularly shop for your students' music, looking for that one perfect piece that could make the difference between keeping them or losing them to soccer! In a very real sense, it is a place that should feel like home.

Like everything else in our lives, music retailing is about people. How many of you depend on at least one person at your local music store to help you select the right music for your students or who has an encyclopedic knowledge of music and where to get it? Where else can you find someone who will take care of your needs by stocking the music you use and receiving new issues for you to peruse? Yet, the music retail industry is seeing more and more teachers buying from outside suppliers of print music and instruments through the Internet, mail order catalogues, publishers, and other retailers.

Not so long ago experts thought that catalogues and, most recently, the Internet would transform the shopping habits of consumers. In many ways they both have, but we still have the need to see and touch the merchandise we buy. Research shows that we like having a real person with whom to interact as we decide on our purchases. It is no different in the music business. Nothing can substitute the advice of a knowledgeable person whom you can trust. A music retailer who knows you and knows how you teach and the kinds of materials you use is invaluable to you as a professional.

Teachers Speak Out

Earlier this year, the National Piano Foundation and the Retail Print Music Dealers Association organized a focus group of piano teachers in Dallas, Texas. The group of six area piano teachers discussed retailer/teacher relationships and teachers' buying habits of print music and instruments. The participating teachers had varied teaching situations. Three were private teachers, one was a group piano teacher, one taught in a studio with a partner and one was a music school owner with over 900 students. Five of the six teachers were women.

The common thread that ran throughout the entire discussion focused on the chasm that sometimes exists between teachers and retailers. Simply put, it was all about personal relationships. Teachers conceded that the profile of the piano teacher has changed in recent years. What were once fiercely loyal customers not so long ago are now consumers whose purchasing power is being wooed with deep discounts offered by Internet companies, out of state retailers, discount mail order catalogues, and by some publishers. Let's face it. Money talks.