Freehold, N.J.’s, Freehold Music Center has seen economic downturns before during its 57 years in business. With the current economic climate, the store has increased outside promotions, including providing pianos for charity balls, private auctions, and senior communities. Its main goal has been to increase the closing percentage of customers that come into the store. “Even increasing from 40 percent to 45 percent can make all the difference.”
—J. Michael Diehl
“As for the terrible economy...Our economy has been somewhat insulated from the pains afflicting some parts of the country. May through October reflected healthy sales increases and year to date we are up 17 percent, so we’re cautiously optimistic. We are watching overhead closely but don’t want to change the program that’s working. What are we doing differently? Paying special attention to inventory, particularly small goods. We’re in a small town and people like to buy locally but more and more we hear ‘Oh. You’ll have to order it? I can order it, I’ll just do that.’ Every time they come in and we don’t have what they need, it’s a black mark against us. I also suspect that a certain percentage of dealers are going to look at the economic news and pare back on that stock order, which provides an opportunity to the well-stocked store. We’re presently finishing an acoustic room that should provide a quality experience for the customer and hopefully lead to increased sales opportunities.”
—Stephen Middleton,
DaCapo Music, Ardmore, Okla
“We are stocking more sticks and drumheads and general accessories. We don’t want our customers to have to go anywhere else.”
—Mike Henry, Percussion Center, Houston
“Our core philosophy has remained the same since day 1. We love what we do; we owe our customer the best we can offer. Whether it is the items they want, the advice they ask for, or the price they seek, we have always had support teams in all aspects of service. From repairs to installation. Here is a good analogy. Let’s say you are a Chinese restaurant. Not everyone likes Chinese food. Not everyone is going to come in to your eatery. So, when customers do come in, would it not be in your best interest to be the best Chinese restaurant in town? Serve the best food, offer the best service, have the most pleasing atmosphere. You don’t try to appeal to everyone. You don’t start offering hamburgers, hotdogs, or pizza. Yes, you can offer special nights on the slow days, but you don’t change what you are there for. Down time or slow times. We all experienced those periods. Concentrate on cleaning up your loose ends. Take care of those infrastructure things. We are concentrating on getting two warehouses under control, re-working some of our office space and developing and improving our Web site presence. We are also experimenting with different advertising approaches.
—Larry Garris, Corner
Music, Nashville, Tenn.
“My lesson program drives the entire retail end of my business. My customers come in and jam and take lessons first, and then maybe purchase or trade in an instrument.”
—Mark W. Fleming, Mark’s Music Studio, Floyd, Iowa
“We have a positive attitude with [everything]. We have our first Ellis Drum Co. catalog. We developed an e-commerce Web site. We also have community-involved drum clinics.”
—Tim Ellis, Ellis Drum Shop, Minnesota
“As the economy tightens each household budget, it is of utmost importance we have sufficient inventory of very high-quality economical instruments. Having high-quality economical instruments at all price points allows us to provide our customers with confidence they are purchasing a valuable instrument that will meet not only their child’s current needs but will also provide their child with a lifetime of benefits. Achieving high-quality economical instruments is first accomplished by having our highly-skilled musicians play, evaluate, and pick instruments each year from various suppliers that will meet the quality standards we demand for our customers. Our next step toward customer satisfaction involves utilizing our 200-plus years of combined repair technician experience. No matter the instrument’s price point, each string, brass, and woodwind instrument is processed through our in-house string or brass and woodwind repair facilities to fine tune and validate that the instrument’s quality actually meets our standard of excellence before placing it into the hands of our customer.”
—Mark J. Williamson,
Williamson Music Co., Plano, Texas.
“We haven’t changed anything with what we are doing with our business due to the slow economy other than watching the level of the inventory we have. Because we sell both new and used bass gear to bass players all over the world, there are still plenty of customers for us.”
—Evan Sheeley, Bass Northwest, Seattle
2. When customers come into your store, they definitely want to escape the everyday realities of the world. What are you doing to promote an atmosphere so that they can “escape their everyday problems?”
“It is all about making the customer feel as if they are in an MI shop instead of any common retail store, while making them feel comfortable at the same time. We have a small television that is always on, playing DVDs with anything from live concert footage to product demos. Also, we have areas with comfortable, stylish seating to accommodate people demoing instruments, parents of those taking lessons, etc. We have also been successful at keeping people comfortable and in the store, creating a sense of constant activity and raising the chances of people making a purchase. We have permanent trussing with can lights on the ceiling and upbeat rock music at a manageable volume, keeping the store well lit and creating the feeling of being at an event instead of being inside of a store.”
—Brenden Vanslyke
“Most people don’t want to come into their favorite ‘hideway’ and talk economics. Since we are located in a small rural area, we are somewhat isolated from big economic trends. I try to keep conversations light and away from the negative. Let them relax, enjoy the diversion of coming into the store, plugging in a guitar, and just enjoying their visit.”
—Dan Kuse
“Kids (and some adults I know) want to continue playing Rock Band, Guitar Hero, talking on the newest cell phones and living a ‘Rock Star’ fantasy life supported by their parents (and credit cards for adults). We keep that spirit alive for our students by having Rock Band and Guitar Hero set-up and ready to play, a full stage that we use for student concerts, monthly recitals and Guitar Hero/Rock Band competitions. I keep our shop televisions tuned to music videos and my staff and teachers are instructed to never engage in political or religious conversations with customers. If the customer goes in that direction, they should try to steer them back to music, playing music, making music and being a musician.”
—Billy Cuthrell
“We always have everything in our demo rooms set up and ready to go, so it’s easy to get involved, whether that’s playing an electronic keyboard, plugging in a guitar to a nice amp, or pulling up a ProTools session to check out some plug-ins. This might sound hokey, but people need the release and escape of music and the arts more than ever during difficult times.”
—Jeff Radke
“The majority of our customers are either out-of-towners or visitors from other countries. Hospitality has always been of the highest importance. Lately, it has included bringing in a midday meal.”
—Jim Duncan
“We know music offers pleasure, release, and escape from the daily grind. Even when the economy was peaking back in the late ‘90s to early 2000s, we’ve always tried to make this store a ‘hang.’ Good music is piped in on our stereo system and drum videos or DVDs are playing on the TV, etc. Our staff here has always tried to maintain a loose atmosphere, cracking light-hearted jokes to make customers more relaxed, talking about last night’s ball game, etc. One thing that being in a downtown area draws is lots of solicitation from people just walking in. Sometimes talk can be of religious or political nature when they walk in. That’s a BIG no-no here. People asking for donations or setting up literature holders for some sort of a party affiliation [often occurs]. We don’t want to represent any one political or religious party, thus alienating or reminding customers of the day’s problems or daily grind. Keep a musical and drumming theme and all will be cool for the most part. Having the occasional ‘name’ drummer just casually stroll in can be a big mood lifter also. Essentially we know the world has its problems. That’s part of the reason why we do what we do here. To make it fun (and sometimes to forget ).”
—Greg Allen
“Instead of offering them an escape, we emphasize the positives in their involvement in music and bring that reality to the forefront. We let them know that music will increase their child’s abilities and opportunities in education or the entertainment and health benefits of purchasing an instrument for their own entertainment. We emphasize low-cost community music events at the high schools, colleges and local symphonies posted on a wall and have added that feature to our Web site. This gives them a reason to comeback even if it is just to see what is happening in our community.”
—Rebecca Apodaca
“We put in plants, a round bar table and bar stools with free coffee always available, a leather couch, removed some of the fluorescent lighting and replaced it with softer lighting, installed a large flat-screen TV on the wall with music DVDs running all the time, and we started selling soft drinks and added WIFI and started having a ‘students and friends jam night’ on the first Friday of every month.”
—Rik Asher
“I think folks are getting the jitters from sitting in front of their computer screens all day. We have scaled back on TVs around the sales floor. It is just too much flashing eye movement and visual noise. We’ve also started painting walls dark colors to balance the cubicle gray that many stores seem to suffer from now.”
—Gary Gand
“Most of the time we have a pleasant and joking type of family atmosphere without letting the ‘serious’ nature of the rest of the world come into the store. That doesn’t require much effort except a relaxed and peaceful sales counter personality and guiding people gently into making their purchases. We have always had a TV running for a homey atmosphere; sometimes playing live performance DVDs, AniMusic DVDs, or a cable TV channel like SciFi, but never news channels. If a conversation starts to go political or into economic woes, we stay neutral yet nod agreement with the customer to imply we’re really listening to what they’re communicating, whether we agree or not. Music lessons can be heard from the front counter and that fosters questions about lessons for the adults or their kids. Teens through seniors leave with smiles, or wanting to shake hands after the sale or conversation, which affirms to us that they had a good time and their loyalty is established. Most people, myself included, just want to feel like they’re actually being listened to and not treated like sheep or faceless account numbers.”
—Mark Bilger
“The vibe in our store is friendly and conversational. We invite folks to try instruments out and trade stories. I always enjoyed hanging out in music stores when I first started to play, and we continue that tradition of hospitality daily.”
—Jeff Sims
“To help facilitate the ‘escapism,’ we have really stepped up our displays and made them more attractive and ‘interactive.’ Our salesmen are working musicians, and customers really feel they are part of that world for the time they spend with us. If we can get them to jam a little (with or without us), it usually ends up in a sales relationship. After that, it’s all about keeping your new jam buddy happy. In other words, we are promoting a music culture and nurturing it mindfully.”
—Troy J. Percle
“Our store is downtown among eating places and next to a micro brewery. It has always had a welcoming atmosphere in both decor and friendly, smiling staff interaction. We have simply maintained that and kept a very positive buzz in our conversations with people. When they want to talk about their struggles, we listen. When they ask for suggestions, we go out of our way to help them. Our secret weapon is a Basset-Golden-Chow mix called Charlie who strolls up to meet everyone who comes in the front door and rolls over to have his belly scratched. He actually has developed a fan club. He epitomizes the warm and fuzzy we are trying to maintain for our customers. I believe that being positive in a down market amplifies your position. You look much better to the observer because other businesses give the impression of going in the opposite direction, even if they are not. We smile a lot, even on the phone and we talk about it at our morning meetings. Sales are ahead of last year at this point and I feel very good about that. As the economy starts to pick back up in the coming months, we will be able to capitalize on the market share we have gained.”
—Drew Parker
“We made the store look much more full, bringing as much stock out as possible. It really makes the store look like there’s something big happening. That is our ‘in-store’ attack.”
—Tim Ellis
“Our store promotes an atmosphere of tidiness and an organized showroom.
Funky hardwood floors, good lighting, vintage drum sets, rock memorabilia and posters set the tone for customers to escape their everyday problems. Lesson rooms have bright colors and posters as well. We always are showing music or drumming DVDs on our TV monitor, or play the latest CD from all kinds of artists.”
—Phil Sollar
“The way we ‘manifest’ good things is to start with an ‘attitude of gratitude.’ We are thankful about the positive aspects of our lives. Once you start this magical process, it doesn’t take long until you start feeling better. If you feel better, you are better. If you are better, then the whole world becomes better. Stop whining, and start winning!”
—Len Volpe
“We totally redid the entire inside to look and feel like a big city store for one-tenth of the cost. It feels like something is happening. We repainted two rooms: deep red and gold in one room and in the other metal plate and purple to give the store the vibe that ‘something is going on in here.’ We encourage anyone to pick up an instrument and jam on it. Other than the everyday local kids who are in jamming, our No. 2 sheriff, several lawyers, and a large real estate broker/owner come in regularly and play to escape their day. We threw a piano through the front window and it is sticking out half way to capture folks’ eye lines as well as create humor as they pass by and hopefully stop in. Even with a piano coming out the front window, many people still come in zombie-like with no focus and never see it. Amazing to watch who is awake who isn’t.”
—Spencer Brewer
“We have lots of drumming events like the Texas Big Beat to help our community, drum circles, and a friendly store staff and free coffee, as well as a comfortable lobby for parents and family to wait while students are taking lessons.”
—Mike Henry
“We have believed in ‘the hang’ approach to retail for a long time. I remember coming to Dietze as a high school kid and hanging out most of the day. Music is a great way to escape the problems of daily life and a music store is a great place to “get away.” When you create a comfortable environment with friendly staff that is able to educate as well as sell, you start to establish a traffic pattern. This traffic pattern translates into not just sales, but repeat sales. I always enjoy seeing the stores fill up at lunchtime and after school. If you create that environment, people will not only come the first time, but come back with friends. Although the economic outlook is grim, it is still people who make music and people who make this industry.”
—Tim Pratt
“Customers come in to my cozy little ‘A’ frame cabin-style shop with a ‘knotty pine’ showroom and we talk guitars, the weather, and the economy or whatever else is on their minds. Sometimes they even make a purchase, small or large; it’s all good! I push my accessories, books, and teaching DVDs because of their excellent profit margins.”
—Mark W. Fleming
“We feel our store has probably one of the best customer environments on the island. We really started at the ground level to make sure that the shopping experience would be the best it could be. Our interior décor is warm and inviting, utilizing earth tone colors and a birchwood finished slat wall and displays. We have a large 20-ft. counter with stools that customers can ‘kick back’ at and hang awhile. The store features 42-inch LCD screens and surround-sound speakers throughout to enhance the experience so that the customers can view concerts, product demos, and instructional videos. We provide a waiting area for parents outside our large soundproof lesson rooms. It is our estimate that on average our customers stay for at least 30 to 45 minutes just taking it all in.”
—R. Gregory Sablan
“Cafes in our stores. Open Mic Nights. Guitar Hero contests. Anything we can do to create a musical community within our stores. The more they are involved in the experience of our stores, the more they forget everyday issues and problems in their lives.”
—Tony Falcetti
“We have always tried to make our store and the way that we deal with our customers as comfortable and laid back as possible. Once they are in our store or while talking to us on the phone, we keep everything upbeat and positive. Our goal is to help our customers in getting the right bass gear for their needs and budget.”
—Evan Sheeley
“We are doing what we have always done: offering sincere, friendly service with lots of smiles. There’s a lot of stressed, grumpy people out there, but not behind our sales counter.”
—Todd Manning
Freehold Music Center makes sure it promotes a friendly, family-oriented environment. “Nothing good happens without music. Whether someone is here to sell an instrument, get a repair, take a lesson, or buy something new, we treat them the same.”
—J. Michael Diehl
“When a customer comes into our store, we first build an atmosphere of confidence by conveying to them we can and will provide them with a positive solution to their problem, thereby giving them an immediate sense of hope. When you can provide a customer with a product that works each time in meeting their needs, it provides a positive experience even in a down economy!”
—Mark J. Williamson
“We try to make anyone’s visit to our shop, even if they are lost and asking directions, one of the most positive experiences of their day. Unfortunately, that might not be too difficult. Strive to say ‘yes’ whenever possible. Keep doing what you do best, and do it with a passion.”
—John Barton
“This is the BEST part! We have grown so much by developing programs to fit the needs of our students. This has had an incredible affect on our atmosphere in our school and store. We have added Rock Band Classes, Junkyard Jammers, Preschool Classes, Adult Jams, and so much more. The best thing we did was incorporate Rock Camp USA into our summer program!! This program went from three to 12 sold-out camps in one year! Talk about great summer revenue! During these group activities, you get to see the kids and adults start to come together. The bottom line is: Make Things Happen in your community and the community will make things happen in your store. The more people you’re involved with, the more sales you will make.”
—Donna Hall
“We have set a goal to greet every customer that comes through the door and try our best to show them one aspect of what we do well. We also have regular customers who come by to hang out. This can be time consuming when you are busy, but is a good sign that they are comfortable in the store and enjoy the camaraderie.”
—Evan Jones
“Just coming to a music store is a change of pace. We have several types of customers. Professionals who want to get in and get what they need and then look at the new items. We try to keep the new items near the front or have signs/promo materials pointing them out. Then there’s the hobbyist, who spends a lot of time browsing the inventory. Personal conversation with those types seems to work the best. Beginners, much like hobbyists, follow the same procedure. While a coffee shop and video games might be appealing, that is not why our customers come in. Go back to the Chinese restaurant analogy. Be the best. Always offer new items, and constantly rearrange inventory.”
—Larry Garris
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