Another perspective:

It is hard to find and hold on to truly knowledgeable salespeople considering the relatively low pay and long hours that comes with working at a music store. Why the low pay? Well one reason is the relatively low profit made in selling keyboard products made even lower by the potential to shop over the internet and pit stores against each other from all over the country. This makes it impossible for a store to pay a reasonable wage based on the qualifications of an individual. I am not saying that a store should gouge a customer with exorbitant prices, but if you want/expect to have the proper service from local stores that I feel you deserve, then the store and salespeople deserve to be compensated fairly for providing that service.

So what happens is stores hire the cheapest labor they can find, I.e. young kids who think it is cool to work in a music store because they get to hang out all day with other musicians and play on all the guitars and buy stuff cheap; not because they are looking for a profession. I find that a lot of music store salespeople don’t have a sense of pride in what they are doing. There is a huge difference in working at a music store and being a professional salesperson.

When I was in music retail, I made it a point to read every manual, go to every factory product training session, etc. to make sure that I knew everything there was to know about the products I sold. I would also get the manuals for the products that I was competing against and learn them as well so I could be as informed as possible. I know there are still salespeople around who take pride in what they do, but they are getting harder and harder to find.

Dave


[This message has been edited by WDMcM (edited 05-29-2005).]

All the points made here are valid points.
The store could have higher a new person, or may be they had someone else from another department of the store fill in last minute. That to me is perfectly acceptable.

However, regardless of the reason for the lack of correct information from a keyboard sales person, it could be detrimental for the store and the store could be losing potential customers.

For example, if I did not know anything about keyboards and I wanted to get a PSR for someone and went to that store and took the information as the truth, I would have left with out getting a PSR keyboard. And may be the store had PSRs or had the ability to order one for me.

I think some keyboard stores are in a catch 22 situation. They can find a way to get knowledgeable sales persons (and may possibly make them have to increase the price of their products), or they can use the best persons they can afford (knowing that they may not be experts in keyboards, and may occasionally give wrong information to potential customers).

What ever the case, we as consumers must always do research before investing in a musical product regardless of where we are getting it from.

Ditto for Dave,
Worked in a computer store, work now as a professional.
Over the years I was working in the store (1993-1999), there were always people who would pay say 5% more, because they felt that they were getting the attention and the experience of an expert even if we were 23-27 years old.
But their number kept lowering over the years, because the majority of customers was simply adding up numbers and finding a lower total sum elsewhere.

Squeak,

I worked in sales for a number of years and the number one thing I was taught was never LIE to a customer. It is ok to say "I don't know, let me do some checking for you." If you get caught lying to a customer you most likely will never get that customer back.

What you experienced was poor sales training.

Tom

Yes that's the think that bugs me the most too. I don't mind the sales guy saying, I don't know, but I'll find out for you". After all there's a lot of different, complicated gear to learn (especially when you factor in all the software packages), with new models coming out all the time.

But I won't put up with being lied to. In fact - I simply won't shop there again. I usually have a couple of questions I've researched before going into the shop. I ask those, knowing the correct answer, and can judge whether the rest of the queries I have are going to be answered truthfully.

It might seem harsh, but I'm potentially spending a lot of my hard earned cash (a new keyboard is a major investment for most of us) and I need to know I'm spending my money wisely.

I agree there are economic difficulties in employing and retaining good staff and I accept that as someone willing to pay that little bit extra for good service, I'm a dying breed. But there's no excuse for lying except that we let them get away with it.

There are so many more products available today than even a few years ago. Yes, salepeople should be aware of their product lines, but what is more upsetting is that the first saleperson gave so much misinformation. There is a difference between not knowing and misinforming. I am most happy to help a salesman with information I might have, but if he/she is a total idiot, then forget it.

Learning is a few clicks way.....95% of what I know about Casio,Yamaha keyboards and others., PA sound systems etc. I have learned from you guys and other forums that I visit as often as I can, you have to have the desire to learn, not just to go for the money.

The internet has unlimited resources about everything...including the Home Depot stuff and the how to's, when I was laid off from an Office job after 17 years, I trained myself on how to do house remodeling, asking questions researching the internet for evreything I wanted to know, so if somebody is intrested in music or anything else, there's a way to do it.

So there's no excuse for a Sales person not to know @ least a little bit about what he's selling or doing for a living.

I think we need to call George more often

Home Depot isn't a fair comparison to me. HD can sometimes be a professional Contractor's worst nightmare. At least it was back when I was in the business.

Sure, it's often cheaper than going to my local lumber yard or supply house, but for a small outfit like I was, the minutes that often turned into hours wasted trying to get exactly what I needed for job cost more in time than it was worth, not to mention sometimes less than superior building products in some facets of the business. As a pro, you want to get in, tell them what you need, and get out, prferably with top quality stuff. I wasn't trying to be the cheapest, but instead trying to satisfy my customers and keep my name clean. I never had to advertise. Word of mouth kept me busier than I needed to be almost all the time. In times when I had to bid for a job, I doubt that I was ever the cheapest either. You get what you pay for, and building material is no different.

Music stores.. that's maybe a little different story. Most, even a GC, are much smaller venues than a Home Depot, and you would expect a`salesperson to be trained, at least in the finer art of customer relations and general knowledge of his / her area. I don't expect the guy / gal to know every function on every piece of equipment. That's probably unrealistic. It is a good thing at least if you know how to turn it on, maybe get through a few menus and functions. Please have at least a working knowledge of the gear that is out there, even the competition that you don't carry. As was already stated, I too learned much of what I know about gear by reading up on it, and then when I could, messing with it a little.

Just as important to me, leave the condescending attitude about certain gear, like arrangers, at home. You're there to help sell your store's products and be helpful along the way. That describes Chris, the KB manager from Alto Music in Middletown, and that's why he will always have me as a customer, for as long as we are both around.

AJ

[This message has been edited by Bluezplayer (edited 05-31-2005).]

seeing this topic started me thinking,(maybe dano or george can comment)everytime i have been into a music store there has never been or hardly ever any music coming out of the store,i mean if you go in someone will say can i help you,is this your opinion? what i am trying to say is why don,t these stores play their keyboards loud so people will come into the stores,or play them on their forecourts like they do at exhibitions,and malls cause these keyboards of today with their marvelous accompaniments,are better than the organs in the past,(this is the sizzle)this has got to be the best way to sell keyboards,or is there a noise abatement order in place? mike