How would you sell 100 pianos?

[scotty M]

As some of you probably know, when I'm not living in internet millionaire fantasy world, I help run my dads business, a piano store.

So, my job is to convince customers to spend sometimes upwards of 100k on a piano.

We do pretty well just sitting back in the store and letting people walk in, but there's more money to be made, so I'm looking for some ideas.

One of our big money makers is the Yamaha disklavier. I'm not going to give you guys a sales pitch, but they're player pianos being marketed toward rich people who don't play.

So, one idea that I have is to partner up with real estate agents, builders, and interior designers. I want to figure out a way to have the piano put on display in houses for sale, and have the price of the piano built into the selling price of the house. When the house sells, the piano sells, and I give the agent a nice chunk of the profits for the help.

Not sure about this idea yet though. For one, would you consider it unethical? If the buyer doesn't want the piano I'd have no problem pulling the piano out.

Another question, is it legal? I have no idea about this when it comes to real estate law, but I'll probably just ask a local agent.

Anything else I should consider? Thoughts?

I's also be interested in hearing what you guys would do if you had this job. Remember, the idea is to convince people to spend thousands of dollars on a non essential product.

One thing you guys should probably know is that ~90% of the pianos we sell are to people who don't play. It's a pretty even mix between parents wanting a piano for their kids lessons and people buying them for status symbols.

Thanks,

-Scott

[spex x]

[ QUOTE ]

So, one idea that I have is to partner up with real estate agents, builders, and interior designers. I want to figure out a way to have the piano put on display in houses for sale, and have the price of the piano built into the selling price of the house. When the house sells, the piano sells, and I give the agent a nice chunk of the profits for the help.

Not sure about this idea yet though. For one, would you consider it unethical? If the buyer doesn't want the piano I'd have no problem pulling the piano out.

Another question, is it legal? I have no idea about this when it comes to real estate law, but I'll probably just ask a local agent.

Anything else I should consider? Thoughts?

-Scott

[/ QUOTE ]

IMO this idea isn't practicably workable. The reasons are just too numerous to even begin to list. I'll only discuss two points now. First, the seller's agent is legally and ethically bound to represent the seller. Agents cannot represent a second party in a real estate transaction. Your scheme would require the RE agent to represent your interests as well as the seller's interests. What happens when those interests are opposed?

The second problem isn't so much that it won't fly with the RE agents, but that it won't fly with the sellers. This is because your piano will be the first thing to get tossed out of the deal during negotiations. Say the house's price is 200k w/ the piano. The house has been on the market for 4 months. I offer the seller 175k. The first thing that the seller will do is counter offer 195k, no piano. This will happen every single time.

[Thremp]

scotty,

Try talking to a builder and putting the piano as a demo in a home with a small sign for your business and some card. The demo homes are usually rather spartan and you might be able to develop some leads from it.

Your idea has all the problems spex outlined.

[scotty M]

Thanks for the reply spex. This is why I figured I'd ask the question here before I start going crazy calling up realtors.

Couple of questions though.

I got this idea from the fact that fully furnished homes sell all the time. People include swimming pools, appliances, furninture, and lots of other stuff into the selling price of houses. How is this any different?

Secondly, I'm not the first piano dealer to come up with this idea. There are dealers all over the country doing this everyday. I just don't know exactly how they do it.

As for the sellers not wanting the piano in the house, you may be right that most of the time the buyer won't want the piano. I doubt that "every time" is likely though. Even if it's 1 in 20 it'd still be profitable. And I've loaned out pianos to realtors before because they thought it would help the house sell, so not everyone is going to view the piano as a problem.

Thanks for the info.

[Apoc]

Agree with many of the issues which spex laid you, but I like the way that you're thinking!

It sounds like you have some idea about the demographics of your target customers, so maybe you can go where they are, showcasing the piano in an environment that emphasizes the qualities you want -- status symbol. I'm thinking country clubs, luxury car dealerships, high-end stores, etc. Set up a display for free...I think people are generally fascinated by the idea of a player piano, so it will probably draw a little attention, but still be in lockstep with the higher class atmosphere. It's still kind of passive marketing, but you're going out to the customer as opposed to having them come to you.

For a little more active marketing, maybe you can use something similar to the mall displays where they give away a free car to one of the people who signs up. Give away a free piano on display, but then follow up with the non-winners to convince them to come into the store. Conceivably, people who signed up are people who have some desire to have the piano in the first place, so now your goal can be to target the potential customers who have the capability to buy.

Just a couple of thoughts...maybe a jumping off point for other ideas.

Apoc

[elus2]

Find piano teachers who teach mainly the children of affluent people. Offer them a new piano for free to use at their homes plus commissions to help you sell product.

You should be able to get a list through whatever body governs piano/music education in the States.

[scotty M]

[ QUOTE ]
scotty,

Try talking to a builder and putting the piano as a demo in a home with a small sign for your business and some card. The demo homes are usually rather spartan and you might be able to develop some leads from it.

Your idea has all the problems spex outlined.

[/ QUOTE ]

This is a good idea, we already do it though. We've got pianos set up in places like Macy's, banks, luxury homes, anywhere we think prospects might be.

It pays off pretty well, I'm just exploring some other options.

Thanks for the reply,

-Scott

[scotty M]

Thanks for the tips guys. I should have said this in my original post, but just about anything that you'd expect a piano dealer to do we already do.

They're all great ideas, but we already do them. I'll just make a quick list.

Some things we already do:

Put player pianos on display in public venues.

Set up booths at local shows like remodeling exhibits, home building expos, stuff like that.

Work with almost every piano teacher in the city.

Provide free pianos to the universities in exchange for letting us hold an annual sale and mailing their alumni lists.

Provide free lessons to anyone who buys a piano.

Advertise on local media, we have a sale about once a month and spend tons of cash for TV and radio air time.

I'm missing some stuff, but that pretty much covers the basics.

I do appreciate the replies.

[Freakin]

have some sort of buy 2 get 1 free deal on the pianos. people love buying in bulk.

[spex x]

[ QUOTE ]
have some sort of buy 2 get 1 free deal on the pianos. people love buying in bulk.

[/ QUOTE ]

wow, this actually has me laughing out loud.