People have called me a good salesman, I don't think that I am,
A good
salesperson can sell anything, I can only sell what I truly believe in. So in
effect I am telling you that a 17 year old kid who works in a Guitar Center or
Sam Ash is actually a better salesperson than me.
They sell Fender Squires
&
Ibanez $140.00 guitars all day. I simply could never do that. I am totally
incapable of Bullshitting someone for that small amount of money. OK, OK, I
can Bullshit with the best of them but certainly not for cheapo guitars.
My selling style has always been to analyze a product and all the
competitive or like products. Then I make a decision on which one to sell. I
then approach the company that I have decided to promote & apply for a
dealership. When a company that I have chosen changes their product or makes a
number of cost cuts. I tend to change my recommendations. In fact I get
downright upset, You might even say I take it personally.
Just because I recommend something in 1998 doesn't mean I am still going to
recommend it in 2007
Some Guitars that I have strongly recommended and then I rescinded
completely. Taylor, Mermer, PRS, Heritage, McNaught, G&L, Kramer, and I am sure there will be
more.
If you follow my Worlds Best Page you will
notice very few companies that consistently are listed year after year.
I think the only two are Duesenberg & JET.
Currently Turner is under a
lot of scrutiny and might be taken off the list soon. I have been
incredibly unhappy with Turner guitars for the past several years.
My practice of
product comparisons has not made me the most popular
salesperson on the Internet, but I'm not running for public office so I simply
don't care. I have been in business all my life and I am quite comfortable with my
real estate investments. I can afford to say what I want to on my web site.
Yes
I am motivated by money but my real motivation is to bring new and exciting
things to this dead & dismal boring music market.
Many times a company manufactures a number of great products but also
manufactures a number of not so great products. I tend to try to cherry pick the
great products and try to stay away from the other ones. Today it is becoming
increasingly harder to do this.
Computers are aiding companies by reporting "what
dealers" are selling "what products."
A computer could very easily report to a
sales manager that XYZ dealer is not selling a particular model. Typically when
this happens I will get a call from the sales manager (Usually a new hotshot).
He will invariably push me to buy some of the products that I don't want to
carry.
When I wrote this article I was still a Gibson Dealer. Gibson is trying to force me to buy their lower cost
Epiphone products. They also want me to carry their line of Banjos & Dumbros, Yeeehaw!!!
they say that if I don't buy these products and their line of Dobros and
Acoustic Guitars that my prices on Electrics will go up as much as 10 percent.
This new policy of theirs will probably cause a serious train wreck between our
two companies. They have a bigger train than I do but as Kevin Meany says and
sings "I don't care, I don't care, I just don't caaaaaaaaaare"
NEW GIBSON GUITARS NOT SOLD HERE AS I
WILL NOT BE TOLD WHAT I HAVE TO BUY !!!!!
FUCK THAT
I get several Gibsons traded in per week so I can make you a great deal on a
used Gibson.
I still will take them in on trade and I
always have a decent stock at lower prices than most dealers.
This started out as a simple article but it has become a full fledged
rant, So for all of the callers who have been requesting some new rants.
I hope you are happy.
I have been selling guitars for 24 years at this writing in 1996, this unique selling style has
made me successful, and has gained me many loyal customers. It's just good
business to recommend a product that a customer will be happy with, it breeds
return customers and good will. This selling style has served to piss off some
people who feel that certain products are sacred and shouldn't be compared with.
I was recommending PRS guitars 10 years before the general public finally
caught on. Generally by the time the public does catch on to a good thing it
forces the quality down. The public demand forces mass production and cost
cutting, so the quality suffers when the volume goes up. It's just simple
economics. It has happened with almost every guitar company. And the ones it
hasn't happened to are generally the new kids on the block. Just give them a
little time, they will probably all make the same mistakes.
Ed Roman
10/12/96