Dealing with One Music Dealer

Occasionally another music store will spend time and effort trying to win a band's business away from its current music store. Usually the effort will consist of frequent visits to the band room, unusually fast delivery of supplies, lower than normal charges on repairs, below cost prices on school bids, and sometimes personal favors. The reps know these situations can make it difficult for you to tell them you won't do the band's business with them.

Sometimes, as a result of these situations there is a natural temptation to try to keep everyone happy by somehow spreading the business between two companies. Occasionally a director will "split" the business by giving the accessory, music, and repair business to one company, while the other company does the rentals and step-up programs. Or maybe the director will attempt to split the rentals by letting one company do the woodwind rentals and the other the brass — or one company rent instruments in one feeder school while the other company rents instruments in another feeder school.

While the director's intentions are admirable and on the surface this seems to be an amicable solution for everyone, in reality it doesn't help either of the reps or the stores and leads to additional problems for the director and his band. It is the rental and step-up business that a rep and school music store depend upon to cover expenses and salaries. Therefore giving one company the accessory, music, and repair business wouldn't really help that store much; eventually that rep would probably have to discontinue his trips.

Splitting the rentals seems a fairer division. But unless a band is unusually large, it is unlikely that there would be enough rentals to cover two companies' expenses. Probably the band's service from both companies would slip. More than likely before the next school year, one or both companies would ask the director to choose one company or the other.

In addition, for directors, having two music stores and two reps creates confusion and takes extra time. There would be confusion about which store an instrument came from, which store a repair was sent to, which store was given an order, which store has M&R coverage on a particular instrument, etc. There would be two sets of bills to keep straight, two reps to spend time with, two different rental programs to set-up and attend, two different rental plans to keep up with, and probably two different brands of instruments in each section, etc.

The only real solution is to make a choice and then tell the rep, as difficult as it might be. Reps are experienced business people, and they understand that no business is guaranteed. They realize that their initial service to you is speculative—they might or might not succeed in getting you to change music companies. They're aware of the impending decision, and know that you need to make a choice for your band's sake. They shouldn't take it personally if you select the other company.

In most cases your decision will not be because of something the rep did or didn't do, but rather based on the products and capabilities of the companies—the brands of instruments, rental plans, inventory of accessories and supplies, availability of music, a professional repair shop, and many other things that are important to the director.