Helping Your Customers Pick

Most musicians are not performers relying on income from playing gigs. Oh, many are, but most are not. Now in my 50s, I am no longer solely relying on live music performance or touring, or any other large enough income from music to cover my “exorbitant lifestyle.” I do perform.

Well, I did perform, I should say. As I mentioned in last month’s column, before the COVID 19 pandemic changed everything, my group did upwards of 35-40 shows a year, most of which were a bi-weekly house gig where we had performed for the past five years or so. It was income and, for what it was, it was decent income, but fortunately not all of my income.

The truth is, I now have more “invested” in my guitars, amp rigs, pedals, PA, lights, microphones, and other gear for gigging and recording than I will ever likely recoup unless I ever again play for much bigger pay over a few more decades. I know that won’t happen. I’m not delusional. I am, however, passionate. The fact is, I don’t really care anymore.

Since this is just “what I do,” I am satisfied with getting to do it. I’m not unique to your customer list.

I’m still buying stuff. It is a lifelong habit. Since most of your customers do not earn their living by playing music (and likely never will), but do this out of their passion for music, the majority of your customers don’t care if their purchase from your store makes them rich and famous. That isn’t to say they don’t dream. They do.

With that lofty goal of stardom removed from the barrier to sales, you can really dial into why your customers shop with you and help them feed their impetus for walking in your store. When their “home base dealer” takes interest in their reasons for being there, or shopping the online store, or ordering by phone, it makes the customer feel good and increases the chance of the sale. It opens up the possibility to sell them things they weren’t even thinking of when they walked in that day.

It’s amazing how often in my lifetime that I have made some kind of purchase after I’ve had a salesperson ask me what kind of music I make, who some of my favorite artists are, how many guitars or other instruments I own, what brands do I favor, if I write, record, or perform, when getting to know me. Sometimes it’s just a small purchase as

I’ve tested the water on the dealer/customer relationship, other times it’s a large ticket item. It’s not even always price-based. Many times, I’ve spent more money for musical equipment and accessories from small mom-and-pop dealers before to show support for their businesses, simply because the sales staff, or owners, took time to ask me about me, and why I am a music retail customer.

Questions from store personnel that pique my interest include, “What instruments do you play?” or “What kind of music do you like?” Follow-ups like “Do you play out? Do you write and record?” or “What’s your favorite guitar?” or “What kind of guitar tone are you chasing?” show an interest in me when they have never seen my face, or only seen me on occasion. Even something as simple as “What kind of picks do you use?” led me from saying

that I used Fender Extra-Heavy picks to having a dealer show me the boutique V-Picks acrylic product that I’m now an ardent devotee of using. That one question took me from probably buying nothing that day, to me dropping $25 on a handful of their “Tradition” line in a couple of shapes. That one question changed my pick use after 40 years or so of playing, changed my pick approach to playing, and brought me back to their store later looking for more when I inevitably lost some, or my dryer ate them, or whatever happens to picks (and socks).

Cold openers like “Can I help you find something?” or “Let me know if you want to see something” tend to turn me off if the salesperson hasn’t found out what makes me a music store customer first.

Find out how long I have been playing, my musical tastes, the instruments I play, the instruments I wish I played, how and where and why I make music. I like that. That moves your store up a few notches from a place I might be browsing, or price-shopping for a pedal, to a place that I should be doing business with even if you can’t quite price

match an online store, and maybe even moves me to not even ask you to price match or haggle, because you are showing interest in me, my passion, and want to know what makes me a music instrument retailer consumer.

These are questions not just for grizzled old middle-aged me, but just as important to ask that 12-year-old kid looking around, who you might turn into a customer for life. What music do those kids like? What instrument do they play or want to play? Do they want to someday perform, or write, or record music? The kid not making the purchase today is also the kid who sees the store as a place to help him engage in a lifelong passion for making

music, who will go cut grass or babysit or spend their holiday gift money on those first purchases that will lead to a lifetime of buying music products.