[CAUT] loan programs

[Dennis Johnson]

James-

These are some very good suggestions and I see a few things we may have done
differently, but in any case our program is though a single dealer, in fact
the owner is an alumni.  Bottom line for him is that he wasn't selling
enough pianos, grands especially.

thanks,

Dennis Johnson
St. Olaf College

___________________

On Thu, Apr 1, 2010 at 1:36 PM, James Schmitt <pianotenor at comcast.net>wrote:

> dear Dr.Nicolaides,
>   Here is what needs to be in place for me to support one of my
> universities starting a loan program
> 1.  There needs to a local dealer that will loan the pianos apart from a
> manufacturer program.  I have found that the post sale support for those
> purchasing and the quality of the pianos loaned is much better and more
> flexible.
> 2.  The school needs to be willing to support a sale with a strong mailing
> list not just a token list.
> 3.  The dealer needs to have a policy for sharing profits from the sale so
> that there is a real way for the school to purchase pianos and eventually
> have a strong fleet of there own instruments.  At two of my universities
> both schools have purchased nice pianos without using any of the university
> resources.
> 4.  The school needs to support the sale being held at the dealers store.
>  so that all the dealers resources can be available for the sale.
> 5. service of the loaned pianos can be paid for by the dealer with a refund
> of the money spent for service coming from profits of the sale.
>   The above points are making these programs work for both the school and
> the dealer.
>
> James Schmitt
>
> On Mar 31, 2010, at 9:50 PM, Dr. Henry Nicolaides wrote:
>
> I think loan programs are common with other industries and manufacturers.
> This gives them an opportunity to expose their product to a target audience
> and is considered a long term marketing strategy.  It benefits the college
> as well as the manufacturer.  Problems are encountered when the college
> depends too much on loans and does not have enough of their own inventory.
>  *I for one would be interested in what you have learned. * Though we have
> a good inventory of studio and performance pianos our practice rooms are
> sadly in need of replacement pianos.  Not that all of the studio pianos are
> new, some needing rebuilding, they are keepers.  Budgets being what they
> are, if you are fortunate to have a budget, loaner programs serve a useful
> purpose.
>
> Henry Nicolaides
> Piano Technician, School of Music
> Southern Illinois University
>
> > From: pianotenor at comcast.net
> > To: caut at ptg.org
> > Date: Wed, 31 Mar 2010 21:16:18 -0700
> > Subject: [CAUT] loan programs
> >
> > Hi all,
> > I am the new kid on the block and understand you have done a fair
> > bit of talking about the subject of loan programs. If anyone is
> > interested I would be happy to let you know what I have learned that
> > is making two significant programs work for two Universities I serve.
> > But it may be that everyone is tired of the subject. Anyone interested?
> > James Schmitt
> > Service tech for University of Portland
>
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