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The holiday season is a busy time. Teachers conduct a ton of recitals, the media gets flooded with ads and our clients are busy making plans with family. People pay less attention to what local stores are up to. I knew my advertising budget would never compete with that of large-chain retailers, so I had to find a creative way to bring people into my store long enough to hear my holiday message. My solution was to get local students recording music they could share with their families. And the outcome was startling. Resources: I went to the local office supply store and bought a 1

We offer a promotion in April and May that not only keeps our lesson program bustling all summer long but also brings in a huge crop of new students. Customers who purchase a package of 20 lessons during this period get our lowest price on lessons—an extreme discount. Customers also get a free, brand-new entry-level acoustic guitar. The proviso is they need to start taking the lessons no later than May, and they have to take the 20 lessons within the 20 weeks that follow. In other words, we ensure a steady stream of students for teachers who would otherwise have a great deal of do

We offer a promotion in April and May that not only keeps our lesson program bustling all summer long but also brings in a huge crop of new students. Customers who purchase a package of 20 lessons during this period get our lowest price on lessons—an extreme discount. Customers also get a free, brand-new entry-level acoustic guitar. The proviso is they need to start taking the lessons no later than May, and they have to take the 20 lessons within the 20 weeks that follow. In other words, we ensure a steady stream of students for teachers who would otherwise have a great deal of do

Donovan Bankhead of Springfield Music shares his big idea: Use Google Apps to stay organized and improve your business. He's used this service at his music stores to do everything from share sales procedures with his team to organize his company's many promotional events. He adds, "They have a free program, and then you can also scale it up with a paid program if you need to." ​Watch the video.

During the holidays, you'll come face to face with more new customers than usual, giving you a chance to earn their current and future business. Here are 10 selling pointers to help you brush up your skills and make the most of every customer interaction. 1. Friendliness isn't optional. People get more frustrated during the holidays than any other time of year. Be the kind of person you would like to meet. Smile and look customers in the eye. 2. Develop trust by reading body language. If you approach customers who immediately fold their arms and back off, give them space. Find out

The fourth quarter is here and, with it, Black Friday—the annual gunshot to start the race to Christmas. This time of year can be challenging for independent music stores that don't have huge advertising budgets and private-equity funding. So how do you compete with Black Friday, Cyber Monday and all the other deals being thrown around during the holiday season? Here are six ideas that have worked at my store: 1. Keep it simple. National chain retailers always have long lists of exclusions and requirements for their sales. We advertised a flat discount on an entire purchase every

When the recession hit, large retailers began offering more layaway promotions. Customers had become more price-conscious, and layaway made large purchases more justifiable in people's minds. We decided to capitalize on that awareness. Starting two years ago, we did a big coupon mailing in September and October, long before the holidays. The coupon could be used to layaway a product, as long as customers paid by Dec. 25. The coupon made customers contractually obligated to buy the product and also gave them a larger percentage off their purchases, depending on how much they spent.

2012 was our best year ever. We also had our best December and our best fourth quarter to date. We had the benefit of a new, expanded showroom, which featured a laid-back vibe with living room furniture and bar counters. Here's how we took advantage of it during the holiday selling season. Take out a "thank you" ad. With our new shop being considered more of an upscale store, I was hesitant to advertise a big blow-out sale. It doesn't fit our model. We did print advertising in the Illinois Entertainer—a free local entertainment magazine—and used the space to run a big "thank you"

The back-to-school season is your single biggest make-or-break opportunity with music lessons. What you do to prepare during this period will ultimately affect your store’s lesson program for the entire year. Are you ready? At Summer NAMM 2013, music lessons guru Pete Gamber shared an easy plan for building your lesson program during the busy time. Highlights from the video. Phone shop your store: "All of you are so concerned with getting people to find you on Facebook and Twitter. I'm gonna tell you the No. 1 thing to do: Phone shop your store, and find out how bad you sound on t

The last several years have been interesting and trying times for the music business, but one thing has remained consistent: People want to play music. That's great news for us. We have the opportunity to build, create and even reinvent our businesses around the need, and the want, for music education. With a buzzing center for music learners and teachers, young and old, beginner and advanced, comes an energy that feeds your business—an inexplicable vibe that fosters good things. So what does it take to operate a successful, profitable music lesson program? In this series of arti

There are salespeople and then there are business development specialists. Some salespeople think they're successful because they have a title, a customer list and a few big-ticket sales behind them. Business development specialists, on the other hand, don't need a title, a territory or special pricing programs. They understand that sales leadership is about influence anchored in integrity, humility and a desire to see customers succeed with products and services (i.e., profit opportunities). So which one are you? Here are 10 ways to know if you're a business development specialis

Summer NAMM 2013 kicked off with the NAMM Retail Summit. The session looked at ways music retailers can supercharge the fourth quarter and holiday season. During his opening remarks, NAMM President and CEO Joe Lamond explains the urgency for the session. "Let's face it: The fourth quarter of last year—not so easy. A lot of you said you had a pretty disappointing holiday season. "Bottom line: Music retail has changed, and the dynamics of the four quarter have changed. And you can bet this will affect the way we all do business during the holidays. "So we're going to arm you today w