Canadian Music Trade - December/January 2018 | Page 21

Of course, customers look at drummers
they love and the gear they play. It is nat-
ural to think that way. But just like the rest
of us, famous drummers can and do switch
brands. Maybe they find their endorser
can’t get them replacement gear quickly
when they tour outside of North America.
Maybe they moved for a better deal, or
have been dropped from their previous
brand. It is the music business, after all. So,
your customer basing their buying deci-
sion on what their favourite drummer is
playing at the moment is foolhardy.
But why should we care? We just want
to make the sale, right?
If a customer buys a kit from your store
and hates it, who do you think they will
blame? The superstar drummer? The brand
of drums? Nope. They will blame you, the
person that sold them this “terrible” kit.
You do have to be careful here not
to speak poorly of any brand. If you have
worked retail for any length of time,
you will know that all brands have great
products in their lines and all have entry
level kits that may leave us wishing for
more. Your job is to help your client fig-
ure out what they can live with and what
they cannot.
Allen Harding, store manager for
Rufus Drum Shop in Vancouver, says:
“Buy with your ears, not with your eyes.”
He regularly sets up kits for interested
customers to play and often finds this is
one of the best ways to break down a cus-
tomer’s well-entrenched assumptions or
stereotypes.
Sticking to Budget
Your first line of enquiry should be about
the budget. Long agrees, noting that with-
out the answer to this primary question,
“You can waste a lot of your and your cus-
tomer’s time.”
When you establish the customer’s
budget, be sure to ask if this is just for
drums or if they’re looking for hardware,
pedals, and cymbals as well. Many cus-
tomers already own hardware, pedals, and
cymbals from a previous kit and are just
looking to spend their entire budget on a
fine shell pack.
A $500 kit will almost never sound as
good as a $1,000 kit and a $1,000 will not
match a $2,500 kit. So, start by working out
a budget and don’t forget 75 per cent of
kits do not include pedals, cymbals, hard-
ware, or quality heads, so you may need to
work those items into their budget as well.
Always ask.
A good rule of thumb is that they
will spend that same amount of money
on hardware, cymbals, pedals, and ac-
cessories as they did on their drum shell
pack. So, if they plan to purchase a $1,000
shell pack, they will likely spend $200 on
stands, $300 on pedals, and $500 on cym-
bals to make it playable.
Beginner kits like the Mapex Tornado
($500) or the Pearl Export ($1,200) come
complete with single-braced stands, ped-
als, and pressure stamped cymbals. The
cymbals are typically sub-standard, but the
drums and hardware are serviceable. I see
nothing wrong with pointing out to your
customer that the cymbals in these pack-
ages are useable only for practice and that
before playing out, they will need to invest
in better cymbals. James Burton, drum
specialist at Long & McQuade Winnipeg
North, agrees: “I am always 100 per cent
honest with my customers, and they thank
me for it.”
Yamaha’s Stage Custom Birch kit
($1,400) features all birch shells and a good
entry level hardware pack that includes
two cymbal stands, a high-hat stand, kick
pedal, and snare stand. The customer will
have to purchase cymbals before they can
play, but this does get them most of the
way there.
A higher-end kit like a Gretsch Brook-
lyn ($2,800) three-piece comes with a kick
drum, single rack tom, and a floor tom,
leaving the customer to purchase a snare
drum (say $500), individual stands ($500),
double-kick pedal ($700), a throne ($100),
and cymbals ($1,500).
Burton reminds us that it’s “important
to know what kits you have in stock.” Some
customers do have a dream kit in mind and
are willing to wait months for it to arrive,
but most want to begin drumming right
away and can be brought around to a kit
that will deliver on their stated needs, but
may not be the original brand, colour, or
Allan Harding of Rufus Drum Shop, Vancouver, BC
size they began the discussion with.
Each piece costs more money, so work
out what they really need as opposed to
what they dream about. Ask your custom-
er when they were last out at a local live
music venue and what did they notice the
drummer playing? Most working drum-
mers carry a four-piece kit. They do this
to save time and energy transporting the
minimum-sized kit they feel they can play
while still doing the music justice. Purchas-
ing only four pieces lets the pro drummer
spend more on each piece, increasing the
quality and sound.
Traditionally, most pre-packaged
drum sets are either four- or five-piece kits;
however, many suppliers are now offering
six- and seven-piece drum sets at compet-
itive price points. This trade off – quantity
for quality – is one of the first decisions
your client must make. I had a customer
who purchased two entry-level kits as he
wanted that old-school double kick drum
he had dreamed about as a kid. For him,
quantity mattered more than quality.
How does your customer plan on
purchasing the kit? Will they be paying
cash, credit, or planning to finance their
purchase? It has been my experience that
when a customer chooses the financing
option, they are less concerned about the
total purchase price and more concerned
about the monthly payment. If cymbals
add another $600 to the overall price, they
seem less concerned if they are financing.
“Many customers have a low down
payment and need financing to afford a
new kit,” Burton says, “so most of my cus-
tomers finance their drum purchase.”
CANADIAN MUSIC TRADE • 21