veteran leadership brings the company into its 90th year - Music Inc ...

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MORE BUSINESS ADVICE FROM RETAIL EXCELLENCE WINNERS
Ben Kraft,
Kraft Music
“As an owner or executive find a way
to insulate yourself from those daily
activities that really bother you. Those
tant
tasks or problems that absolutely
have to be dealt with, and so ignoring
them isn’t an option, but micromanaging
those tasks isn’t the right answer either.
The second you can get away from those
activities that really bring you down or
ruin your afternoon (or worse), you’ll be
able to see your business in a new light.”
Robin Walenta,
West Music
Jon Haber,
Alto Music
“It’s not easy out there. You’ve
really got to go in with the
attitude of, ‘How can I make
myself better?’ Because
things that worked 10
years ago, or even
that matter, aren’t
if you’re not really
paying attention to
what’s really going
on in the greater
world, it’s only
going to get more
difficult for you.”
“Our mantra is we have
We put a lot of time and
attention on growth,
development and
recognition of our
associates each and
every day because
we know that they
are the most important
assets that we
have. I think that truly
is what sets us apart.”
Ray Arsenault,
Corner Music
“Everybody here has been on both sides
of the fence. By that I mean everybody
here is a player and a salesperson. So we
know what the customer is running up
against when they walk through the door.
We’ve been there, we’ve been in their
shoes. So that helps a lot compared to
someone who just gets hired on in a music
store and has to learn the business.
Most of our guys were pros
when they walked through the
door and asked for a job.”
George Quinlan Jr.,
Quinlan & Fabish
“We do have, I think, an
opportunity and almost
an obligation to improve
our Web presence for
customers, because
really working hard for
that. We redid our web
site this fall and got
compliments, but we
think we’re just at the
beginning of making
that the main connection
between us
and the parents we
serve and eventually
the teachers as well. So
that’s going to be a big part of our focus in the future
voice to voice and allowing them to be computer to
computer and doing it as semelessly as we did before.”
90 I MUSIC INC. I DECEMBER 2013