[rodgersorganusers] Re: New Organ Blues
- From: <diapason@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <rodgersorgan@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 27 Oct 2003 10:48:22 -0600
As a technician rather than a salesperson or customer, let me approach this
interesting debate from a different angle.
Many consumers make their buying decisions based purely on the specifications
and prices of available brands. Tires, for example are usually purchased in
that way. A typical non-musician on an organ committee will apply his
tire-shopping logic to the decision about an organ. This person will obtain
stoplists and prices for various brands and quickly determine which organ seems
to be the best value.
Last week I serviced an organ that a church had bought in exactly that way. It
has a bigger stoplist than what they thought was the comparable Rodgers model,
so of course they chose the "better value." More bang for the buck, they felt.
But the console is almost laughably shoddy, the speakers look like guitar amps
hung on the chancel wall (including little red pilot lights staring at the
congregation) and the tonal quality falls way below Rodgers'. Add to that,
they can't find the dealer who sold it and the minister of music (one of my
customers at a previous church) called the Rodgers tech to work on this orphan.
But the church got a real "deal" by comparing prices.
That approach, I think, is the nemesis of posting prices in a field where it's
hard even for an informed person to know whether he's comparing apples and
apples.
I can also see Ronnie Johnston's point. His church is located a long distance
from a typical dealer's showroom. Looking at organs is not something he can
casually do in two or three afternoons. And there's no guarantee that the
dealer for Brand X is located in the same city as the dealer for Brand Z.
Ronnie might have to travel hundreds of miles in different directions to visit
a number of competing brands. For an experienced organist like him, already
aware of the issues of quality and reputation, internet shopping does make
sense.
So how is this debate going to end? Some marketing observers tell us that
insurance agents are a shrinking breed due to internet purchases, and that
automobile dealers are in the same boat. Wonder what that means for organ
dealers?
Bill Ehrke
New link to Christmas Music at www.frogmusic.com!
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