Tale of two customers and advice

HERE'S A TALE of two customers from yesterday's Adventures In Small Retail. It's not just a job, it's an adventure!

A woman came in asking about trumpet prices. Sheryl explained how we rent and sell trumpets with Boyd Music. The woman wasn't happy and said she found one for a lot less. When Sheryl politely cautioned her about buying a cheap instrument, the woman got angry, cussed Sheryl out and stormed out the door. We don't know what she wanted to hear, but she did hear the truth.

Then we had two young men come in. They are forming an acoustic act and the one guy had decent guitar with a hump in the neck. Sheryl had him pick which tuning he was planned to use most and then straightened the neck for that tuning. I told him about using alternative tunings and ideas for approaching the acoustic guitar - it's a much different beast than the electric guitar. The young man was polite and asked good questions and was appreciative.

Then he said one of his tuning pegs was bent and wondered how much a new one would cost. Sheryl told him the peg still worked fine and there was no need to replace it - you couldn't tell it was bent unless you looked really hard. He heard the advice and mostly believed it.

Who needs google when you have us?

You should see my Takamine acoustic, the one I play out. It's got all kinds of "character," the code word for dings and dents. Even Willie Nelson would be impressed.

Our advice is free. It's not always what people want to hear and we understand that, but we'll be glad to share our knowledge and expertise. We are not all-knowing and there are lots of different opinions about guitars and instruments. The bigger picture is really about how we run this tiny business. We want customers to have great experiences with music, not struggle. We want you to learn, and not from making big mistakes.

There's a reason we are closing in on eight years in business, and we are more than happy to share what we've learned.