Yamaha Advantage Seminars Deliver a Strong Plan for Both Dealers and Independent Music Schools

More than 80 musical instrument dealers, music school owners and Yamaha staff across North America recently attended the Yamaha Advantage program, designed to assist educators and dealers in upping their game.

Held in Las Vegas on June 4-6, the workshop was sponsored by Yamaha for its dealers and Music School owners as part of its Dealer Development Services, which is celebrating its 21st year. The workshop was led by Alan Friedman, CPA, a partner with Friedman, Kannenberg & Company, P.C.; and Tom Hemphill, marketing manager, Yamaha Music Education, who used case studies and role playing to give teachers and proprietors hands-on experience navigating challenges facing their schools and dealerships today. The Yamaha Advantage program covered a wide range of topics, falling under the headings Succession Advantage, Financial Advantage and Music School Advantage.

Succession Advantage is the component seminar in the program that shows dealers how to formulate exit strategies as they plan their retirement or the sale of their businesses or schools. This instruction helps them sustain continuity through business operation during and after such a transition, and minimize disruption. This year, for the first time in Yamaha Advantage's history, Succession Advantage brought together music school owners as well as instrument dealers for the seminar, allowing the two groups to benefit from their difference in perspective on similar types of ventures.

"Bringing the dealers and music schools together for the first time was very successful," Hemphill observed. "I believe operators came away with many new tactics to effectively combine products and services that will result in an enhanced customer experience."

Succession Advantage was held in conjunction with the popular Financial Advantage seminar, the flagship component of Yamaha Advantage marking its 13th year, having trained more than 600 dealer participants in 20 training sessions. Program administrators noticed that the Financial Advantage attendees were predominantly young this year, which they interpreted as an encouraging sign that new participation in the music industry is on the rise.

Also featured was Music School Advantage, a program that assists these institutions in recognizing and responding to a changing marketplace. The workshop serves as an essential tool for Yamaha Music Schools to develop relationships and trust with their local communities on a personal level. In addition, the program helps develop and sharpen skills in finances, sales, marketing, operation and employee training, as well as share contemporary best practices and trends.

Attendees had high praise for the program. Kevin Rindlisbacher of Piano Showroom of Arizona, Inc. in Phoenix remarked, "[Succession Advantage] gave me a lot to think about. The actual method of valuation was an excellent example."

Cathy Reynolds of Lacefield Music in Missouri said of Financial Advantage, "I learned so much about how to run the business, to be alert of danger zones and to maximize profit!"

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