Wouldn’t you agree that one of the most egotistical things a person could do is proclaim: “I AM THE GREATEST!” But to be a successful salesman, you have to be extremely egotistical, believing that your products are the best in the world, and your knowledge of them, the most refined.  It took years of rock guitar-obsession to get where I am.

THE GREATEST GUITAR SALEMAN!

Growing up in Brooklyn, I was one of those pain in the ass kids that went shopping or browsing at the local music store with boundless curiosity and passion, and absolutely no cash to spend. (As fate would have it, it was Sam Ash music where I spent my afternoons). I demo-ed as many cool guitars, effect pedals and Marshall amps I can get my hands on. After a while the store manager would give me the “turn it down look” and fun time would be over. The dramas in the store these days are pretty similar, the only difference being the guitar riffs: During my era, we tried to play Jimmy Page’s famous ‘Stairway to Heaven’ guitar part. Years later, it was Eddie Van Halen’s solo in “Eruption.” That riff was  ‘finger tapped’ by every kid that passed through the doors on any given Saturday morning! The next generation attempted the opening riff to the bad boy rockers Guns & Roses classic “Sweet Child of Mine” That lick  was mangled by countless well-meaning teens as well.

We finally placed a sign up in the store for the sake of our collective sanity: “Absolutely no person is allowed to play the guitar riff or any part of “Stairway to Heaven,” “Eruption” or “Sweet Child of

Mine” on these premises!”  But of course that didn’t stop them from hacking those riffs anyway!

To this day, I still get a serious nervous reaction whenever I hear those tunes on the radio!

Sam Ash Music co. has been in business for over 75 years. In the beginning the small music shop in Brooklyn sold mostly violins, brass instruments, drums and a few guitars and banjos.  They actually called that a ‘full line music store” in those days.

Years  later, even phone-a-graph records were available for sale. (For some of you young rockers out there – it’s the black vinyl disc object with grooves and a hole in the middle!)  From that humble beginning the company grew into of the world’s largest music instruments dealers.

Sam Ash Super music stores can be found from coast to coast.  For the last twenty five or so years, from ‘stairway to hip-hop’ and all the music styles in between, I have been there, on the front lines working at the ‘famous west 48th street’ location.

West 48th street New York City, now known world -wide as ‘Music Row,’ is famous for not only having the largest amount of available guitars in one street, but also for its star-studded clientele. I saw an opportunity to mix business with pleasure. The perfect recipe for

success and happiness in life.

I often reminisce that over twenty five years ago I started on sales floor (carrying those huge Marshall and Fender amps  up from the basement stock room), and now I have worked my way up to being awarded the “GREATEST SALESMAN in the Company’s History!”

At the Sam Ash awards dinner (a very swanky affair) held at the Helmsy ballroom, the Ash family presented me with the beautiful plaque which in part

read:

‘PRESENTED TO STEVE PISANI

for sales in excess of

$5,000,000,00

“THE GREATEST SALESMAN IN OUR 75 YEAR HISTORY’

At the awards dinner Sammy Ash, one of the executive vice presidents and grandson of the founder of Sam Ash music said, “I was reviewing your

sales average and its over $110,000.00 a week. That’s a little over $15,000.00 sales per day, and breaking that down per eight hour shift, you

are averaging close to $2,000.00 dollars and hour!”

Colleagues approach me every now and then and ask what my secret is. “Open your hand I will give you gold”, I tell them.  I pause, and look at their eager faces, and I could almost see the dollar signs  flashing in their eyes…  They draw closer. I turn to my left and I turn to my right and I announce: “I WORK VERY HARD!”

It has been said that highly successful people are usually very passionate about what they do.  You would tend to think that Derek  Jeter is passionate about baseball!   I can tell you here and now I love to sell.  Maybe it is the challenge or the competition? All I know that I feel quite a rush when another happy customer walks out the door with a cool Ibanez electric guitar in his hand! I have said it for years that matching the correct instrument to the right customer is truly an art. I remember when I first started working in music retail on ‘famous west 48th street’ I asked the store manager what type of dollar figure sales numbers does this store averaged daily? He answered” twenty to twenty five thousand dollars a day in sales”. I thought to myself, “the hell with being a team player, I should be the one selling a nice chunk of that twenty grand every day’!”  Right then and there I was the shark. I knew I had the killer instinct to over achieve.   Their are many talented or should I say “great” guitar players/musicians out there.  Which one can really call themselves the “greatest?”    Who can say?  But I can proclaim here and now, I am the ‘Greatest guitar salesman ever” – and I have a plaque to prove it!

LESSON LEARNED: follow your talents and let your passion lead the way!