One of the interesting things about our businesses is our ability to agree and disagree about many things. Ultimately in any given situation we must decide for ourselves where our ethical and moral limits are. I would presume that most of us generally have the best intentions of our customers at heart. It seems strange to be in a service business and not wish to help our customers. Maybe I'm more jaded in my opinion of sales than most but my experiences working for other dealers and with other salespeople and some technicians (thankfully not Guild), leave me with the feeling that there are at least as many unethical sellers out there as there are ethical sellers. Who knows, maybe I'm just in a bad area. You guys may have had a better experience than I have had. I suspect not though because of all the comments sent on this subject. Time and time again, I find, my customers are glad I took the time to help them understand the differences in quality and what those differences equate to in terms of musical performance. As a rule those folks tend to buy more musical pianos than the ones who don't bother to learn anything. Education, it seems to me, is our best way of helping our customers help themselves. Rarely will a well informed customer be taken advantage of by an unethical salesperson. If we continue to educate through our publications, seminars, dealings with teachers, discussions with salespeople, and any other ways we can, then maybe we'll help a few extra people who are looking for a nice piano rather than a "price" piano. Bill Scharbrough, RPT
This PTG archive page provided courtesy of Moy Piano Service, LLC