Was Re: Coil tapping

[Roger Jolly]

Greetings Jon,
              Do I tap strings to bridge every time?  No. However every new
piano that we recieve, it is done, each time a piano is new to me it is done.
 The concert hall pianos that I look after are done once per year, after
the frost sets in, and the humidity has fallen. In this kneck of the woods
the pitch drops significatly in early winter. The resultant shrinking of
the board seems to cause the strings to ride up on the bridge pins. Tapping
these units with a hammer shank is very light, and takes all of 10 to
15min, and keeps the units wonderfully stable. Not the only factor.

  Re dealer work. It's up to each individual on how he or she wants to
partnership with a dealer. In my area the best piano techs in the region do
contract work for me, and to my knowlege are very happy with working
conditions and renumeration. I freely make available shop facilities, or
give assistance where required. In return they also recieve client's that
have been partially educated on good standards of care and maintenance.
With the volume of business that we do they don't have to work on too many
PSO's.
 
 All units that we sell are preped, and we ALWAYS will put the customer and
piano first. I have no doubt that you have heard all the dealer horror
stories,
unfortunately you do not seem to have good experiences with working with
dealers, my answer is that both you and your local dealer are the losers.

 It is very sad that many on the list can not understand the concept of
mutual cooperation, on the reverse side of the coin it is also sad that
SOME dealers neither value their techs or customers. But please don't tar
us all with the same brush. 

 It's wonderful that you are so busy that you do not need extra client's,
but many techs need the boost to swell their income, and working WITH a
dealer can be a fast way of getting a good client base
Regards Roger

At 10:12 PM 4/20/98 -0400, you wrote:
>At 06:48 PM 4/20/98, you wrote:
><snip>
>> As a dealer I expect contract techs to do a certain amount of this type of
>>work free gratis and with self pride. I think that I'm more than fair with
>>regards to their payment, in return my sales force is very pro active in
>>building their business. Simply put one hand washes the other.
>
>As a tech, I charge full price to a dealer, regardless.  I see them as JUST
>another customer. Maybe I have too much work, but I do not Give it away
>except to charitable organizations. If they see the value in my work, they
>know they will get their money's worth.
>
><snip>I consider tapping strings part of the tuning process on grands.
>
>Every time? 
>
>> As an organisation we are a little too internalised, if we are to grow
>>into an effective leader in this industry, we have to stop counting
>>nickels, 
>Pay your Techs!
>>and start a broader education of those around us. This can be
>>achieved by doing the little things  that make a difference, it can be the
>>best advertising and promotional buck that you will ever spend.
>Pay your Techs, a solvent workforce speaks for itself.
>>The extra  15 to 20min that you spend on a piano doing these things
>>will set you apart from the run of the mill competitor, and increase your
>>retention rate, after all, repeat business is the name of the game in our
>>profession. 
>>
>> Perhaps I'm a purist.
>>Roger
>>
>Thank you for the pep talk on diminishing wages.
>
>PS Don't I sound like a 'Union' guy or what.
>
>Roger, I've heard this reasoning from dealers before.  
>Thanks, but . . .
>
>
>
Roger Jolly
Balwin Yamaha Piano Centres.
Saskatoon/Regina.
Canada.