help wanted...very long

[Phil Bondi]

> Just a rambling personal opinion.
> Roger
>
disagree - it was a very well thought-out testimonial on how dealer/tech
relationships should work.

Tomorrow I celebrate my 3rd year as a full-time tech - in those 3 years, mostly
because of my dealership relationship, I have a very nice database of customers
that have, for the most part, new or new-used pianos. My relationship with this
dealer is this : they refer all calls to me and I do their warranty work at a
reduced rate. I am treated as 'store family', as Roger described.

Before I took this position, this dealer had a respected tech for a
while(semi-retired now) and then a 'tooner'. The tooner left in his path a trail
of unsatisfied customers(which it seems like I am still doing clean-up work) and
in turn the dealership reputation suffered with these unsatisfied customers. I
know of no customer complaints or unsatisfied customers for this dealership in
the last 3 years - you would think I would know, right???? - I'm not patting
myself on the back, since I am and always will be the self-proclaimed Rook, but
there is alot of good that can come out of working WITH a dealership that feeds
into your business and you, in turn, take care of them. There is some good and
bad with this relationship, but I must admit that the bad is based on 'taking the
good with the bad'. We occasionally have our difference of opinions based in part
of 'sales vs. technical opinions', and this is something I still wrestle with
from time to time. This is part of the good and bad also.

When he hired me, he knew that I was a green tech willing to learn the trade - he
has stuck with me as I have improved my skills to the point where I feel very
confident about my work and my ability to repair most any problem that may arise.
I know, and we on this list all know, that I have a ton of info to still take in,
learn, and apply..but his patience coupled with my willingness to learn has
proven to be a pretty good combination for satisfied customers - that's what
we're after here, right?

Brian, best of luck. There's alot of good that can come out of a good dealer/tech
relationship..all new techs should be as fortunate as I have been.

Rook