Dear Clyde, Yes, I know of a technician who raised his rates and then lowered them, then raised them again. In my conversations with techs at convention (in class and out) the two most common scenarios I have run into are: 1) Techs who tune anywhere from 5 to 10 pianos per day and complain about having too work so hard to make what they think they should be making 2) Techs who have raised their prices with the hope that they would reduce their work load then raised them again and again with no reduction in clientele. This is what happened to us personally during a time when four other technicians in our area left the business for other jobs. In my experience most folks ask what the fee is in order to determine whether they have enough money to pay the bill. I know that when I seek a service person, I try to find the best I can because in my experience that is most satisfactory for me in the long run. We recently took a service vehicle to a mechanic who is a nice guy and attends our church. He replaced a timing belt, spark plugs and a fuel filter for less than what the dealership would. The car did not run as well so we took it to another mechanic whose work we knew: he replaced the spark plugs(one was cracked on the previous installation) and the fuel filter which was apparently original. There endeth the lesson. I guess most folks really don't know how to figure their expenses, what they are entitled to deduct and what not or even what business scenario fits their personal needs best. At least that has been my experience in teaching in our region and at the Annual. Unfortunately, many of these folks are so intent on upgrading their technical skills they don't attend the business classes. IMHO, the saddest thing to see is a really fine tech who has all the skills in the world struggling to make a living or living in retirement on a very limited fixed income. I've seen both. When your figuring your charges, please remember that when the time comes for retirement you won't be able to go back to your customers and say "Look I didn't charge enough and now I need some money for retirement". Climbing down from a soapbox I have been on too many years, Dale PS FWIW- in the last 11 years (a period of relatively low inflation) we have more than doubled our fees (of course they were too low to start with). Lost one regular church account and one piano teacher over the increases though their places were taken by better customers with better instruments. Remember if a client leaves over price they were not really a customer, they were just using you until they found someone cheaper. The best businesses are built with customers who appreciate us as technicians and as individuals. Our loyalty to them and their loyalty to us must balance for the relationship to be satisfying for both parties. OOOPPPS, forgot I was off the box!! Dale Probst, RPT Member, TEAM2001 PTG Annual Convention Reno, NV --July 11-15, 2001 email: wardprobst@cst.net (940)691-3682 voice (940) 691-6843 fax TEAM2001 website: http://www.ptg.org/conv.htm On Saturday, April 14, 2001 6:27 AM, Clyde Hollinger [SMTP:cedel@supernet.com] wrote: > Friends, > > I would really be interested in any response to the question below, whether > anyone raised the rates too high and then had to back off. I have a theory. In times past I didn't charge enough, and I think a few new clients still call me because I had a reputation for charging a meager price. > Nowadays my business grows mostly through referrals from satisfied clients, and I charge > a competitive rate. But if I charged much higher than the average, I suspect I > would get a reputation for being expensive that would last many years and could hurt > business, even if I returned later to a fee closer to what others charge. I don't want > that scenario to develop. In this part of the country people are pretty frugal. > Thoughts? > > Regards, > Clyde
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