Under an hour tuning (was labor rates)

[phil rawson]

--- David Renaud <drjazzca@yahoo.ca> wrote:
> Economics; keep it simple. 
> I believe my customers want me to keep it simple.
> I need to keep it simple for my sanity.
> One fee for everyone.
> 
>   If it takes a hour good, If it takes 1.5 hrs, so
> be
> it. I could have done the 1.5hrs in a hour with more
> concentration. Wins some, loose some. So I make 35$
> per hour some days, and $45 per hour other days, on
> the road, with travel time.
> 
>   This is normal practice in other trades/arts.
> ex; As a musician I am paid a minimum fee of $86 to
> show up and perform. This may purchase up to 3hrs of
> 
> time, but the gig may be 2 hours, 1 hour, even a 30
> sec fanfare. $86 is the minimum fee to go through
> the
> preparation, travel, & deliver the service or I do
> not
> show. There is enough work. If they don't like
> it, thats fine, I don't have to do it.
> 
>   It boils down for me; we set our terms,people hire
> us if they want. If we're so busy, and in such
> demand
> that we can charge $100 per hour, and people still 
> overwhelm us with work, good for us. But most of us
> mortals must remain competitive. Expecially when
> building a business, pondering value/time/product
> are
> important. "Lost leaders" in time can win clients,
> or loose money depending on your point of view. As
> my business has matured I'm convinced my clients
> want
> to predictable tuning fees regardless of time.
> Do what you believe is right, and live with the
> consequences.
> 
> Another way to look at it. A one hour tuning is $80.
> If I take longer, I should charge more, but I don't.
> Got to love those regular clients, they produce
> a good living.
> 
> 
>                        One point of view
>                        
>                        Cheers
>                        Dave Renaud
>                        RPT
>                        Canada
> 
>   
> 
> 
> 
> 
> > I'm really just trying to understand various
> > philosophies for fee schedules. I know many techs
> > basically sell a service call as a specific amount
> > of time for a given fee. In that situation, the
> > piano gets whatever it needs most in that amount
> of
> > time - High-end grand or Betsy Ross spinet. I
> > certainly understand Conrad's point about
> > diminishing returns on tuning effort. But if one
> > person is getting 2 hours service for $X, and
> > another is getting only 1 hour service for the
> same
> > $X, that seems less than fair to me. The two
> quoted
> > statements above appear to contradict 
> > 
> > Terry Farrell
> >  
> 
>
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