Paying for Information

[Newton Hunt]

> unenthusiastic about the idea--in fact, I'm afraid my response was a bit scathing.)

On my lawyers office wall:  "My time and knowledge are my stocks in trade".

Knowledge IS power, the power to make more money with it.

They don't give away bread at the grocery store, the last time I checked.

There are some who expect a free ride through life and are shocked when they
realize there is no free ride.

		Newton

> 
>      ----- Original Message ----- 
>      From: Jon Page 
>      To: pianotech@ptg.org 
>      Sent: August 31, 2001 3:55 AM
>      Subject: Re: referall fees; last gasp (reality)
>       
>       
>      .... After all, if you are charging for information; expect to pay for it.
> 
>      That'll be....$.02, please...
> 
>      Regards,
>      Jon Page
> 
> 
> Ah, now this raises an interesting issue. What about the technician who calls another for
> advice or for help with a technical problem he/she can't solve on their own?
>  
> I get a number of these calls and, believe me, it is the rare technician calling for advice who
> offers to pay for telephone--and sometimes, shop--time spent helping them work through a
> problem. 
>  
> Yes, in addition to the more than occasional phone call, I've had technicians bring jobs they
> couldn't handle into my shop for what amounted to a lengthy hands-on training session who
> didn't seem to believe any monetary compensation was in order. They, after all, were doing
> the actual work....
>  
> Once I had a technician--a PTG member, as a matter of fact--call and ask me to send him a
> copy of the hand-out for a class I was scheduled to teach at a regional conference
> somewhere. The conference was in his own town, but he wouldn't be attending. There were
> only three classes he was interested in and, unfortunately, two of those three were
> on Friday and he didn't want to miss a whole day's worth of tunings. So he figured if the
> instructors of those classes would send him their class hand-outs--plus copies of any
> pictures or illustrations they planned to use--he could look them over and then call some
> evening, or perhaps on a Sunday afternoon, and go over the material in the hand-outs by
> phone--that way he'd save the price of registration and he wouldn't have to take a day off to
> attend the conference. Oh, and did I have an 800- number? (I don't know about the others,
> but he didn't get mine. I was the first instructor he'd called with this idea and I was some
> unenthusiastic about the idea--in fact, I'm afraid my response was a bit scathing.)
>  
> I've had factory reps call for advice--in a couple of cases the results of those calls have
> actually shown up in production--and not one of them has ever offered any compensation.
> (I'll leave it to the reader to speculate over who gets credit for the ideas involved.) On one
> occasion two principles of a piano factory called, taking up nearly 4 hours of my workday,
> who were surprised that I would expect to be compensated for my time. After all, it was just
> a phone call, right? (No, I haven't been paid and doubt I ever will. And, no, the company
> involved is not in bankruptcy.)
>  
> For years I allowed myself to be exploited in this way. Now, I'm a bit more hard-nosed
> about these things. Though I still can't bring myself to charge for a quick phone call--I'm so
> shocked when a calling technician offers to pay me for my time I've usually not the heart to
> say yes--the days are gone when I am willing to spend a half-hour or longer on the phone
> with somebody and not expect something in return. 
>  
> Especially when I read about some of you who are expecting a 20% referral fee on a
> $10,000 to $20,000 job for what amounts to a phone call or two.
>  
> OK, I'll crawl back in my hole now and wait for the phone to ring....
>  
> Regards,
>  
> Del
> Delwin D Fandrich
> Piano Designer & Builder
> Hoquiam, Washington  USA
> E.mail:  pianobuilders@olynet.com
> Web Site:  www.pianobuilders.com
>  
>  
>  
> 
>