price-shoppers!

[David Andersen]

on 6/17/03 4:01 PM, Clyde Hollinger at cedel@supernet.com wrote:

> Or does $135 buy the same thing I sell for a whole lot less, a good solid
> tuning,
> keeping my eyes and ears open for problems that the customer should be aware
> of
> and may (or may not) want remedied, along with a little dusting and a small
> adjustment or two?  That's what I usually do, for a whole lot less.
> 
> Does that make me one of the despised bottom-feeders?

Clyde----you are a respected, honored colleague; you are not a "despised
bottom-feeder;" as we've dicussed before, there are radical price
differences between rural PA and urban SoCal, between standards of living
and the cost of doing business.  Me charging $135 here is like charging $85
or $90 someplace more rural or "heartlandish." I grew up in Omaha, and
return frequently, and I know "the guy" there charges $90, and $55 or $60
per hour, and makes an excellent living.  It's all relative; I pay at least
twice, maybe three times as much for housing as he does.
The point is this: I feel I'm giving my clients tremendous bang for their
buck---I make their piano sound great, I maintain it at a high degree of
functionality, and I tell them the truth: all the good news and all the bad
news about their instrument, its environment, and the world of pianos.
I also feel I add value to their lives as a human being---I'm basically
happy, fairly well-adjusted, a fountain of information about a lot of
things, and I care about my regular clients' well-being.....in other words,
I'm in RELATIONSHIP with them, and as every truly successful person will
tell you, any business  is all about relationships.  I both preach and
practice the notion of using personal reference networks for everything:
services, stores, vacation choices, everything.

Hope this helps...
With my sincere respect---
David Andersen