Full Service Appointments

[Clyde Hollinger]

Friends,

Let me chime in here with another viewpoint.  We need full service technicians
for those who can recognize and want that level of service for their pianos,
but we also need those who do good work but are willing to keep their services
pretty basic.

I have customers who would never want to pay for full service because when the
technician is finished they can't tell the difference anyway.  I heard such a
comment several days ago.  People hate paying for something that has no benefit
they can recognize.

When customers seem to be asking me for services I am not skilled enough to
provide (which rarely happens), I am very comfortable referring them to someone
who is more qualified than I.  That basic honesty seems to go a long way.  I
came into this profession rather late and did not have the benefit of formal
schooling or working in a piano shop, so I will never be qualified at the same
level some of you are.

But I have been successful, too, judging by the referrals I get, many more than
I could ever handle, even though I suspect my charges are above the average.
And my income is above average also, while tuning only four days per week.
Yes, I service a lot of mediocre pianos and some rotten ones, but someone has
to do good work on them, too.

I have tremendous respect for piano rebuilders, whom I think must know
everything about everything.  But then again maybe they don't.  Some of us in
the field become pros at things they never have to deal with and may not be as
good at as we are.  So I maintain that there's room and need for all of us,
understanding of course that no one should be ripping off their customers by
charging for doing crappy work.

Regards,
Clyde Hollinger, RPT

Delwin D Fandrich wrote:

> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Barbara Richmond" <piano57@flash.net>
>
> > David,
> >
> > Well, I must admit, I get rather passionate about the topic.  It was my
> path
> > to success.  You *could* say it was what separated me from the rest of
> the
> > boys.  ;-)   I certainly didn't lose any money on the deal--just gained a
> > good reputation and lots of loyal, regular customers.  Don't get me
> wrong, I
> > charged for extras--it just depends on your definition of "extra."
> >
> > Barbara Richmond, RPT
> > Somewhere near Peoria, IL
>
> My practice (until I quit doing in-home servicing) was to charge a base fee
> for two hours. Then I did whatever I could do in those two hours. It worked
> quite well. And I agree about picking up numerous not-quite-happy clients
> from folks who were really quite good tuners. I also picked up quite a bit
> of rebuilding work from customers who had been asking their former tuners
> about various tonal and performance questions for years. They knew
> something was wrong even if their tuners did not.
>
> Del