---------------------- multipart/alternative attachment List, I've been self-employed nigh on 4 years now. I have reached a point where I have enough customers where I could get by without doing free tunings for the couple of stores I still contract for, but I like to keep an influx of new customers and new pianos. One thing I've learned in doing these free tunings is that no matter how much "extra" stuff I do, there is absolutely no guarantee that the customer won't find a "tuner that his friend recommends," or "teacher that tunes on the side," or other form of tooner whose work I often eventually follow-up. And no matter how much we as technicians feel that new pianos should be prepped at the store, they usually are not. In trying to be ethical and make the piano right for the customer, I have often given extra service--i.e. key easing, lubrication of knuckles and keypins, some regulation--in addition to tuning the thing for the first time. Yesterday I called a customer whose piano had had numerous sticky note problems back in January, at which time I made a special call just to ease keys, lube, and regulate. I got paid by the store, but I put in far more work than I was actually paid for in the hopes that the customer would recognize this and keep me as his tuner. I went back a couple of months later to give him his "free" tuning, but nobody was home. The Mrs. called me a couple of weeks later, apologized for missing the appointment, and begged me to come and tune the piano, which I eventually did--though I got nothing for the missed appointment--once again hoping that the extra service would create a client/tuner bond. Obviously, I had too much faith in first-time client loyalty. Yesterday I was told that this customer had found another tuner recommended by a friend. It was a bit of a slap in the face, but rejection is part of the game. And that rejection drove home a valuable lesson: DON'T GIVE AWAY ANYTHING on these first appointments. My vow: from now on when I do "free tunings," I will give only the requested service, and I will charge for it accordingly. End of Whine, Dave Stahl ---------------------- multipart/alternative attachment An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: https://www.moypiano.com/ptg/pianotech.php/attachments/af/59/17/54/attachment.htm ---------------------- multipart/alternative attachment--
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