Piano work; was Freebees-Joseph

[Susan Kline]

Joseph, you've got this just right. If beginners just printed this out
and did every single thing you suggested, vigorously, they wouldn't have
to worry about how many other tuners are in their areas.

And yes, anyone with a decent piano business has paid a lot of dues, sort of
like an Energizer Bunny tirelessly vacuuming mouse droppings ... cheerfully.
The people are often better than the pianos -- doing one's best for them
keeps one going, in those early days, when a 9-foot grand seems like a
mythical object.

Susan

At 09:24 PM 1/16/2006 -0800, you wrote:
>Long, and not for the seasoned veteran.
>
>Marshall and everyone looking to make money in the piano business:
>
>I was a late comer to the piano business.  Pretty much of a non-player, 
>but heavily steeped in music experience looking for an outlet for my 
>musical interest and some way to make money too. I could give you the 
>whole story of working in this vocation, but writing isn't my forte and 
>besides, the length of the tome would make for a great bedtime reader. 
>However, certain things remain crucial to starting and maintaining any 
>business. It's not hard to come up with ways to develope your business 
>"reach"  and you need to take some time and reflect on the whole approach 
>to piano service.
>
>PTG offers opportunities to learn, both formal and informal, practically 
>just for the taking. Without them and the desire to excel and improve on 
>my part I would be hard pressed to have stayed in business very long. 
>Learning almost every aspect of piano lore has to be a priority. Consider 
>yourself a sponge, soaking up knowledge about personalities, 
>relationships, business ethics, business skills, anything piano related 
>and always practicing to be the very best technician that you can. At 
>first glance, my opportunities seemed limited. There are so many great 
>techs in my area, that one would think all opportunities are sewed up. Far 
>from it, I learned that you must pursue some avenues that are a bit 
>removed from premium piano work, but you can make a very good living if 
>you only try. Quality jobs will come to those practicing quality work. 
>Attend an Isaac Sadigursky class and be ready to make dollars afterwards. 
>Be ready to work an eight hour day - from eight 'o clock to eight 'o 
>clock. (Isaac's wisdom)
>
>Be around pianos, not in front of a TV set. Go to the dealer, schmooze 
>him, take an interest in what he sells, how he sells and watch for 
>opportunities to jump in and help with a piano. Visit the store using any 
>excuse, just to be there. Measure a piano, ask some questions, inspect 
>their used stuff and offer to help fix a few things on a beater right then 
>and there. Bring in a friend who is a player and show him the merchandise. 
>Sales people love to see techs refer  customers. Ask the manager if you 
>can vacuum out some of the merchandise and polish cabinets and pedals to 
>make the stock more attractive. Walk the manager around to pianos you have 
>assessed and show him what is needed to improve his merchandise for sale. 
>Leave a stack of cards at every visit.
>
>Visit with other techs as often as you can to learn what it is that they 
>do. Listen, observe. Offer to help on a project. Can you do simple shop 
>jobs well? Offer to clean actions, scrub out pianos, de-string pianos, you 
>get the idea.
>
>When you have what you think is nothing to do, read everything piano 
>related that you can. Immerse yourself in pianos. Have you read the last 
>20 years of the PTG Journal? Why not? Start out looking for customers that 
>probably will turn out to be one timers. So what. Their money all spends 
>the same as the Steinway owner's. Most techs have "paid their dues", that 
>is, spent quite a bit of time working on inferior instruments, honing 
>skills by doing basic jobs over and over again, often in less than 
>pristine surroundings and often for a lot less money than the top tech in 
>the area. Consider magnetic car signs and park for a while in a shopping 
>plaza or grocery store parking lot. Park by the entrance to a large 
>housing development. Put your information up on every bulletin board you 
>can find. Offer services no one else does. Develope skills no one else 
>has. Be the most congenial person that you can be at all times. Make sure 
>you are marketable appearance wise. (Clothes, personal grooming, auto 
>presentable)
>
>Brainstorm with others in small business and open yourself up to new ways 
>to develope business. Invest heavily in yourself. I fail to understand how 
>you have time to pursue another business with money to be made in the 
>piano business at hand. Call me and I'll give you ideas to pursue. 
>Marshall, believe me, your biggest problem is not that you can't afford a 
>Yellow Pages ad!
>
>Joseph Alkana RPT