An open letter to Marshall

[Avery]

---------------------- multipart/alternative attachment
John,

Very well said. We'll see what happens!

Avery Todd
Houston, TX

At 12:21 PM 1/22/2006, you wrote:
>I would make this a private e-mail to Marshall, but he has been very 
>public in his comments:
>
>Marshall,
>     This is John, one of the other South Bend tuner/techs.  I am a 
> lurker on the list, because I only get to check every couple of 
> days and by the time I could make a comment on a topic it has 
> usually been well commented on by everyone else. I greatly value 
> the information shared among piano technicians on this forum and 
> find that it echoes the general helpfulness when techs get together in person.
>     I feel that you need to chill out a bit in your opinion of this 
> area and the current piano business atmosphere. The "one" local 
> dealer has survived because he concentrates on selling pianos and 
> being of service to his customers instead of bashing other dealers 
> and their products the way the rest of the, now defunct, dealers in 
> this area have done. I have done floor tunings for him for over 30 
> years, and there are 2 other tuners who also tune at the store part 
> of the time.  I don't know, but I suspect that having yet another 
> tuner coming in would be a bit of overkill.
>     If you recall from our conversation a year or so ago, I told 
> you that I didn't have time to do a mentor/apprentice thing with 
> you but that the Potter course would be a good start and then you 
> should get further information from someone with knowledge about 
> the particular things you would need to learn as a sight challenged 
> tuner. I also told you that I would be happy to answer any 
> questions that you had, but that following me around on the days 
> that I tuned in the store would be inconvenient for my work and a 
> little uncomfortable for the dealer. Most dealers don't want people 
> wandering around the store who aren't either customers or doing 
> some sort of work. A store is a place of business, after all. If 
> you had come in once a month or so, as I suggested, there was some 
> work, for instance de-stringing a grand piano in the back room, 
> that I was going to hire you to do. It would have been good 
> experience for you, kept me doing what I am mainly there to do, and 
> the dealer was fine with the arrangement. You never came back. I 
> didn't know whether that meant you were not all that interested in 
> learning the business or if you took offense at something I had 
> said. I can now assume the latter.
>     In our area, every piano tech that I know of has come in and 
> taken a couple of years to get up and running with a business, 
> working other jobs at first to make ends meet and some finally 
> going full time. Each one has built up a client base and developed 
> their reputation and has worked hard to keep their business afloat. 
> I don't think that any of us is "hogging" piano customers, and I 
> know that none of us is wealthy enough to stop taking on new ones. 
> Unlike most other service businesses, tuners from time to time call 
> another tuner to cover for them at a particularly busy time of year 
> or if there are scheduling conflicts that can't be overcome, but we 
> call on people whose tuning skills we are familiar with and whom we 
> trust with the piano of one or more of our valued customers. You 
> have been in the business a month or two and none of us knows 
> anything about your work. You may be a fine tuner, but it is 
> unlikely that I would recommend you to someone who trusts my 
> judgement until I know that you would do a satisfactory job. If you 
> screw up, I get the blame.
>     I think you need to work on your attitude toward the other 
> tuners in the area, every one of which has been in some measure 
> willing to talk to you and answer questions as far as I know. 
> Regarding our area; I have lived here all my life and love this 
> area, even with its artistic deficiencies, but if I hated being 
> here, I think that would show in my relations with my customers. If 
> you are truly wanting to get started around here, it would be to 
> your benefit to work well with others. No one owes you a start in 
> this business, but if any of us can send something your way when it 
> seems appropriate, it is likely we would do it once we know who and 
> what we are dealing with.
>     I have, perhaps, been a little free with the terms "we" and 
> "us" since I haven't talked to anyone else about this. In fact, I 
> only know 4 other tuners personally, but from my understanding of 
> the ones that I know and from what I know about the others, I think 
> we're a pretty laid back bunch and fairly easy to get along with 
> given a little effort. Call any tuner you wish and offer some 
> suggestions about how to demonstrate your skills and I think you 
> might pick up some referrals, but it would be best not to assume 
> that a tuner has a lot of time to chat in the evening as he/she is 
> either making business calls of their own or trying to spend a 
> little time with their family. Brief and to the point makes a good 
> call, maybe set up a mutually agreeable time to have a longer 
> conversation. I would not suggest that you make this your primary 
> source of customers, however, because other tuners are in the 
> business of building their own customer base and it may be that 
> they would only have something for you once in a while. You have 
> had excellent advice from others on the list on the topic of 
> starting to build a client list, including several things that I 
> wish I had heard of 30 years ago.
>     It all comes down to you and the effort that you want to put 
> out. If you are seriously considering moving, you would probably 
> not be working with a mind set of long term customer relations and 
> that might effect the way you go about it. I would encourage you to 
> sell your skills and personality rather than trying subterfuge to 
> gain business. Keeping a reputation of honest dealings is more 
> valuable in the tuning business maybe than in some other service 
> related fields.
>     I am pretty sure there are plenty of pianos in the area if you 
> have the desire and perseverance to stick it out through the difficult times.
>     Sorry for the length of this e-mail, you should see the stuff I left out.
>     Still available for consultation and question answering,
>         John Stroup
>
>

---------------------- multipart/alternative attachment
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: https://www.moypiano.com/ptg/pianotech.php/attachments/a0/c9/28/e1/attachment.htm

---------------------- multipart/alternative attachment--