Church situation

[Porritt, David]

If they are on TV weekly, tuning the piano weekly is a good thing.
Every other week may work out if their climate control is good.  I used
to tweak a recording studio every week and made the mistake of giving
them too good a deal.  Don't!  If you are making a living now don't cave
in and give yourself away.  Your service is worth a decent fee and your
confidence in your approach to this job will reflect that.  How much of
a discount do you think the TV station(s) is giving them because they're
on every week?  Some, undoubtedly, but they're not giving their time
away.  Even if you can do a 15 minute tweak every other week, you still
have to drive there, park, and drive to your next appointment just as
you would if it were a full hour tuning.

 

Don't give yourself away.  Been there, done that!

 

dave

 

David M. Porritt

dporritt at smu.edu

________________________________

From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On
Behalf Of Brian Doepke
Sent: Thursday, July 06, 2006 7:05 AM
To: 'Pianotech List'
Subject: Church situation

 

Hello List,

 

Can you help?  I have situation that I have never had before and need
some wisdom on how to proceed.

 

A large local church called me and asked for a proposal to tune their
sanctuary piano.  The tuner that they did have was a member of the
church and tuned it every week....yes every week.  The church is
involved with a TV ministry and I am guessing that it might need
"tweaked" every week.

 

I am told that the piano will NOT be moved as much as it was in the past
and they are thinking that perhaps tuning it every other week would be
sufficient.  I did tell the caller that it sounds reasonable, but if
they feel it continues to need the weekly tuning, then I would work with
them.

 

The music department secretary was very kind and not gruff at all, but I
am not sure what kind of fee to propose to them.  It would be great to
have the steady work, but I don't want to undersell my services either.

 

They wish to have a month "trial period" to see if things work out.  I
said that it sounded fair to me.

 

I am used to tuning a piano twice a year, so twice a month is new to me.

 

Is there anyone out there who can share some wisdom with me on how I
might proceed?

 

Does anyone have a similar situation but the church/institution has you
on a retainer fee ?

 

Brian P. Doepke 

AAA Piano Works, Inc.

Piano Tuning-Repair-Purchase Consults

260-432-2043

260-417-1298

 

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