David Really good post. This approach works well for me as too. If the client trust you then I never have any squabbles about the price. They know I will do what's best for them. Dale This has been gone over on previous threads. There are basically two approaches. You can have a minimal fee for minimal service and charge for every additional item no matter how small, or you have a full service fee. For me personally, I find that trying to explain every $2, $3, $4, $5 or $10 dollar item becomes more time consuming (and quite honestly annoying to the customer) than the job is often worth. So I build into my fee enough time that I find on average I need to accomplish what I've found is necessary on most service calls to accomplish what I think is necessary. There are extraordinary circumstances that change the best laid plans. The other day, for example, I ran into a stripped player grand that was so filthy and needed to be disassembled in order to clean that all I got done in my usually allotted time was the cleaning. She paid a full fee and I had to reschedule to come back to tune the piano (which will entail another full fee). Along these lines, more involved work like a major voicing (filing, fitting, etc.), or regulation, for example, would entail a follow up appointment. I expect 1 - 1.25 hours for an appointment but allow 1.5 hours max and give customers beyond the first appointment an appointment "window" rather than a set time to allow for the scheduling unknowns. My basic fee, therefore, does have a small range and will depend, for the most part, on time. But my minimum charge for a service call always includes enough time for a few other things. They are not given away, by the way, customers pay for them and I do my best to deliver what they pay for. By doing things that way I feel that I can leave the piano in better condition consistently than if I have to haggle for every little item. Leaving the piano in better condition within the scope of a basic service call makes me look better, removes possible objections, saves time in explanation and avoids feelings of resentment for those customers who feel that the nickel and dime approach represents a "foot in the door" sales strategy that they might view as less than up front. David Love davidlovepianos at comcast.net www.davidlovepianos.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: https://www.moypiano.com/ptg/pianotech.php/attachments/20070102/8a8b2284/attachment.html
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