> When someone calls to ask you. "What do you charge for a tuning" ? Do you worry that you will loose them if you ask too much? >> Greetings, No. Fear of losing customers will, in the long run, cost far more than actually losing them. I believe it was John Ruskin that said, "There is nothing that some man cannot do or sell cheaper with less quality, and those that consider price only are this man's lawful prey". If the first thing they ask is price, I KNOW that they will not be happy with me. I have learned that through experience. Presently, when asked about tuning fees, I simply tell them that normal tunings are $135, first visits are $160, and if the piano is one of those that hasn't been tuned in "years", I tell them that the first visit may be $200. This filters out the business that I have learned I don't want and sends them to somebody else that does. Win/Win/Win ! After being in one place for 30 years, I should be charging as much as whatever size market I can find will bear. I am not selling a cure for cancer, I am selling a luxury item. There are many other tuners, at all levels of developement, so there is a price point for everyone! Far better that we all find the right market rather than leaving a trail of unhappy customers. I still remember (after coming out of the North Bennett School), the nighttime tuning of practise room uprights at Peabody college for $7.00 each. (1977). Amortizing that across a career means that I MUST continue climbing the ladders of quality and price if I want to finish up as a simple middle-class worker. I have said it before, but will do again: Beginners must take anything they can, and they will have to compete by price, since there is no reputation to help them. However, if they don't push themselves and their market to provide and pay for better work, they will remain a beginner all their career and their income will reflect that. Regards, Ed Foote RPT http://www.uk-piano.org/edfoote/index.html www.uk-piano.org/edfoote/well_tempered_piano.html <BR><BR><BR>**************<BR>The year's hottest artists on the red carpet at the Grammy Awards. Go to AOL Music.<BR> (http://music.aol.com/grammys?NCID=aolcmp00300000002565)</HTML>
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