Confessions of a "Lookerson"

[Fenton Murray]

Occasionally in response to my price quote a caller exclaims, ONE HUNDRED 
AND FORTY DOLLARS! (or whatever). My response is always 'Do you think that's 
too high or too low?' Sometimes they say too low.
Fenton
----- Original Message ----- 
From: <A440A at aol.com>
To: <pianotech at ptg.org>
Sent: Wednesday, February 13, 2008 9:46 AM
Subject: Re: Confessions of a "Lookerson"


> >     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
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