Mark-up (was Steinway parts)

[David Love]

Not intending to be mean spirited, just clear.  Those who read this may very
will be trying to determine how to set up their own business with respect to
this kind of work and exactly how this is done can be the difference between
profit and loss or whether you continue to pursue these aspects of piano
work.  It’s an important topic and the business aspect is certainly one I
hope is addressed in piano technology schools.  

I’m not really taking about nickels and dimes but things can come up that
really do cost and really are hidden.  The language of the contract (and the
discussion) needs to take care of this and is important.  It needs to be
specific: X dollars for X work and itemize and be specific.  That way if you
need to add something in it’s clear that it wasn’t included in the original
estimate.  Skill as a communicator in such circumstances is important.

The overestimate comment was really directed at Ed’s input.  What I meant
there was that one approach is to simply estimate high enough to cover all
contingencies and then deliver a lower bill if it comes in under.  I don’t
prefer to do it that way.  

I don’t discount my tunings but I contract for a specific amount of time.
If it takes me a bit longer for the service because I was a bit slower, I
don’t charge more.  I always err on the side of giving more, which isn’t to
say that I’m willing to give substantial amounts of work away for free.
Mistakes I make, of course, I expect to correct at my own expense.  

I agree with not trying to get involved in competitive bidding.  I don’t.
That’s also why I charge to inspect and put together an estimate/proposal.
If they want to use that for competitive bidding at least they’ve paid me
for it.  If they end up going with me to do the work they get to deduct that
fee from the deposit. 


David Love
davidlovepianos at comcast.net
www.davidlovepianos.com 


-----Original Message-----
From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf
Of paulrevenkojones at aol.com
Sent: Tuesday, February 19, 2008 10:38 PM
To: pianotech at ptg.org
Subject: Re: Mark-up (was Steinway parts)

David:

You, and some others, continue to overblow the loss/gain aspect of this way
of doing business. My "estimates" (simply another word for a proposal) are
as close to the real cost we see involved, parts and labor. Any under- or
overages are miniscule in the grand scheme of things--the cost of a total
restoration. If we discover a way to do something differently at the time
we're doing the work, it can cut both ways for us. For example, we began to
work with agraffes differently many years ago which added about 60 hours
into our jobs but which did not get costed into the then current contracts.
We wanted to do it, we couldn't in conscience not do it knowing the good
results we were getting, so we took the hit for a while. On the other hand,
we discover some "efficiencies" or "better" (faster) way to do something,
and we are able to increase the profitability of the work.  But don't
inflate the differences, David; we're really talking figurative nickels and
dimes. But it too! k a long time to get to this balance point, and we have
been steadfast in trying not to learn (the skill of estimates, or the skills
of restoration) on the backs of our clients. 

snip