Recently a gentleman quit the tuning business because he had to make a living, returning to computer programming. He wrote to all of his clients, recommending one or two other tuners they might choose. Stupid? Maybe. I probably will attempt to do the same in a few years when I quit. Part has to do with my abysmal lack of keeping even a database accurate, let alone continual reminders. Part is I just don't like paying someone for names. I was given a database of about 400 names several years ago. The letter written, I had to copy, provide stamps and envelopes and stuff-and-mail. Out of 400, I might have gotten half a dozen customers. Why should John Doe trust me over some other person? My reputation has been built on word of mouth- not my words but recommendations from others. I'll probably do less well than some, but I have yet to starve. les bartlett Noah Frere wrote: > Hello all. I don't know what the rules are about talking about money > in the PTG, but I have noticed conversations of the kind before, so I > figured it was okay to ask for some advice. > > I am probably moving from NYC in February and have considered selling > my client list. Now being in the business for only 3 years, it is not > huge. However, I have worked very hard for it and have accumulated > over 200 names, many of which are reliable repeats. I feel it is worth > money. > > Other than just throwing out a random number to a potential buyer, is > there some sort of precedent for a reasonable price, or method of > dealing with, this? > > Most of you will probably be wondering right off the bat "/how many/ > repeat clients?" so that you can give an informed answer. Well, most > of the names in my address book are home pianos, and I have not kept > up with the records as I should have (I did in the beginning though!) > so I will guess for our purposes here that 75 are repeats (tuned at > least twice) and 10 are frequents (tuned at least 4x/year). I think > many of the others are potential repaeats, however I have not hounded > them due to a 9-5 at a piano rental company. > > Thanks in advance to all responses, -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://ptg.org/pipermail/pianotech.php/attachments/20090820/6fffd02f/attachment-0001.htm>
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