The issue of "perfect" wasn't really the point. Putting in half the normal time on an appointment and, presumably, compromising the quality of the work you typically do in order to help the dealer "make money" doesn't serve your own self interest very well. Since reputation is everything in this business and even one dissatisfied customer can do significant damage to your reputation and thereby your business, if you are going to take significantly less money from the dealer (unless it's an anonymous floor tuning, I suppose) you should do the same quality work as you typically do. If you don't feel comfortable with that (and I don't) then don't accept the work at drastically reduced prices. It may serve you imperfectly in the long run. David Love www.davidlovepianos.com From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf Of Ryan Sowers Sent: Thursday, June 18, 2009 7:11 PM To: pianotech at ptg.org Subject: Re: [pianotech] Dealer labor fees In piano work there is no such thing as "perfect". There are degrees of perfection that are appropriate for various situations. The trick with dealers is to develop trust. If the piano needs extra work the dealer trusts that I will take care of the problem quickly and efficiently and and charge them a reasonable rate. As long as you have a good relationship with them and communicate I haven't had any real problems. Of course, not all dealers are equal - just like all technicians are not equal. I have refused to work for certain dealers. Fortunately I am lucky to work with some terrific stores and are able to enjoy a win-win relationship. On Thu, Jun 18, 2009 at 12:37 PM, David Love <davidlovepianos at comcast.net> wrote: Remember, however, that less than perfect work that you do reflects on you with the customer, not the dealer. I will routinely discount to the trade 10 - 15%, not more. But never quote a price beforehand. That simple tuning has a way of becoming an semi-tone pitch raise. I don't like walking away from a situation feeling a conflict between doing my best work and getting paid a reasonable amount. David Love www.davidlovepianos.com From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf Of Ryan Sowers Sent: Thursday, June 18, 2009 11:15 AM To: pianotech at ptg.org Subject: Re: [pianotech] Dealer labor fees Part of the trick of dealing with dealers is to know how to work quickly and efficiently. I generally give dealers a 25% discount on my hourly rate, but compared to a retail tuning it comes out more like a 50% discount. My retail appointments take 1.5 to 2 hours whereas my dealer tunings usually take an hour. Most dealers don't expect perfect work. They are hiring you to help them make money. If you can help them make money they will love you. On Thu, Jun 18, 2009 at 7:03 AM, Richard <richard.ucci at att.net> wrote: What is % off reg. fees normally for dealer work ? Sent from my iPhone -- Ryan Sowers, RPT Puget Sound Chapter Olympia, WA www.pianova.net -- Ryan Sowers, RPT Puget Sound Chapter Olympia, WA www.pianova.net -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://ptg.org/pipermail/pianotech.php/attachments/20090618/5b8fa04e/attachment-0001.htm>
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