Hi Willem and All, I have had great success at phone calling. However, I admit that I HATE IT!!! I MEAN I HATE IT!!! So, I have my wife do it who is a great people person. People love talking to her. I used to have a secretary do it for me for many years which also worked good but, good help is hard to keep as they move on for bigger n better things. You need someone that has an excellent phone personality, will do it consistently and don't stop. However, I do return the calls myself that come in during the day while I'm out tuning. First, I make a list of priorities. 1. My college comes first. 2nd, my churches. 3rd, my schools, 4th, other organizations, retirement homes etc., and 5th, homes. All of these are my regular's who are always called first. My customers are so accustomed to me calling them that they wait for that phone call and usually schedule. The organizations love it the best as they no longer have to worry about anything at all. They know I'll call them. I don't have a serious problem with people not answering their phones and I try to NOT leave very many messages. Messages get deleted. I call again. Once in a while, I will leave this message after I've tried several times with no answer or have left a message or two. "Okkkkkk, we're playing phone tag now, and YOU'RE IT! I'm going onto the next months calls now and giggle as I hang up.." You'd be surprised at how often they get such a kick out of that, they call and schedule knowing full well that I also mean it because I've done it before and not called again until the next year. Next, I try and schedule them all for as far ahead as they can or are willing to book for all of their events that may be taking place. With my college, I book by semester. I have a few schools that will book the entire school year. Churches, for months ahead if they know when concerts or other events are. I only give a discount when 2 or more pianos are tuned but, I have been known to help out a cliente in need. Especially now. Recently, I gave a good client that was falling on hard times a big discount telling her that I don't normally do this but, would X amount instead of x amount work for you? She thanked me up and down and scheduled. I laughed, saying you're welcome but, don't get used to it now! Which also made her laugh too thanking me again… Sending cards isn't always a great way to get customers I've found but, it does help and sometimes, people will call a couple 3, 4 months later. My biggest thing, is to stay on top of my regular's. They are our main bread n butter. Work the higher end clientele homes first, working your way down the ladder. Last year, my income was down by about $10,000 but, that was due to some reconditioning jobs I did at my college that we didn't have to do again this past year. So far this year, my income is up, (without raising my prices) by about $4,000. Knock on wood… From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf Of wimblees at aol.com Sent: Tuesday, March 17, 2009 9:22 PM To: pianotech at ptg.org Subject: Re: [pianotech] Tuning in a down economy When you slash your price like that you can send the wrong message and it can hurt more than help. It puts into question your initial pricing and makes people wonder how much more they might get if they just put it off a bit longer. Make it personal, offer to help them out and they’ll be more likely to remember you when times get better. David Love www.davidlovepianos.com <http://www.davidlovepianos.com/> So when the airlines discount their tickets to get more people to fly, it makes you question when the "bottom" hits. I just bought two round trip tickets to Grand Rapids because they were as low as I thought they were going to get. The next week, they were $500 less. Yes, I am disappointed, but I am not canceling my flights. Most people don't answer their phone anymore because of all the phone solicitation. So you leave a mssage, never to hear from them again. And when they do answer, and you tell them who you are, their immediate response is, "I don't need it now," or "I will think about it". Or, a son, father, or friend will answer, and forget to give the message. For me phoning has not been worth the effort. I tried it for a while last year, and I had to make 15 phone calls for every appointment. A post card gets put on the refrigerator, or on a desk, and the customer will call at their convenience if they want to get their piano tuned. I have found the same people who will say yes to a phone call will also call you when they get the post card, if not more. Offering a discount is not going to work for everyone. I realize there are many other ways to drum up business. I just wanted to share my experience. Wim From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org <mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org?> ] On Behalf Of wimblees at aol.com Sent: Tuesday, March 17, 2009 5:05 PM To: Pianotech at PTG.org Subject: [pianotech] Tuning in a down economy Tuning in a down economy A little while ago we discussed our work during this slow economic time. While some of you are busier than ever, there are quite a few who are experiencing a significant decline in income. I wrote that I was considering lowering my tuning fee by 40% in an effort to get more business. Some of you stated that I shouldn’t lower my rates, and that I should only charge what I am worth. That’s fine, but exactly what am I worth? I know what I should be charging, but I also know what the other piano tuners in Hawaii are charging. Although my “normal” rates are more than the others, I wasn’t getting enough business to pay the bills. So I had a choice to make: starve, or lower my rates. I chose=2 0the latter. On Good Morning America last week they interviewed a couple of people who had been laid off from their high paying corporate jobs. These people were now=2 0flipping hamburgers, walking dogs, and doing yard work to help pay the bills. The money they were earning didn’t come close to what they had been making before, and they were obviously way over qualified to do this kind of work. But the alternative was not to pay to bills. That’s kind of how I feel. My tunings are as good, if not better, than the other piano tuners on this island. Although I have had some clients tell me they have never heard their piano sound this good. for the most part, I know I am way over qualified to work on the majority of pianos. But, I have bills to pay, and if the only way I can do that is to tune a spinet for less than I am worth, then that’s what I have to do. Two weeks ago I sent out over 550 post cards to customers who hadn’t had their piano tuned for a year or more, announcing a 30% discount. In two weeks an ad will appear in several community magazines offering the same discount, and even free estimates. Although I have had about a dozen call, I have not had the number of appointments I anticipated. I even had some clients who asked what the discounted price would be, say thank you, and hung up. I guess it wasn’t “low enough”. But if I don’t t ry to get some business, it will be a long dry summer. This is my way of telling those of you who are seeing a decline in your business that there is nothing wrong with offering your services at less than what you are worth. Hopefully the discounts will only be temporary, and we can all go back to charging what we are worth. Wim PS: Despite the decline in income, I was able to save up enough money to book a flight to Grand Rapids. I might wind up sleeping on a park bench, but going to a PTG Convention is not an option. It’s a requirement. I hope to see all of you there. Willem (Wim) Blees, RPT Piano Tuner/Technician Mililani, Oahu, HI 808-349-2943 Author of: The Business of Piano Tuning available from Potter Press www.pianotuning.com <http://www.pianotuning.com/> _____ The Average US Credit Score is 692. See yours in just 2 easy steps! <http://pr.atwola.com/promoclk/100126575x1219850974x1201371016/aol?redir=http:%2F%2Fwww.freecreditreport.com%2Fpm%2Fdefault.aspx%3Fsc%3D668072%26hmpgID%3D62%26bcd%3DMarchAvgfooterNO62> _____ The Average US Credit Score is 692. See <http://pr.atwola.com/promoclk/100126575x1219850974x1201371016/aol?redir=http:%2F%2Fwww.freecreditreport.com%2Fpm%2Fdefault.aspx%3Fsc%3D668072%26hmpgID%3D62%26bcd%3DMarchAvgfooterNO62> yours in just 2 easy steps! -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://ptg.org/pipermail/pianotech_ptg.org/attachments/20090317/757dacfb/attachment.html>
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