Don't lower your rates! Don't lower your rates! Should I say it again? We raised our rates $20 this year and are continuing to be committed to the full piano service approach. Wim, I notice you don't have a website? This is a no-brainer. Get a presence on the web as of yesterday! I know a gentleman who hired a minimum wage employee to cold call everyone in his local phone book. This could be one way to generate some clients when your starting in a new area. Do you have a business plan? A marketing plan? I think slashing your rates is a big mistake. Not only will it hurt your reputation, it will also make a negative impression on your professional peers. You might be better off getting another job on the side, and keeping your rates up. On Tue, Mar 17, 2009 at 5:04 PM, <wimblees at aol.com> wrote: > 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 flipping 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 try 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 > > ------------------------------ > *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> > * > -- Ryan Sowers, RPT Puget Sound Chapter Olympia, WA www.pianova.net -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://ptg.org/pipermail/pianotech_ptg.org/attachments/20090317/5a9a95fe/attachment.html>
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