Raising your rates in a down economy is like raising taxes. It's just a bad idea. Terry Peterson Accurate Piano Service UniGeezer.com "Over 50, and not "2" Tired!" To: pianotech at ptg.org Date: Wed, 18 Mar 2009 04:28:37 -0400 From: wimblees at aol.com Subject: Re: [pianotech] Tuning in a down economy Ryan First, I have a web site. I just don't mention it here, because you guys don't need my services. But it is on all my promotional and advertising. I need to make this one point, again. Most of you who have been in business for a long time might not remember what it was like when you first started out. But if you were like me, when I started out in St. Louis 32 years ago, I remember many days with no appointments, and I would tune any piano, anywhere, for almost any amount. Fast forward 32 years, and I am in the same situation. Only this time, the economy is in a tail spin, especially here in Hawaii. Tourism, which is the driving force behind Hawaii's economy, is down 30%. That might not sound like a lot, but just think about your situation, and what you would do if your business was down 30%. Add to that, that I am not as well known as the other tuners. I don't' give a (*&^%% what the other tuner think of me. All I am doing is trying to make a living. And if I have to drop my rates another 10%, to generate more business, I'll do it. Hey, for those of you who have more business than you can handle, even after raising your rates, more power to you. But until you have been in my shoes, don't tell me what you think I should be doing. Wim -----Original Message----- From: Ryan Sowers <tunerryan at gmail.com> To: pianotech at ptg.org Sent: Tue, 17 Mar 2009 7:29 pm Subject: Re: [pianotech] Tuning in a down economy 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=2 0to 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, an d 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=2 0from Potter Press www.pianotuning.com The Average US Credit Score is 692. See yours in just 2 easy steps! -- Ryan Sowers, RPT Puget Sound Chapter Olympia, WA www.pianova.net Great Deals on Dell 15" Laptops - Starting at $479 _________________________________________________________________ Windows Live™: Life without walls. http://windowslive.com/explore?ocid=TXT_TAGLM_WL_allup_1a_explore_032009 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://ptg.org/pipermail/pianotech_ptg.org/attachments/20090319/84383da8/attachment-0001.html>
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