Hey, Ger---hopefully you don't misunderstand me. There is no template for us all to fit into, and it's completely obvious from your posts that you offer your clients complete piano service..... > It gets done one way or another. Just not the same way that you > do it. " Exactly. You customize it, as a craftsman, for your clientele, and I for mine. We're both giving immense value. Best, DA On Nov 11, 2009, at 8:12 PM, Gerald Groot wrote: > It's easy David. For starters, my family has been servicing in this > area since 1926. At one time, there were 5 of us Groot's tuning and > servicing full time. All have since died but for 2 of us that are > left tuning and still servicing pianos full time. We are obviously > a very well established business with a very large clientele. To > imply that because we are tuning 5 or more in a day or to imply that > we are not tuning that many in a day, or to imply that we do not do > complete piano service is ludicrous to be frank with you about it. > We have to tune this many pianos a day to get them all in tune for > the holiday season(s). Not to mention all of the concert work that > I do for my college. > > What NEEDS to be done during the tuning, is done but, anything that > is major work like regulation or hammer filing for example, we leave > or send an estimate on returning in our slower times, (summer) or on > other days when we have more time to complete that part of it. Just > today for example, I sent out 5 estimates totaling almost $6,000 for > regulation, voicing, hammer filing etc. > > I don't know from one piano to the next what I am going to encounter > for sure. None of us does. We can predict it fairly well though if > we have a ton of repeat business like I have and therefore, schedule > accordingly. Also, many of these repeat pianos are tuned several > times throughout the year or more. Many of them are tuned monthly. > This makes it much easier to keep up on the regular maintenance of > them. > > If there are things that I do not have time to do, or do not care to > do then I subcontract them out to very competent technicians such as > rebuilding (which I no longer do or desire to do) and > reconditioning. I can't do it all, I don't want to do it all and I > don't have time for it all. > > When I am servicing at my college, the pianos need to be tuned so > they can be used during the school year. I can't spend an entire > day or 1/2 day regulating etc., as they are being used. I return as > necessary to do this when I know exactly how much will be required > after tuning the piano. Or, I do this during my summer months > preparing them for the remainder of the year. I touch up things > during the tuning that require touch up and as I said, I return > later for the "other stuff." It gets done one way or another. > Just not the same way that you do it. > > Jer Groot RPT > > > > From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] > On Behalf Of David Andersen > Sent: Wednesday, November 11, 2009 4:17 PM > To: pianotech at ptg.org > Subject: [pianotech] Complete piano service, was Workload > > "I don't know where these guys that claim they do 5 pianos a day > find their clients -- all the ones I work on need pitch raises, > repairs, regulation, and who knows what ..." D. Nereson > > > Right on. There's tremendous amounts of piano service money lying > around waiting to be picked up by the complete piano service > business. I highly recommend that every tuner-technician become a > complete piano service; then the days of 5 or 6 a day, 5 or 6 days a > week, fade and become a horrific and cautionary memory. > > ALL the pianos I come to need work other than tuning. I'll say it > again: ALL the pianos I come to need work other than tuning. If you > can't understand or perceive this you need a huge reality check. You > are the equivalent of a mechanic just putting gas in the tank and > saying the car is good to go. > > That may sound brutal, but it's the truth. I make six figures every > year just on piano service, and I work five weeks out of every six > for medical reasons. That means I'm getting paid a lot; and I rarely > or ever work on more than two pianos a day, and often just one. > I would say 95% of the new client pianos I come to have not had any > regular service other than tuning in their lifetime---even studios > and serious players, although the percentage in those categories is > probably lower---70%---it's enough to keep us in work here in L.A. > for the foreseeable future. Once players hear and feel the radical > positive change we make by implementing complete piano service, most > of them become grateful, elegant clients for life. It's rewarding on > all levels. > > Here's my definition of complete piano service as it appears on my > website: > > The ability to understand, diagnose, and implement the work > necessary to put a piano in its maximum playing condition, and keep > it there, through judicious maintenance, throughout its years of use. > > Best, > David Andersen > > On Nov 11, 2009, at 11:02 AM, David Nereson wrote: > > > About 15, but then I purposely don't do more than 3 day if I can > avoid it -- too hectic, too hard on the hands & ears, too long a day > (few and very far between are pianos that need tuning only -- I > don't know where these guys that claim they do 5 pianos a day find > their clients -- all the ones I work on need pitch raises, repairs, > regulation, and who knows what -- if I did even 4 pianos a day > needing all that extra work, I'd be at it from 5am to 9 at night!) > --David Nereson, RPT > > > > ----- Original Message ----- From: "Richard" <richard.ucci at att.net> > To: <pianotech at ptg.org> > Sent: Thursday, October 29, 2009 5:21 AM > Subject: [pianotech] Workload > > > > List, > How many tunings are you averaging per week? > > Rick Ucci/ Ucci Piano > > > > > avast! Antivirus: Outbound message clean. > > Virus Database (VPS): 091111-1, 11/11/2009 > Tested on: 11/11/2009 11:12:59 PM > avast! - copyright (c) 1988-2009 ALWIL Software. > > > -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://ptg.org/pipermail/pianotech.php/attachments/20091111/5ef1aad6/attachment-0001.htm>
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