hammer problems

[Les Smith]

On Thu, 2 Oct 1997, Leslie W Bartlett wrote:

>  
> > 
> >Just a personal opinion here, but given a choice of "feeling like a 
> >hero"
> >or getting paid for the work I do, I'll choose getting paid every 
> >time.
> > 
> "Payment" can also come in the form of developing a loyal following which
> will bring new business through referral.

True, but with a qualification. Like will refer you to like. That is the
person who owns a forty year old spinet, has it tuned once a decade,
whether it needs it or not, a gives the job to the lowest bidder, will--
if he gives you a referral at all-- most likely refer you to someone who 
owns a similar-quality instrument and who has similar ideas about how
frequently a piano should be serviced. Conversely, the person who owns a
higher-quality piano and regularly has it tuned and serviced, will also
be more likely to refer you to owners of better quality pianos who share
his ideas ofregular tuning and servicing. The former group of owners are
the ones who are always looking for a price break or discount. The latter
are the ones who realize that one usually gets what they pay for, and are
willing to pay for quality work without quibbling. Further, the latter
group are much more likely to express their gratitude for a job well
done with a CASH TIP and a referral or two. Eventually, maybe a lot more.

It's up to the individual tech to decide which group of owners he wants
to cultivate. Years ago, when I started out tuning professionally at the
age of 16, I figured that the way to rapidly expand my business was to
give price breaks to EVERYONE. I was right. It worked. Very quickly I
developed a large customer base which consisted of low-quality, ir-
regularly serviced, long-neglected pianos whose owners would only have
tuned and serviced if they were given a discount from standard prices.
The word rapidly spread that if you owned a long-neglected, piece-of-
junk piano, Les Smith was the guy to call for service because he was
cheap. I was inundated in work. And quickly came to realize my mistake
in my approach to cultivating my business.

I dropped my discount policy ENTIRELY and began a deliberate campaign    
to upgrade the quality of the instruments I was working on and to
cultivate the type of customer that believed in regular service, ap-
preciated quality work and was willing to pay for it. That, too, work-
ed. For the last quarter of a century my phone numbers have been un-
listed and ALL my new work is by referral. Cash tips, not only for
tuning and servicing, but also for rebuilding, are common. However,
the one tip that really DID make me feel "like a hero" was not cash.
The one that meant the most, was given to me by an elderly pianist and
teacher for whom I serviced a lovely Steinway M for many years. When
she died, she left her greatly-treasured the piano to me in her will,
saying that by so doing she knew that it would be well cared for. She
was right. I was deeply touched. Someday I intend to return the favor
and give the piano away to a deserving pianist who will hopefully  
treasure it as much as Laura did. It's a responsibility I feel keenly.
I seriously doubt that I would feel the same way If someone had left
me a Poole spinet from the '50's.

I firmly believe that just as a tech should constantly be trying to
upgrade his skills, so too should he consciously try to upgrade the
quality of the instruments on which he works. Rather than cultivating a
reputation of being able to bring lower-quality, long-neglected pianos
"back from the dead", it will be far more rewarding, both financially
and professionally, to become known as the tech to go to if one has
a vintage Steinway that deserves the attention of the best tech in the
area. You'll NEVER become the latter type of technician if you spend
you time constantly searching for the fastest way to replace a set of
plastic lifter elbows in a spinet piano, or the most effective way to
reglue loose hammer felts. In the end, each tech has to decide for him-
self which path he will follow.

Les Smith
lessmith@buffnet.net