Different Cultures/Foreign Techs.

[S. Brady]

On Sat, 18 Oct 1997, Barrie Heaton wrote:

> Dear Steve, 
> 
> I use the same method as you for _new_ customers, so that you get that
> wow!!! factor.  However, I found years ago that once you picked this new
> customer up on a regular basis,  after a few visits the wow!! factor
> fades away,  as you have tweecked the regulating, cured most rattles and
> sweaks, with out doing major work on the piano.  You  just left with the
> tuning.  The piano has become stable, so you are down to 40 minutes
> tuning tine. There you are scratching your head and wondering what you
> can do to pass the rest of the time, to justify the high bill.  

	Barry, I must say that I've rarely experenced this. Perhaps it has
to do with the clientele I service--mainly professional musicians and
teachers whose pianos get played hard. I have no problem finding enough
work to "justify the bill." I feel like there are almost always more
things to do than I can get to in one call. For example, on many Asian and
European pianos, voicing needs to be addressed to some extent about every
other time I service the piano. I like to clean the soundboard about
every other call. On a Steinway I might service the pedals every other
year or so. There's always something!

> Therefore, I made a decision that new customers pay double for their
> first visit, so I can get the wow!! factor and from there on the
> customer pays  my regular fee.   I can then fit in more clients in a day
> and make more money.  This also has the advantage that you can coax your
> customers to having those little extras done such as vacuuming out,
> cleaning soundboards on grands and bill them accordingly.  
	But in my case these little extras are covered. I think my clients
appreciate me not "nickling and diming" them to death. They can count on
my fee being the same from one time to the next.

> One of the factors that help me make up my mind on this, was the
> gentleman who I referred to in my earlier post.  Who practically moves
> his whole workshop in to the customers house, he was losing a lot of his
> customers to me.   He was giving them high bills and obviously coming
> accorss the problems as described above spending too much time chatting
> to the customer. This can make them feel like they are paying for your
> conversation and not your expert workmanship.  A customer needs to feel
> they are getting value for money.  Long periods of time spent in the
> customers house doesn't mean that feel they are getting value for money,

	Agreed. I spend an hour and 20 to an hour and thirty minutes
actually working. No more than 10 or 15 minutes in chitchat, before or
after the actual work.

> they remember the first visit you made,  there was such a big difference
> in the way the piano played as well as it sounding nicer wow!!.  You and
> I are aware that when we tune a piano on a six month basis  it sounds
> nicer,  however, a lot of our clients out there, can't appreciate the
> suttle changes made to a tuning on six monthly basis, they need a big
> change for them to appreciate it.  That's why I think a shorter time and
> a smaller bill once they have become a regular customer seems to make a
> happy customer. 
	I seem to get the "wow" response after each visit, even after
having the client for several years. My customers are happy with my
approach, and I am not losing business to others, even though there are
those in our area who charge half what I do. I'm sure our difference in
perception about this has to do with the type of clients, the types of
pianos, where we live, and perhaps other factors as well. Maybe this
approach won't work for everyone, everywhere, but it works very well for
me. 
	Barry, I'll be going to England next week. Where exactly do you
live? Perhaps we could get together (email me privately). 
	
All best,
	Steve



Steve Brady, RPT		 
University of Washington
Seattle, WA