selling customers

[Ron Nossaman]

Les,

If your personal principles say it's wrong, it's wrong. The amount of money
to be made here, against the apparent probability of your having more time
in it than is commensurate with the pay, isn't worth the grief. If you are
hungry enough to compromise your principles to get the work, then so be it.
If you are busy enough, eat regularly, and are generally at peace with
yourself, your work, and the way you mesh with the universe, pass. It's
really pretty simple. Also, I'd like to address this attitude (not
necessarily yours, just in general) that customers are pianos. Ask everyone
who has bought another tech's customer list whether or not the customers
consider techs to be interchangeable. In my experience, they do not. The
customer is not going to be particularly enthusiastic about being bought and
sold like a share of stock. They like to maintain the illusion, very much
like ourselves, that they have some control of their own lives. I do some
referral work from tuners who don't have shop facilities, and don't do
repair or rebuild work. During the course of the repair(s), I'm invariably
asked "Do you tune too?". In all cases, I tell the piano owners that there
is no reason for them to not continue using their regular tuner if they are
satisfied with the work. About half the time, I am called later to tune for
them. The bottom line here is that the customer makes the decision, not the
tech. You can't buy, sell, or even STEAL customers. It's their choice.

BTW Les, hang on to your archaic notion with both hands and share the
overflow for as long as you can. It's not supposed to hurt.

Ron

     

>Jim-
>	I  grew up with grandparents, rather than my parents, who were
>quite dead by the time I was twelve. Grandfather was very "old school"
>when it came to values, and wouldn't ever have considered "charging"
>someone for a customer reference.  I've had three techs locally refer
>people to me before this, and none of them asked "commission".  I also
>have referred several customers myself, and did it because I was not
>comfortable doing the particular job, or it was such a long drive,
>usually an hour or so, that I'd rather reciprocate the generosity of
>another tech.       
>	With all the talk about the Guild being of highest ethical
>standards, this just bothers me a bit. I realize folks have different
>levels of monetary needs, and with my wife working, I don't have to grub
>so hard to hustle for clients.   But I guess I  am stuck with a rather
>naive, achaic notion that if one is over-run with opportunities, then the
>excess should be shared.  Or, a token gratuity, perhaps.  15% off the top
>means about 25% when taxes are considered.  These are not big jobs he
>estimated about $450 for two pianos which seem to have some challenges
>about them. They' re church pianos. He'll keep the good pianos, and sell
>the bad ones to me.    So, at this relatively small facility there will
>be two techs- which seems to me not a terribly good idea, nor one which
>gives any assurance that I'll really keep the work.
>	Damn, insanity can be a pain!
>
 Ron