Is this normal procedure?

[Susan Kline]

A question or two for Frank:

If you really can find "plenty of guys" who will "tune" for $15 a piano, (I
wouldn't be able find any), what will their tunings sound like? What will
their attitudes be? What impression will they make on teachers and
principals? 

There has to be some reason why they will work for so little, and the only
one I can see is that their work and attitudes won't support a higher fee. 

Their work will reflect badly on you, and word spreads from teachers to
their friends and students. I heard about a study once which showed that a
satisfied customer told two or three people, but a dissatisfied one told 10.

As discontent trickles back up the purchasing hierarchy, I doubt very much
that they will take your word on the $10,000 of follow-up work. Luckily for
us, most school systems make choices like finding a piano tuner on a local
level, so that abuses which will succeed with federal contracts will not
work as well with schools.

Some tactics deserve to fail on a colossal scale.

Susan

------------------------------------------------------------


At 09:03 AM 10/2/98 -0400, Frank wrote:
>
>
>Having had more than just a little experience bidding on government
>contracts, I feel that I must make some observations:
>
>1. 137 pianos in one month is a pretty easy job for TWO or THREE people.
>
>2. There are plenty of guys who will tune a piano for $15 bucks.
>
>3.  The person who wins this contract will find two of the $15 buck guys,
>bid $20 per piano, and pocket a whopping $5 X 137 profit.
>
>4.  The real gravy in this contract is not in winning it, it's in the
>follow on work, work which will most likely not be up for competitive bid. 
>Of those 137 pianos, probably 20 or 30 will need $100 to $500 worth of
>maintenance which is not covered under the bid, but can be incrementally
>funded.  That could be $10,000 worth of good paying work spread out over
>the next year.  Further, the winner of this year's contract could be
>offered no-bid follow on contracts for maintenance and tuning for many
>years to come.
>
>Make up your mind.  Do you have the stomach for dealing with a government
>bureaucracy?  If so, you can make good bucks.  If the whole idea leaves a
>foul taste in your mouth, stick to tuning for private customers.
>
>Frank Weston - been there, now dealing exclusively with private customers 
>
>

Susan Kline
P.O. Box 1651
Philomath, OR 97370
skline@proaxis.com