Level of Service

[Kent Swafford]

on 3/12/01 12:36 PM, Wimblees@AOL.COM at Wimblees@AOL.COM wrote:

> My opinion is that
> if we try to push additional service on a customer who doesn't want it, it
> might be construed that we are trying to "gouge" the customer. And we can't
> afford to get that reputation.
> 
> Willem 

You are voicing a fear here that I think needs to be overcome. We all have
our own ways of reading our customers, but to alter our approach because it
might be characterized negatively is a losing proposition. _Any_ suggestion
of extra service will be perceived negatively by somebody. This was what I
was trying to get at when I used the term no-win situation in a reply to
Keith McGavern. If we push extra service some will see us gouging, and if we
don't push extra service some will complain, "I had him out several times,
but the piano never got any better." They may conveniently forget that they
turned down our offer of extra service.  :)   Years ago, I actually had this
type of thing happen; I offered to regulate a spinet to improve the
functioning of the action, was turned down, then got a call a few days later
asking, for what she had paid for the tuning, shouldn't I come back and fix
for free the notes that weren't playing right? This was a real eye-opener
for me. Nope, I've never been back.

I remember finding the screws missing from one of the two lid hinges of a
big vertical piano; I replaced the screws so I could raise the lid. How else
was I going to tune? (Should I have instead removed the remaining screws
from the other hinge to remove the lid completely to tune?) The customer
thought I was being opportunistic. I wanted to reply (but didn't), "Jeez,
lady, you've got little kids running all over. Do you want that lid to be
available to fall on one of them ?" Some time later I had my car in the shop
and they did a brake job _without asking_, saying that they went ahead
because it was a safety-related item. And the lady was worried about a few
screws? Sheesh! Haven't been back to that piano either.

Pushing extra service is not gouging, nor is it even necessarily a way of
maximizing income; it is more just a way to give good service and do
interesting, rewarding piano work.

Here are some no-muss no-fuss ways of adding extra service to tuning
appointments.

1) Be on salary. If you are on the clock at a college or similar, the
customers will be coming to you _demanding_ extra service.  :)  And when
they have you service their home pianos, they'll expect and expect to pay
for the extra service they know you know how to provide.

2) Regular service agreements. For churches and schools where you provide
regular service, your written agreement should allow up to $xxx per year for
service in addition to tuning without needing specific approval.

3) Dealer arrangement. If you service pianos in home for a dealer, by mutual
agreement, $xx worth of extra service should be acceptable per tuning
without additional approval.

4) Home service. Ask every customer on the phone and _again_ upon arriving
at the appointment if anything needs taken care of in addition to the
tuning. Assuming this is possible within a single appointment time, fix
everything they mention and present a bill.

5) Home service (sort of) hard sell. When you find something that needs
taken care of, tell the customer you need to go out to the car to get some
tools/materials to take care of [fill in blank]. If they do not object, they
have approved. This approach has _never_ caused me a problem, particularly
since most often these are repairs or service needed to complete a high
quality tuning, for example, broken keys, strings, or action parts; rubbing
keys, hammers, jacks, etc. And BTW I can keep my extra charges modest
because I haven't spent time selling the job; important!

6) Do not offer tuning-only service. Others have written of "Super Service
Calls", "Gold Service", "Extraordinary Service", or "Extended Service
Appointments" in which the customer knows you will do everything possible
within the allotted time. Piano service businesses are built through word of
mouth; the customers that are referred to you by your "Super Service"
customers are unlikely to ask for minimal service, so don't offer it.

Kent Swafford