Level of Service

[Richard Brekne]

Excellent posting Kent. You said in very complete fashion many things I am lots
of others are in very much aggreement with for a variaty of reasons. Non the
least of these is simple good buisness practice. I think this posting is so good
that I would like to see you extend it a bit and submit it as an article for the
journal. Nice going.

Kent Swafford wrote:

> 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

--
Richard Brekne
RPT, N.P.T.F.
Bergen, Norway
mailto:Richard.Brekne@grieg.uib.no