President's Message

[David Ilvedson]

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List,

Seeing as I'm in California and the mail apparently still goes via wago=
n train, I have not had the pleasure of reading the "President's Messag=
e".   From what Kent wrote below, I tend to have a similar attitude wit=
h tunings and customers.   I am the expert and I'm quite ready to let t=
hem know it.   I do the best I can with what I've got to work with.  Pe=
riod.  I rarely do callbacks, even if I'm called back...;-]  I, like Ke=
nt, will have a customer occasionally pick a note out of the air and sa=
y "is that in tune?"   Most often it's not really tuning but voicing or=
 the general quality of the instrument.   I like to be up front with wh=
at I am going to accomplish with any particular piano service.   Today,=
 I brought up a Kimball console from -125 cents.   Went through it twic=
e...three times in the tenor and told them this wasn't fine tuning.  I =
told them if we tune again in 3 to 6 months, I might be able to get som=
ething closer to fine tuning.   I always give my disclaimer about big t=
ension changes and possible string breakage and the fact that they will=
 be footing the bill...and of course a bass string broke.   I tied it a=
nd we were in business...
Anyway I look forward to reading the Journal...
David Ilvedson




Original message
From: "Kent Swafford" 
To: Pianotech 
Received: 9/10/2005 9:25:27 AM
Subject: Re: President's Message


Thanks. I was wondering how bad a beating I would take for my piece. If=
 others have comments, I'll collect them into a follow-up column.


I fully admit to some cynicism with regard to customer satisfaction. Th=
e same tuning/service/behavior from a tech at different appointments wi=
ll generate different customer reactions in a seemingly random manner. =
Some will be happy; some will not; and I see no way to avoid the unhapp=
y ones. I had a customer suggest that my bass tuning was off  as I was =
performing the tuning. Are we the tuning experts or are we not? I won't=
 alter a tuning to its detriment to please a customer; customers should=
 be willing to play my tuning and give it a chance. Maybe they will lik=
e it after a full tryout. The point is if I immediately return to a pia=
no as the result of a callback, when I get there we may still disagree =
about whether the tuning is good. An optimist would say I might turn th=
e situation around by showing good faith and willingness to serve by re=
turning. A cynic might say, the customer will end up trying somebody di=
fferent anyway, so an immediate return is pointless.


You see, part of my problem (I'm admitting an attitude problem here) is=
 the feeling that I can pick up clear cues from new customers about whe=
ther they are desirable customers or not. If a customer doesn't feel it=
 is important enough to be around when the tuning is over, especially i=
f they feel it's OK to question a tuning, may not be the best customer.=
 Another example is a new customer who is a no-show; I have a policy of=
 not rescheduling no-shows, except for fully established customers. I b=
roke my policy once for a customer who happened to live close to me. Ne=
ver again; she called back after two months and a change of seasons to =
express her dissatisfaction with the tuning. You can say I should have =
immediately returned to the piano; I say I never should have gone out i=
n the first place.




Ah, the life of the service pro.




Kent








On Sep 10, 2005, at 10:13 AM, Mike Kurta wrote:


    Dear Kent:
    In reference to your article in the latest PTG Journal, I have to t=
ake issue with your comments and please allow me to suggest a better sy=
stem.
    1.  When a customer complains, one should listen with a sympathetic=
 ear, not an  argumentative, defensive one.  A "dreaded callback" is in=
 reality  information that requires serious attention, not excuses or b=
laming.  Like doctors who listen to patients who know their own body, w=
e need to listen to customer's concerns about their piano.
    2.  The first step should be an immediate return to the job in ques=
tion.  A client expects the tuning to be right and has paid you for tha=
t expectation,  but how complaints are handled are the real mark of a p=
rofessional.  A suggestion of "guaranteed tuning" might be better repla=
ced by a desire to achieve customer satisfaction promptly.   
    3.  The desire that clients use  one technician for all their instr=
uments is a valid one but can only be achieved by techs performance and=
 trust earned, not automatically expected after the first meeting.   If=
 one expects to serve this client with "pianos all over the building," =
 it would make sense to try to please rather than pre-judge. 
 
    To assume the tuning was fine (which it probably was) and that the =
fault lies with the piano or  the person complaining, might be prematur=
e.   To devote the conversation to boasting about ones reputation and m=
ethods is a turnoff and counterproductive.  Allow the customer to find =
this out by your performance over time.  He/she perceives a problem and=
 our job is to respond in a kindly,helpful way putting other things asi=
de until it is resolved.  This would be my "better system."
    Mike Kurta       

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