I have about a 95% or so success rate doing it like this. If I am sure they write it on their calendar, put on their refrigerator, at the end of the current calendar with a view to post it later to the upcoming calendar or in any way doing something that convinces me they are serious about remembering it I can be sure I will see them at the appointed time upcoming. I usually only call them the evening before to confirm unless they specifically request that I call a week before or some other length of time before. Sometime they call me to be sure I am remembering. Most of the time when the appointment is not kept it is usually because of sickness, maybe a death in the family or they have moved. Even in cases when they do not return my confirmation call I go there anyway and they are there and expecting me. It is only rare that I go to one that did not return my call and they are not there. In the case of churches where I have previously set appointments, I usually don't even call to confirm. If the church is large enough to have a day time, weekly staff I just go there, walk in, say "Hello" in so many words and go to work. If the church is too small to have a working staff, I do call to make sure someone will be meeting me there, preferably with checkbook in hand. I had rather tune at a small church where the Pastor drives up in a Lincoln with checkbook in hand than for a large church that has a web of procedure to observe before I can get paid. Most of the time a cancellation is really a postponement to a later time due to events not known at the time the appointment was made. Sometime I am able to plug someone else into such a slot, sometime right at the last minute or I might just use the time to stay home and do office work since I am a widower. The main point about making appointments in advance like this is that I do not pressure my customers to do so. I give them the complete option to do so or I will ask them if they had rather call me instead in 6 months or a year. Most of the time they agree to the appointment. I am satisfied with this way of making appointments. But I would supposed any system could have flaws of some kind. But this works for me. Martin Wisenbaker, RPT Houston, Texas -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: https://www.moypiano.com/ptg/pianotech.php/attachments/20071218/c2bf2bb0/attachment.html
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