Spectrum of Customers (was "paid for pitch raises")

[John Ross]

Actually, the cheapskates I have found, are the people with money, the big houses etc.
Sorry if I missed that in your messages. 
It is so easy, to miss a message, or skip a sentence or two, and the original intent of the message is lost.
John M. Ross
Windsor, Nova Scotia, Canada
jrpiano at win.eastlink.ca
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: A440 Piano Service 
  To: PTG List 
  Sent: Friday, February 16, 2007 7:06 PM
  Subject: re: Spectrum of Customers (was "paid for pitch raises")


   John Ross wrote:

  You forgot the other customer.
  The one who genuinely has a shortage of money. After all, there are a lot of people who work, at or close to minimum wage.
  They have pianos and children taking lessons. I feel they deserve the service of a knowledgeable technician, who will not overcharge them, and do only the work required, by their usage.
  So cheapskate is not a term, I would apply to them.

  John M. Ross
  Windsor, Nova Scotia, Canada
  jrpiano at win.eastlink.ca

  John, I didn't forget.  I wrote about a spectrum.  That's two ends with a lot of shades between each end.  I live in Montana, one of the lowest per capita income states in the country.  Last I heard, we were second from the bottom.  I'm TOTALLY familiar with the people you refer to.  They are MOST of my fellow citizens and customers, I'd bet.  And I don't apply the term "cheapskate" to them, either.  But there ARE cheapskates.  Some of them even make a lot of money.  "Cheapskate" is an attitude that includes, but is not limited to "me first", "what's the cheapest way?", "can't I get by with just such-and-such?", "win/lose is better than win/win as long as I'm the winner", "what's my price? (which should be lower than anyone else's!)", et al.  Come on.  You know what I'm talking about!  

  And I also agree with Mike Kurta, who wrote: 
    
  John, you are correct in your analysis of both ends of the customer spectrum.  However in my experience both these examples represent about 5 percent each of the total customer base.  The vast majority are plain folks that either play at home or have a child or children who play.  They are easy to deal with, want a fair shake and will likely have you back the next time.  
      Mike Kurta

  I'm not suggesting that anyone should toss aside anybody who's not "American Express Gold Card", by calling them a cheapskate and being done with it.  No, I'm just saying those are the extremes, and I think if your customer is getting to you by being too near the "cheapskate" END of the spectrum, it's worth considering cutting your losses and running!
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: https://www.moypiano.com/ptg/pianotech.php/attachments/20070216/2917b37b/attachment.html