Dean Offering a pitch raise at normal rate is the same as offering a 30% or even 40% discount. Last year I sent 2 $10 coupons to every one of my customers to give to friends and relatives, and once I sign the coupon, the customer can get the same discount. I did this for 6 months, and I got one customer from it, not even enough to pay the postage and printing costs. I have sent letters to teachers offering $10 per student discounts, but never got one call. I am offering a 20% discount to my 6 months and one year customers if they call before the end of the month. But very few are calling. In other words, you're doing what I am doing, and I'm doing what you're suggesting. Wim -----Original Message----- From: Dean May <deanmay at pianorebuilders.com> To: pianotech at ptg.org Sent: Tue, 17 Mar 2009 2:35 pm Subject: Re: [pianotech] Tuning in a down economy < This is my way of telling those of you who are seeing a decline in your business that there is nothing wrong with offering your services at less than what you are worth.> So far, your anecdotal evidence seems to indicate that it isn’t working. And for you to make up what you are loosing with a 30% discount will require a 43% increase in business. My gut feeling is that price is not really the issue, it’s a priority thing and we fall somewhere below groceries. I just raised my price $3 and so far have not lost a single customer because of it. I suspect you would have gotten just as good a result with a minimal 5-10% discount when all is said and done. You just need something to get people to schedule now. I offer a $4 discount if people schedule by email. Some take advantage, many do not. I’m making more phone calls and scheduling people that I haven’t heard from for more than 6-10 years. I’m using ACT! now as my contact manager and it is allowing me to keep phone logs of all my conversations, very nice. I am thinking about a special mailing to all who haven’t tuned in more than 10 years, telling them since it has been so long it will likely need an expensive pitch raise, then offer to tune it for the regular price. Another idea I have is to send a postcard mailer and offer a $4 discount if they get a friend to schedule at the same time, a discount for them and the friend. Our clients know other people with pianos. We need to tap into that networking. Here’s another: send a packet of 15-20 cards to a piano teacher for them to pass out to students. Have them pre-printed with the Teacher’s name on it and all of your contact info. Offer a $5 discount if they present the card in the next thirty days for a tuning. Tell the teacher that for every card you tune you will discount a tuning for the teacher by $5; enough cards and her tuning is free. Our client base is our number one source for business. Working it is going to pay us the greatest dividends. Make some calls. Send out mailers. Other than that I would recommend just using the free Craig’s List, or other local free internet classifieds. Dean Dean May cell 812.239.3359 PianoRebuilders.com 812.235.5272 Terre Haute IN 47802 From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf Of wimblees at aol.com Sent: Tuesday, March 17, 2009 8:05 PM To: Pianotech at PTG.org Subject: [pianotech] Tuning in a down economy Tuning in a down economy A little while ago we discussed our work during this slow economic time. While some of you are busier than ever, there are quite a few who are experiencing a significant decline in income. I wrote that I was considering lowering my tuning fee by 40% in an effort to get more business. Some of you stated that I shouldn’t lower my rates, and that I should only charge what I am worth. That’s fine, but exactly what am I worth? I know what I should be charging, but I also know what the other piano tuners in Hawaii are charging. Although my “normal” rates are more than the others, I wasn’t getting enough business to pay the bills. So I had a choice to make: starve, or lower my rates. I chose=2 0the latter. On Good Morning America last week they interviewed a couple of people who had been laid off from their high paying co rporate jobs. These people were now flipping hamburgers, walking dogs, and doing yard work to help pay the bills. The money they were earning didn’t come close to what they had been making before, and they were obviously way over qualified to do this kind of work. But the alternative was not to pay to bills. That’s kind of how I feel. My tunings are as good, if not better, than the other piano tuners on this island. Although I have had some clients tell me they have never heard their piano sound this good. for the most part, I know I am way over qualified to work on the majority of pianos. But, I have bills to pay, and if the only way I can do that is to tune a spinet for less than I am worth, then that’s what I have to do. Two weeks ago I sent out over 550 post cards to customers who hadn’t had their piano tuned for a year or more, announcing a 30% discount. In two weeks an ad will appear in several community magazines offering the same discount, and even free estimates. Although I have had about a dozen call, I have not had the number of appointments I anticipated. I even had some clients who asked what the discounted price would be, say thank you, and hung up. I guess it wasn’t “low enough”. But if I don’t try to get some business, it will be a long dry summer. This is my way of telling those of you who are seeing a decline in your business that there is nothing wrong with offering your services at less than what you are worth. Hopefully the discounts will only be temporary, and we can all go back to charging what we are worth. Wim PS: Despite the decline in income, I was able to save up enough money to book a flight to Grand Rapids. I might wind up sleeping on a park bench, but going to a PTG Convention is not an option. It’s a requirement. I hope to see all of you there. Willem (Wim) Blees, RPT Piano Tuner/Technician Mililani, Oahu, HI 808-349-2943 Author of: The Business of Piano Tuning available from Potter Press www.pianotuning.com The Average US Credit Score is 692. See yours in just 2 easy steps! -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://ptg.org/pipermail/pianotech_ptg.org/attachments/20090317/9118231d/attachment.html>
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