What I mean, is this. I have never once had any other professional service person come into my home to repair anything and gave away their services for free because it only took them a couple of minutes. I wonder why? Maybe, just maybe, it is because they are making a living at it? We all make friends with out clients but, that is not my point. Running a business as a business for profit, is. We must be careful not to give away to much or to often or the word will spread quickly. So and so didn't even charge me. So and so charged me half price. Here is a prime example. Many years ago, on more than one occasion, I had charged a few very good clients a certain price for repairing something. Those same people then recommended me to their friends for some repairs. I did not know this at the time as they did not make mention of who recommended me nor did I ask. I spent about the same amount of time repairing that person's piano but charged them my regular rates and got called on it. How do you explain that? Not so easily... From that point forward I deemed it necessary to be fair to everyone including myself by charging the same prices to everyone. If one says as you did, "It's not hurting my ability to make a living and I've never had anyone that I've ended up charging say "but, you didn't charge so and so". Not true as per above. Every time we do something for nothing, we've lost revenue. Jer -----Original Message----- From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf Of David Love Sent: Friday, January 15, 2010 5:02 PM To: pianotech at ptg.org Subject: Re: [pianotech] age-old question of what to charge for almost nothing Do you mean would I assess the situation based on my relationship to this customer, how often they call me for work, how long it took me to stop by and do a 2 minute operation, and whether the stop was out of my way or not in determining whether I would charge them my full minimum, partial minimum or no fee at all? The answer is still yes. What's the difference if I'm a plumber or electrician? Now if I was a hooker, two minutes might be all they were good for and then, yeah, full fee. David Love www.davidlovepianos.com -----Original Message----- From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf Of Gerald Groot Sent: Friday, January 15, 2010 1:46 PM To: pianotech at ptg.org Subject: Re: [pianotech] age-old question of what to charge for almost nothing So, I take it then, if you were an electrician or a plumber you would do likewise? -----Original Message----- From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf Of David Love Sent: Friday, January 15, 2010 4:44 PM To: pianotech at ptg.org Subject: Re: [pianotech] age-old question of what to charge for almost nothing I don't believe that. Sometimes doing a favor and being a human being gets you more business in the long run. I do favors not infrequently including donating my services to various institutions at times. It's not hurting my ability to make a living and I've never had anyone that I've ended up charging say "but, you didn't charge so and so". Take a chance, make a judgment call as to what seems appropriate under the circumstances and don't look back. In strictly adhering to the letter of the law sometimes one can lose sight of the spirit of the law. They're not always the same. David Love www.davidlovepianos.com -----Original Message----- From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf Of Gerald Groot Sent: Friday, January 15, 2010 1:33 PM To: pianotech at ptg.org Subject: Re: [pianotech] age-old question of what to charge for almost nothing Agreed. We are a service industry. Give it away if you want, but I thought we were in this to also make a living? We didn't drop the pencil in there... You might as well go and tune a piano instead and make money in my eyes. If you do one for nothing or charge on client less than another, word gets around on that too. It is fair to charge the same rate for everyone, every time in my opinion. Jer Groot RPT _____ avast! Antivirus <http://www.avast.com> : Outbound message clean. Virus Database (VPS): 100115-1, 01/15/2010 Tested on: 1/15/2010 4:45:39 PM avast! - copyright (c) 1988-2010 ALWIL Software. _____ avast! Antivirus <http://www.avast.com> : Outbound message clean. Virus Database (VPS): 100115-1, 01/15/2010 Tested on: 1/15/2010 6:38:51 PM avast! - copyright (c) 1988-2010 ALWIL Software.
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