Wim, Yeah, I’ve thought about it. But when I hear comments like “Get Jim, he’s more expensive, but he’s the best…” it makes me feel like I’m not too abused. Note: I don’t claim to be the best. Another note: other than on the first visit I rarely spend more than the “normal” service time. IOW, I DON’T work for ½ price. That was said in jest. I still probably do the same 90 minute call as anyone, but I always try to give them something “extra”. It might be a quick vacuuming, or a tightening of bench screws, etc. OH NO! So I spent 10 minutes extra and didn’t charge!! <G> But I point it out to them gently (“I’m not going to charge you for this, it’s on me”…) Keith Kopp here at BYU does the same thing, and when they offer to pay extra he says with a smile “All I ask for is your undying loyalty.” Works for us. People do tend to tip or give referrals more readily. I’ve even got a few hugs before I left. No Wim, I don’t feel abused. These folks become my friends, and I live by the adage “treat your friends like family, and your family like friends”. (Too many clichés for one post? Like Jimmy Durante “I got a million of ‘em”) Since I’m now fulltime at BYU I have less private clients. Only about 200. But before BYU my schedule was always full. I kind of miss it, but for now, I got my foot caught in the door here… Best, Jim From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf Of wimblees at aol.com Sent: Friday, January 22, 2010 4:19 PM To: pianotech at ptg.org Subject: Re: [pianotech] Incremental Upright Regulation I don’t charge much extra for the work, but a small amount. (Oh no! But you gotta charge! You are going to mess up everything for us all if you don’t charge $100.00 to pull out the pencil!) Why, you say? When I leave that first visit I want the piano to be good so that I KNOW I won’t have to do remedial work the next time, or the next time… I want the customer to be ecstatic that their piano is SO good. I want them to know (I tell them!) that they would normally be charged out the wazoo for this, but that I do this as a service, knowing that they are committing to at least one tuning per year from then on. It’s partly for me, partly for them, and I only spend about 1-2 hours more than I would have anyway! Overall effect, priceless. I think this has been part of the key to my success. I turn down clients all the time now, selecting only the ones I think might be the best clients and passing others on to someone else. Jim Have you ever considered that the reason you have to turn down clients is not because you do all that great work, but it's because you're willing to do all that great work for half price. In other words, would you have the same back log of customers if you charged full boat for the service you're providing? Wim -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://ptg.org/pipermail/pianotech.php/attachments/20100123/98420410/attachment-0001.htm>
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