[pianotech] basic or full service

[Terry Farrell]

Sounds reasonable to me Wim. BTW, what on earth is a Rust Blocker  
shield?

Terry Farrell

On Mar 12, 2010, at 2:42 AM, wimblees at aol.com wrote:

> After digesting all the information recently about basic and premium  
> service, I have come up with a new way to answer the phone calls I  
> get asking how much I charge. As I might have indicated before, my  
> "basic" tuning fee is one of the highest on the island. But what  
> most customers don't understand is that I do more for my basic  
> tuning than most piano tuner offer for their tuning fee. But because  
> all they hear is that high fee, they call other tuners who charge  
> much less.
>
> Well, today, I came up with a brilliant idea. From now on, when a  
> customer calls asking for my tuning fee, I will tell them that my  
> "basic" tuning fee will be $%%%. (I won't mention the actual price,  
> because of ant- trust laws, which I don't completely agree with. But  
> that's another story), which is competitive with the other tuners.  
> For that fee, I will give a one pass tuning with an electronic  
> tuner, but nothing else. All repairs, regulations, parts, etc, will  
> be extra. Then I will tell them that I also offer a "full service"  
> tuning, for $&&&& , which is $40 higher, but will include minor  
> pitch adjustments, minor repairs, minor regulation, some cleaning,  
> and a Rust Blocker shield, valued at $22. In a sense, I will get  
> paid the same for what I have been charging all along, but by  
> offering the "basic" fee first, it will get my foot in the door.  
> Other tuner also charge more once they get in the door, but they  
> don't disclose that when they set up the appointment. Even if I wind  
> up only doing a basic tuning, and collect that lower fee, as I said  
> in an earlier post, I would rather tune 6 pianos at lower fee, than  
> 2 pianos at a higher fee.
>
> I think this is basically what the other tuner offered, but he  
> called it "premium", and was offering it to his existing customers.  
> I also offer additional service, but I'm trying to get new  
> customers. Because of our current economic environment, and because  
> I don't have the luxury of relying on my 30 or 40 years of  
> reputation in the same town, I have to do all I can to gain customers.
>
> Willem (Wim) Blees, RPT
> Piano Tuner/Technician
> 94-505 Kealakaa Str.
> Mililani, Oahu, HI  96789
> 808-349-2943
> www.Bleespiano.com
> Author of:
> The Business of Piano Tuning
> available from Potter Press
> www.pianotuning.com

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