That's true Ryan, however, if I have four more pianos to service, I would be able to service them anyways and still make the money, even if I did my own office work. No money lost. TODD PIANO WORKS Matthew Todd, Piano Technician (979) 248-9578 http://www.toddpianoworks.com --- On Wed, 1/5/11, Ryan Sowers <tunerryan at gmail.com> wrote: From: Ryan Sowers <tunerryan at gmail.com> Subject: Re: [pianotech] price-negotiating customers To: pianotech at ptg.org Date: Wednesday, January 5, 2011, 11:22 AM Let's say you spend 5 hours a week doing office work: scheduling, billing, talking with clients on the phone, returning emails, etc. (I think most professional piano technicians spend more than that - my business substantially more) For arguments sake lets say you charge $100 for a basic service call that take's approximately 1.2 hours. With this scenario, you could service 4 more pianos a week if you didn't have to do the office work. Now with that extra $400 a week you could easily pay a $15/hr worker for 20 hours a week. Of course this is an over-simplification: there is time and expense involved in managing the employee and paying employee taxes, etc. But you get the idea. For me it's a no-brainer. I simply cannot afford to NOT have an office person. If I did the office work myself I would have to take a pay cut. My professional service time is worth $100/hr. Why should I do work that a $15-$20/hr person can do when I can be out at a client's house making $100 an hour? Not to mention: I don't LIKE doing that work. Now, I'm lucky because my spouse was willing to take a year-long leave of absence from her 20 hour a week library job almost 10 years ago in order to help manage the business. Up until that point we were both working part time and homeschooling our young children. We had no idea how it would work. But with her leave of absence she could go back to her old job after a year if it didn't work out. It ended up being a major turning point in my career. At this point, if she had a total change of heart and couldn't stand to do it anymore, I would most definitely have to hire someone. Saying you can't afford to have an office person is a little like saying you can't afford to attend conventions. I say you can't afford NOT to. Only through the relentless encouragement of my mentors and teachers have I had the inspiration and faith to push forward. "If you build it...They will come" On Wed, Jan 5, 2011 at 2:01 AM, David Nereson <da88ve at gmail.com> wrote: I barely support myself, and certainly can't afford to pay someone else to answer the phone and make customer calls. I imagine that's true for most tuners. On Mon, Jan 3, 2011 at 10:48 AM, Ryan Sowers <tunerryan at gmail.com> wrote: "I prefer to compete by providing better quality." Then stop. Let them think about whether they prefer cheap, or good. Then whatever they decide to do will probably be right for both of you."-- Mark Schecter I love this line! It's quick and simple and says a lot. One thing we do is post our rates on our website. Because of this we get a lot less inquiries about price. Why don't more technicians do this? These days people want the information and they want it now! I don't want to beat around the bush. Posting your prices implies that this is the standard fee. Not posting prices may cause some customers to perceive that the rates are more flexible. I also highly recommend having another person handle your phone calls and scheduling. This is well worth it, and is one of the important steps in growing a business. I am fortunate to have a wife and business partner who was willing to quit her day job 9 years ago and take this on. The effect was almost immediate and our business has grown noticeably every single year since we made that decision. Having a buffer between you and the public really helps. 1) You can't toot your own horn as well as someone else, plain and simple. There is a different psychology at work when someone besides you plays you up, even if they work for your company! 2) Having a professional office manager makes clients feel like they are dealing with a professional company. You will come across as a more serious business to the public. You may get less "do you do this full time?" comments. 3) Since the office manager isn't the "boss", (although in many ways mine IS <G>) customers will feel less inclined to haggle. And the office person doesn't take it personally! 4) The time you save by having an office manager will allow you to service more pianos, which pays better than the office work. Besides, most of us are better at servicing pianos than managing the office! Ryan Sowers, RPT Puget Sound Chapter Olympia, WA www.pianova.net -- Ryan Sowers, RPT Puget Sound Chapter Olympia, WA www.pianova.net -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://ptg.org/pipermail/pianotech.php/attachments/20110105/d3a30e96/attachment.htm>
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