FWIW, in my area, RPT don't mean a thing. I've had - 2 - people in - 11 - years ask what RPT is - and - let alone - ask what the PTG is. I didn't become an RPT for my customers. I became an RPT for myself. So did about 95% of the RPT's in the PTG. As one person said, it's a rite of passage. It proves to your peers you know what you're doing. And that, for me, is much more important than what my customers think. In 35 years I might have been asked once or twice in person , but more importantly, in the 22 years I was in St. Louis, I probably got one or two phone calls A MONTH because of my RPT status in the Yellow Pages. And because you're not listed as an RPT, you don't know how many potential customers you are passing up. You say you are busy. That's fine. But just think how many more customers you could have if you were an RPT. Now that most people don't look at the YP any more, and go on line, I still get the calls, because only the RPT's are listed in the PTG web site. Those customers alone are worth the membership dues I pay every year. Your story about the happy customer is nothing new. There have been lots of piano players who have preferred one tuner over another. It has nothing to do with being an RPT. When my wife was tuning, she used an SAT, and probably could have passed the tuning exam, but never bothered to become and RPT because she didn't know any of the mechanics, and couldn't pass the technical. But when she was tuning, I was taken back a few times when the customer asked for her instead of me, because they thought she did a better job of tuning. I've had music professors at the university tell me I was a superior tuner, and others tell me I needed to get my hearing checked. The bottom line, Duaine, and we've gone this route before, don't down grade the importance of being an RPT. The reason, as you said, you can't become an RPT is because you can't pass the tuning exam. In other words, when are you going to become a "real" piano tuner? Wim -----Original Message----- From: Duaine Hechler <dahechler at att.net> To: pianotech <pianotech at ptg.org> Sent: Tue, Jan 25, 2011 12:09 pm Subject: Re: [pianotech] advertising Okay, flame suit on....... Les, FWIW, in my area, RPT don't mean a thing. I've had - 2 - people in - 11 - years ask what RPT is - and - let alone - ask what the PTG is. They are more concerned about the quality of service, honestly and mainly pricing. At 11 years, still an Associate - not able to pass the aural tuning test. And hecklers' hold you tongue .......... Yesterday, I tuned for a lady that had a Steinway Model A, her mother's, that had always been tuned aurally by a local guy who used to tune for the local symphony. Her last tuning took 6 hours. Before I went out, I talked to her on the phone for about a half hour about tuning via Cybertuner, which she never heard of. Finally, we agreed that - if - she didn't like the tuning, she didn't have to pay me and that she was going to call the local Steinway store and arrange for an aural tuner. After about two hours, I announced that I was done and for her to come a play something. AND, the more she played, she started to tear up and by the time she played the whole piece, she was almost balling. She blubbered out that her mother would have been proud of the way the piano sounded - and - that she never heard it sound so good. She agreed to pay me and she was going to call and cancel the aural tuner. She decided against giving me a check for the amount - and - gave me cash with a $30 tip. Finally, she was going to recommend to another lady up the street. I deduce a testimonial here. Duaine On 01/25/2011 02:57 PM, Les Koltvedt wrote: I've advertised in my church bulletin, with a congregation of more than 3500, for the last 3 months of the year. I can say that I've done that twice, it's my first and last time, not one hit. I'm in the same boat as Marshall, not a RPT...yet and trying to build a clientele. Les -- uaine Hechler iano, Player Piano, Pump Organ uning, Servicing & Rebuilding eed Organ Society Member lorissant, MO 63034 314) 838-5587 ahechler at att.net ww.hechlerpianoandorgan.com - ome & Business user of Linux - 11 years -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://ptg.org/pipermail/pianotech.php/attachments/20110125/e6178bdb/attachment.htm>
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