<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; = charset=windows-1252"> <META content="MSHTML 5.50.4915.500" name=GENERATOR> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY> <DIV><FONT color=#008000>Interesting one Clyde. Some good ideas. = Thanks. A few comments.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT color=#008000></FONT> </DIV> <DIV>"Find a bass string that sounds the best and compare it with one of = the bad ones." </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT color=#008000>They are all bad, but you could compare the = dramatic change in tone from the low tenor to the first bass. I get your point = here though.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT color=#008000></FONT> </DIV> <DIV>"Over the years I have unfortunately developed cynicism about some = piano teachers.  They are like piano technicians in that some of them are = truly excellent world-class teachers, while others shouldn't be trying to = teach at all.  I service pianos for a number of teachers, and the pianos go = anywhere from nice grands to truly poor spinets (a certain Kincaid spinet comes = to mind)."</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT color=#008000>Kincaid - OUCH! My sympathy.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT color=#008000></FONT> </DIV> <DIV>"I once talked to a teacher whose piano (a Kimball console or = something similar) was *very* out of tune and she said, "Oh, something's wrong = with it."'</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT color=#008000>That is part of why I decided to not say = anything this time. She told me the piano was tuned about 9 months ago. She said = it was in pretty good tune, but she had moved it and thought she should tune it = again. When I sat down to play it initially, she said it again "it's really = pretty close, isn't it?" I did tell her that it was quite a bit out of tune - = maybe it was the move. This was likely the worst out of tune piano that was more-or-less up to pitch that I have ever seen/heard. Example: F#3 was = 15 cents flat and F#4 was 25 cents sharp! Talk about a bad octave! Many = unisons were a good 20 cents or more off from one another. Then she pulls out this = little $9.95 Radio Shack tuner and says "I play violin also and tune my violin = to this". It was set at 440 Hz, which checked out at 12 cents flat on my = Verituner. This one just seemed a little hopeless. Maybe next appt. the shock level = will be lower, I won't feel so befuddled, and I will be able to have a nice heart-to-heart (or at least a nice piano tech to pianist) chat with her.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT color=#008000></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT color=#008000>Takes all kinds. Hey, we'd get bored if it didn't!    </FONT><FONT color=#ff0000>:-) </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT color=#008000></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT color=#008000>Terry Farrell</FONT></DIV> <DIV> <SPAN id=__#Ath#SignaturePos__></SPAN> </DIV> <DIV>----- Original Message ----- <DIV>From: "Clyde Hollinger" <<A href="mailto:cedel@supernet.com">cedel@supernet.com</A>></DIV> <DIV>To: <<A = href="mailto:pianotech@ptg.org">pianotech@ptg.org</A>></DIV> <DIV>Sent: Tuesday, May 21, 2002 8:40 AM</DIV> <DIV>Subject: Re: Marketing Approach</DIV></DIV> <DIV><BR></DIV>> Terry,<BR>> <BR>> It just occurred to me that = you could maybe use something like this:<BR>> <BR>>         "Mrs. Client, even piano = technicians can't agree on the exact meanings of terms like rebuilt, restored, = etc.  Some will interpret it to mean spending many thousands of dollars to = make the piano look and play like new and often better than new, while others may = have standards that are much lower.  It may surprise you to know that = even brand new pianos can often be improved considerably, although most buyers = would have trouble understanding that.<BR>> =         "My observations about your piano indicate that considerably more could = be done to improve it.  Now if you like your piano just the way it is, = fine; we'll just pick up on normal maintenance from here on.  But would you be interested if I explain to you ways that the piano can sound and play = even better than it does now?"<BR>> <BR>> Then take it from = there.  Find a bass string that sounds the best and compare it with one of the bad = ones.  Invite her to your shop, if you wish, and show her what you do.  = Maybe you can show her a rebuild you just finished and let her see and play = it.  Even though she is a piano teacher, she may never have played a piano that = really looks and sounds good.  Or show her whatever else you think she = should know.<BR>> <BR>> The risk, of course, is spending a lot of time explaining/showing all this stuff and in the end not having one red cent = more income to show for it.  Just be sure that if she okays more work, = she will be able to notice the improvements when you are finished.  = Otherwise, she'll think you're a quack out to get her money.<BR>> <BR>> Over = the years I have unfortunately developed cynicism about some piano = teachers.  They are like piano technicians in that some of them are truly excellent = world-class teachers, while others shouldn't be trying to teach at = all.  I service pianos for a number of teachers, and the pianos go anywhere from = nice grands to truly poor spinets (a certain Kincaid spinet comes to = mind).  I once talked to a teacher whose piano (a Kimball console or something = similar) was *very* out of tune and she said, "Oh, something's wrong with = it."  Well, duh!  Why not get it fixed?!  But if they keep their = price for lessons low enough, the trusting public will beat a path to the = door.  I better stop there before I get too carried away.<BR>> <BR>> = <BR>> Regards,<BR>> Clyde Hollinger, RPT<BR>> <BR>> <A href="mailto:Kdivad@AOL.COM">Kdivad@AOL.COM</A> wrote:<BR>> = <BR>> > In a message dated Mon, 20 May 2002  8:05:23 PM Eastern Daylight Time, = "Farrell" <<A href="mailto:mfarrel2@tampabay.rr.com">mfarrel2@tampabay.rr.com</A>>= writes:<BR>> ><BR>> > >I tuned a small Baldwin grand for = a lady today. I would guess it is at least 50 years old. It is not one of their = top-teir pianos - it is one of the cheaper ones. The thing has realy = tubby bass strings and the action is way out of regulation, etc. - your basic worn = out older piano.<BR>> > ><BR>> > >She informed me that she = just moved here and wants to start teaching piano again. She also plays = violin. So of course, I was thinking that I should mention to her some ways to improve = the performance of her piano - if not a total rebuild/replacement at least = new bass strings and a serious action refurbish/rebuild.<BR>> > = ><BR>> > >So I asked her how long she has had the piano. She said five years. = She bought it because it has just been totally rebuilt: Hammers may have = been filed, case was crumily (word?) refinished, and plate and tuning pins and = agraffes and strings had been painted gold.<BR>> > ><BR>> > >I = clammed up at that point and left. Is there any constructive way to sell her work = in light of the recent "rebuild"? Anyone with a clever sales approach that would = cut through the BS that she apparently purchased in the past?<BR>> > ><BR>> > >I've run into similar situations before and really = don't know what to say that might sound constructive and appropriate.<BR>> = > ><BR>> > >Terry Farrell<BR>> > ><BR>> > = Terry, tough situation, the way I find successful for me is find out the complaints = if any and let them guide me. I then go over the piano side by side with the = customer discovering any problems together.  I use an evaluation list to = explore the condition of the piano in an unbiased and methodical manner.  I = would typically say things like "I use my tuning hammer to see how tight the = tuning pins are telling me if the piano will hold a tune," It seems elementary = but with most customers this eliminates hurt feelings or embaressments that can = happen when you all of a sudden tell them that their piano needs major = work.  A diplomatic explanation of the vast differences between piano mens = interpretation of the definition of restored and rebuilt helps.  A intuitive = understanding of what the customer is really looking is most important, maybe she is = happy the way it is.  These things work really work well for me and maybe = there is something here you can use.<BR>> > David Koelzer<BR>> > = DFW<BR>> </BODY></HTML>