<HTML> <HEAD> <TITLE>Re: clothing</TITLE> </HEAD> <BODY BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF"> No, no, no, no, NO!! "Providing first class service" has nothing whatever to do with w= earing "dress slacks, white shirt and tie"!! I think most of my customers would find it pretentious if their piano tech = showed up like that. If you know your stuff, and give conscientious service, and are polite, fri= endly and forthcoming-- why the need to gild the lilly??? If a new plumber o= r electrician showed up at my house dressed that way, I'd start to get nervo= us . . . What image do I want them to have?? "Stuffed Shirt" isn't it . . = . . . Joseph G. Conway, MA ---------- From: BobRussellpiano@AOL.COM To: pianotech@ptg.org Subject: Re: clothing Date: Fri, Jun 21, 2002, 10:14 PM <BLOCKQUOTE>Deciding on a uniform is very important and requ= ires some self analysis. What image do you want your customers to have of yo= u? Is your goal simply to be comfortable, or to go the extra mile and treat = your customers to first class service? Unfortunately, many customers don't r= ecognize quality work. However, all customers recognize professionalism</= B>. I pretty much wear the same uniform everyday to work. I wear dress slack= s and a white shirt and tie. In the winter my shirts are french cuffs and in= the summer short sleeve. I agree with most of your feelings about ties. I H= ATE THEM. I've chosen to wear clip-on ties. It's hard to find good ones, but especial= ly in the summer, I simply wear the tie going into the appointment and when = the customer leaves the piano I remove it and tune the piano. When I'm done = I put it back on. I know I'm setting myself up for abuse with this GQ tip, but you have to ba= lance comfort with providing first class service for your customers. Bob Russell RPT </BLOCKQUOTE> </BODY> </HTML>