<!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 6.00.6000.16587" name=GENERATOR> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=#ffffff> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Brian: Check the rates of the other service people (plumbers, electricians, etc) in the area and use that as a gauge to set your rates. I don't believe in price gouging but I do believe in a fair fee for my work. If your goal is to tune 4 pianos 5 days a week and work 48 months a year, then figure how much you need to earn per year to pay the bills, take a vacation and put 10% in savings and figure you hourly rate off of that. Then you don't have to guess how much to charge. Remember to figure you overheads in your fee. Be brave. You may loose a few customers but that's life in the piano tuning world.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Gerald McCleskey RPT</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Shreveport, LA</FONT></DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE dir=ltr style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px"> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV> <DIV style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: black"><B>From:</B> <A title=IFixPianos@yahoo.com href="mailto:IFixPianos@yahoo.com">Michael Magness</A> </DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A title=pianotech@ptg.org href="mailto:pianotech@ptg.org">Pianotech List</A> </DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Wednesday, February 06, 2008 8:25 AM</DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: how to politely ask for a raise</DIV> <DIV><BR></DIV><BR><BR> <DIV class=gmail_quote>On Feb 5, 2008 9:12 PM, Michelle Smith <<A href="mailto:michelle@smithpianoservice.com">michelle@smithpianoservice.com</A>> wrote:<BR> <BLOCKQUOTE class=gmail_quote style="PADDING-LEFT: 1ex; MARGIN: 0px 0px 0px 0.8ex; BORDER-LEFT: #ccc 1px solid"> <DIV lang=EN-US link="blue" vlink="purple" bgcolor="white"> <DIV> <P><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; COLOR: #1f497d">Hi Brian.   I would let them know that in 2 months you will raise your rates due to increasing gas prices.  This gives them time to get used to the idea and also takes some pressure off of everyone.  Gas prices are the problem—not you or your client.</SPAN></P> <P><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; COLOR: #1f497d"></SPAN> </P> <P><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; COLOR: #1f497d">Best wishes,</SPAN></P> <P><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; COLOR: #1f497d"></SPAN> </P> <P><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; COLOR: #1f497d">Michelle Smith</SPAN></P> <P><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; COLOR: #1f497d">Bastrop, Texas  </SPAN></P> <P><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 11pt; COLOR: #1f497d"></SPAN> </P> <DIV> <DIV style="BORDER-RIGHT: medium none; PADDING-RIGHT: 0in; BORDER-TOP: #b5c4df 1pt solid; PADDING-LEFT: 0in; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0in; BORDER-LEFT: medium none; PADDING-TOP: 3pt; BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none"> <P><B><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">From:</SPAN></B><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt"> <A href="mailto:pianotech-bounces@ptg.org" target=_blank>pianotech-bounces@ptg.org</A> [mailto:<A href="mailto:pianotech-bounces@ptg.org" target=_blank>pianotech-bounces@ptg.org</A>] <B>On Behalf Of </B>Brian Doepke<BR><B>Sent:</B> Tuesday, February 05, 2008 8:12 PM<BR><B>To:</B> Pianotech List<BR><B>Subject:</B> how to politely ask for a raise</SPAN></P></DIV></DIV> <DIV> <DIV></DIV> <DIV class=Wj3C7c> <P> </P> <DIV> <P><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">I have been tuning for a church twice a month for a year+1/2 without even a slight increase in fees.  I don't want to lose this client.  They like my work, we have a good communication and rapport....but I feel a slight increase is warranted with increased advertising costs, travel expenses and so on.</SPAN></P></DIV> <DIV> <P> </P></DIV> <DIV> <P><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">How would you handle this?   Or...would you just leave the situation as it is?</SPAN></P></DIV> <DIV> <P> </P></DIV> <DIV> <P><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">Thank you,</SPAN></P></DIV> <DIV> <P> </P></DIV> <DIV> <P> </P></DIV> <DIV> <P><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">Brian P. Doepke; RPT<BR>A.A.A. Piano Works, LLC<BR>"The after-taste of poor quality<BR>lasts longer than the first bite<BR>of a good deal."</SPAN></P></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE></DIV> <DIV>Hi Brian,</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I agree with the others that notice of some sort is the usual form of approach in matters such as this. I also come from a sales background and can offer some perspective from that angle for anyone who is contemplating raising their rates. In a situation such as Brian's as long as the price hike is commesurate with the going rate in the community, in other words he isn't charging more than everyone else, the anouncement is a simple courtesy to a regular customer. </DIV> <DIV>In the case of new customers asking for a price quote, state the current price and move on to other subjects. Do not announce that is a recent price hike or what the old price was. The same should be done for existing customers when they ask how much or you present the bill, DO NOT point out the increase. They probably won't remember, if they do, they may ask and then you can explain. </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>When I was in sales our product went through periodic price increases and we as sales people hated it because we now had to ask for more. I had one sales manager who put it into perspective for us, his point was the customer doesn't know the price, the old one or the new one. So the only obstacle about the new price was in the head of the sales staff because we knew it had just increased, the customer was oblivious to this fact unless we CHOSE to make him/her aware of it. If we just went to the customer, explained the virtues of the product and stated the price as if it had always cost that much there would be no problem. He was right, I have used that lesson ever since.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Mike<BR><BR clear=all><BR>-- <BR>Age is an issue of mind over matter. If you don't mind, it doesn't matter.<BR>Michael Magness<BR>Magness Piano Service<BR>608-786-4404<BR><A href="http://www.IFixPianos.com">www.IFixPianos.com</A><BR>email <A href="mailto:mike@ifixpianos.com">mike@ifixpianos.com</A> </DIV></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>