<div>Kerry</div> <div> </div> <div>I used to offer $5 off for regular customers if they called within 30 days after they got my reminder card. (This was 10 years ago when I was charging $60 or $70 for a tuning). Overall, I don't think it increased the number of tunings. A few people asked for the discount, but these people would have called me anyway. Most of the time I had to ask customers if they got the $5 discount card. In other words, I was giving away $5, when I didn't have to. <br> <br> Willem (Wim) Blees, RPT<br> Piano Tuner/Technician<br> Honolulu, HI<br> Author of <br> The Business of Piano Tuning<br> available from Potter Press<br> www.pianotuning.com</div> <br> <br> -----Original Message-----<br> From: Kerry <kkean@neo.rr.com><br> To: l-bartlett@sbcglobal.net; 'Pianotech List' <pianotech@ptg.org><br> Sent: Fri, 8 Feb 2008 3:34 am<br> Subject: RE: how to politely ask for a raise<br> <br> <div id=AOLMsgPart_0_b8454a50-06de-4911-bf4f-44d5911998d9 style="FONT-SIZE: 12px; MARGIN: 0px; COLOR: #000; FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma, Verdana, Arial, Sans-Serif; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #fff"><PRE style="FONT-SIZE: 9pt"><TT>I took that to mean that when adjusted for inflation, folks are not getting ahead, not that they're making the same amount of money. A lot of what we're dealing with in setting prices is perception, both customers' perception of how they're doing vs. the need for tuning, and their perception of us as techs. I recently raised my tuning price and got some comments for the first time in 30 years, which definitely made me stop and think. Does anyone out there offer discounts to regular customers? If so, what are your parameters? I was thinking of lowering price for those who get a tuning at least once a year. Has that worked for anyone? It seems as if that might work better in the current environment than trying to point out the extra things I do for regular customers when the tuning goes quickly. Kerry Kean -----Original Message----- From: Leslie Bartlett [<A href="mailto:l-bartlett@sbcglobal.net?">mailto:l-bartlett@sbcglobal.net</A>] Sent: Thursday, February 07, 2008 5:19 PM To: 'Pianotech List' Subject: RE: how to politely ask for a raise I heard on NPR this week, from a former Labor Secretary, that the "take home dollars" are no greater than they were in 2000 for the average person. That makes me a bit more conservative.......... les bartlett -----Original Message----- From: <A href="mailto:pianotech-bounces@ptg.org">pianotech-bounces@ptg.org</A> [<A href="mailto:pianotech-bounces@ptg.org?">mailto:pianotech-bounces@ptg.org</A>] On Behalf Of Kerry Sent: Thursday, February 07, 2008 12:55 PM To: 'Pianotech List' Subject: RE: how to politely ask for a raise I went to an online Inflation calculator and figured the inflation rate from January 2000 to December 2007 as 24.43%. So just to keep up with cost average cost increases, if you were charging $80 for a tuning in January 2000, you should be charging $100 now. Here's the URL: <A href="http://www.inflationdata.com/inflation/Inflation_Calculators/InflationCalcul" target=_blank>http://www.inflationdata.com/inflation/Inflation_Calculators/InflationCalcul</A> ator.asp If nothing else, it's fun to play around with... Kerry Kean </TT></PRE></div> <div class="AOLPromoFooter"> <hr style="margin-top:10px;" /> More new features than ever. Check out the new <a href="http://o.aolcdn.com/cdn.webmail.aol.com/mailtour/aol/en-us/text.htm?ncid=aolcmp00050000000003" target="_blank">AOL Mail</a>!<br/> </div>