<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> <META content="MSHTML 6.00.6000.16640" name=GENERATOR> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=#ffffff> <DIV><FONT face="Bookman Old Style" size=2>Wim,</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face="Bookman Old Style" size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face="Bookman Old Style" size=2>I share your attitude towards the doctor/dentist courtesy calls.  I agree.  I made a commitment and I cannot imagine not keeping it.  Thoughtless.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face="Bookman Old Style" size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face="Bookman Old Style" size=2>However, I long ago came to the realization that half the folks getting their piano tuned DON'T write it down/remember/pay attention/care/whatever.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face="Bookman Old Style" size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face="Bookman Old Style" size=2>It never fails, if I forget or am too busy to call the night before, I either have no-shows or folks looking at me like I'm from Neptune until they are reminded that I was coming to tune the piano today.  It takes 5 minutes to call all my appointments and then I assure myself of a day without wasted time.  Occasionally I need to reschedule appointments, but they'd have been no-shows anyway.  </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face="Bookman Old Style" size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face="Bookman Old Style" size=2>I've never had folks decide they don't want service when I call.  Of course, I am fortunate at this point to not have to call clients for reminders either.  I send either a postcard or email reminder to those that are due every month and that's it.  I'm busy enough I don't feel the need to track them down and get them to take care of their piano.  It's only recently been this way, but it sure is nice.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face="Bookman Old Style" size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face="Bookman Old Style" size=2>William R. Monroe</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face="Bookman Old Style" size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face="Bookman Old Style" size=2>SNIP</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face="Bookman Old Style" size=2></FONT><BR>I have received a phone call from my doctor and dentist for several years reminding me of my appointments. Quite frankly, my reaction has always been, "Yeah, of course I have an appointment with you, I set it up, so why waste my time to remind me?" I assumed the call was because the doctor had been getting a lot of no-shows, which hurts his insurance claims. <BR>My reason for not contacting customers has been for two reasons. One, as I just said, the customer called me, so why remind him/her of the appointment. To me I look at it as insult. The other reason is "fear" of having the customer cancel the appointment, especially if I called her/him and had to talk her/him into getting the piano tuned. It is more difficult for a customer to send me away when I'm at the front door, than to tell me not to come on the phone before I even get there.<BR><BR>So what are your policies? Do you call the day before, as a courtesy, to remind your customer of your appointment, saying something like "This is a courtesy call to remind you of our appointment tomorrow at 9 o'clock.<BR><BR>Willem (Wim) Blees, RPT</DIV></BODY></HTML>