<WBR>Matthew<br> <br> I tried pre-scheduling appointments when I lived in St. Louis, but because very few customer accepted the idea, so I gave up trying. I also had trouble pre-scheduling, mostly because I never knew what I would be doing, as far as rebuilding , teaching at seminars, vacations, time to see kids at college, etc. was concerned 6 months or a year later. <br> <br> But when I moved to Hawaii, and bought the customer file from a deceased tuner who pre-scheduled most of his customers, I actually have customer asking for it. Since I don't do any more rebuilding, and going to the mainland for any kind of trips is virtually out of the question, pre-scheduling is great. <br> <br> I ask if they want to tune the piano every 6 months or once a year. Most opt for 1 year, but I do have a couple of 6 month customers. I already have over 180 appointments set up over the next 12 months. That's out of 300 customers. <br> <br> I send my customers a post card 2 weeks ahead of time to remind them I'll be there. (one month might be too long a lead time). The rest I send a reminder card, asking them to call me. Then I wait a month, and call them. I've only been doing this for 9 months, and so far it's worked out great. <br> <br> <br> <div style="CLEAR: both">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: Matthew Todd <toddpianoworks@att.net><br> To: pianotech@ptg.org<br> Sent: Wed, 28 May 2008 4:45 pm<br> Subject: Scheduling Appointments in Advance<br> <br> <div id=AOLMsgPart_2_6323574e-336a-4c0b-b0f1-fff251d0f1c5> <div>Just curious as to how many of you try and schedule the next tuning appointment at your clients home before you leave?  Does that go well?</div> <div> </div> <div>I am thinking about giving my clients two options.  They can choose schedule their next appointment there, and I'll send 'em a reminder card a month before, or if they don't want to schedule right then, I'll still send 'em a reminder a month before, then call when their due date rolls around.  I have been thinking about giving them a discount (maybe 5 bucks) if they schedule for their next appointment.</div> <div> </div> <div>Just curious.</div> <div> </div> <div>Thanks in advance for the input,</div> <div>Matthew</div> </div> <div id='u8CA8F5086FA8F7F-234-17C7' class='aol_ad_footer'><FONT style="color: black; font: normal 10pt ARIAL, SAN-SERIF;"><HR style="MARGIN-TOP: 10px">Stay informed, get connected and more <A title="http://mobile.aol.com/productOverview.jsp?productOverview=aol-mobile-overview&?ncid=aolmbd00030000000139" href="http://mobile.aol.com/productOverview.jsp?productOverview=aol-mobile-overview&?ncid=aolmbd00030000000139" target="_blank">with AOL on your phone</A>.</FONT> </div>