<font color='black' size='2' face='Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, Serif'><font class="Apple-style-span" face="helvetica, arial"><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">Ryan writes: </font></font><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: helvetica, arial; "><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">>></font>It is an art form, isn't it? : ) You can't talk too much or too little, you can't brag but you need to sound confident, you need to have the right pace - not too fast or too slow. There are so many little subtle details to pay attention too - just like tuning a piano!<font class="Apple-style-span" face="Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif"><<</font></span> <div style="font-family:helvetica,arial;font-size:10pt;color:black"> <div id="AOLMsgPart_1_ae349aaf-7d6e-41b5-807b-36d1aefccf77"><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif"><br> </font></div> <div id="AOLMsgPart_1_ae349aaf-7d6e-41b5-807b-36d1aefccf77"><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif"><br> </font></div> <div id="AOLMsgPart_1_ae349aaf-7d6e-41b5-807b-36d1aefccf77"><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">Greetings, </font></div> <div id="AOLMsgPart_1_ae349aaf-7d6e-41b5-807b-36d1aefccf77"><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">    I am not sure one can pay attention to enough details to create trust in a cold call.  Humans have an extraordinary ability to detect authenticity.  It is below the conscious level that we form impressions of others.  If someone is charging more than they really think they are worth, the customer can usually tell that, just from extremely subtle aspects in our voice.  They may not know what is turning them off, but there is a sense of something not trustworthy.   I think the surest way to gain customers is to conduct our business in such a way that we feel good about what we charge. This demands as much self-examination, if not more, than that which a customer will give us.  </font></div> <div id="AOLMsgPart_1_ae349aaf-7d6e-41b5-807b-36d1aefccf77"><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">   Integrity is the wholeness of ourselves.  If we are totally honest with ourselves, and we know that we provide good value or our customers, the customers will often know that.  A very successful car salesman once told me that the first thing he had to sell was himself.  Once the customer "bought" him, he could just about put them in any car on the lot and they would drive it home.  Authenticity is the surest way to do that, for me.  However, some really good salesmen can fake authenticity, I just was never good at that.  </font></div> <div id="AOLMsgPart_1_ae349aaf-7d6e-41b5-807b-36d1aefccf77"><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">   And if a beginning tech is really having to gather all the "bottom feeders" that they can, then don't worry about any of this, just charge less than anybody else!  </font></div> <div id="AOLMsgPart_1_ae349aaf-7d6e-41b5-807b-36d1aefccf77"><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif">Regards, </font></div> <div id="AOLMsgPart_1_ae349aaf-7d6e-41b5-807b-36d1aefccf77"><font class="Apple-style-span" face="Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif"><br> </font></div> <div id="AOLMsgPart_1_ae349aaf-7d6e-41b5-807b-36d1aefccf77"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial; font-size: small; ">Ed Foote RPT</span></div> <div id="AOLMsgPart_1_ae349aaf-7d6e-41b5-807b-36d1aefccf77"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; "> <div style="clear: both; "><font color="black" face="arial" size="2">http://www.piano-tuners.org/edfoote/index.html</font></div> <div><font color="black" face="arial" size="2"><br> </font></div> </span></div>  </div> </font>