<HTML>Kent I printed out your comments, and brought them up for discussion at the chapter meeting tonight. Most agreed with what you had to say. Thank you for your thoughtful insights. Wim PS. Will you be coming to the seminar? In a message dated 3/13/01 2:04:34 PM Central Standard Time, kswafford@earthlink.net writes: <BLOCKQUOTE TYPE=CITE style="BORDER-LEFT: #0000ff 2px solid; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px">You are voicing a fear here that I think needs to be overcome. We all have our own ways of reading our customers, but to alter our approach because it might be characterized negatively is a losing proposition. _Any_ suggestion of extra service will be perceived negatively by somebody. This was what I was trying to get at when I used the term no-win situation in a reply to Keith McGavern. If we push extra service some will see us gouging, and if we don't push extra service some will complain, "I had him out several times, but the piano never got any better." They may conveniently forget that they turned down our offer of extra service.  :)   Years ago, I actually had this type of thing happen; I offered to regulate a spinet to improve the functioning of the action, was turned down, then got a call a few days later asking, for what she had paid for the tuning, shouldn't I come back and fix for free the notes that weren't playing right? This was a real eye-opener for me. Nope, I've never been back. I remember finding the screws missing from one of the two lid hinges of a big vertical piano; I replaced the screws so I could raise the lid. How else was I going to tune? (Should I have instead removed the remaining screws from the other hinge to remove the lid completely to tune?) The customer thought I was being opportunistic. I wanted to reply (but didn't), "Jeez, lady, you've got little kids running all over. Do you want that lid to be available to fall on one of them ?" Some time later I had my car in the shop and they did a brake job _without asking_, saying that they went ahead because it was a safety-related item. And the lady was worried about a few screws? Sheesh! Haven't been back to that piano either. Pushing extra service is not gouging, nor is it even necessarily a way of maximizing income; it is more just a way to give good service and do interesting, rewarding piano work. Here are some no-muss no-fuss ways of adding extra service to tuning appointments. 1) Be on salary. If you are on the clock at a college or similar, the customers will be coming to you _demanding_ extra service.  :)  And when they have you service their home pianos, they'll expect and expect to pay for the extra service they know you know how to provide. 2) Regular service agreements. For churches and schools where you provide regular service, your written agreement should allow up to $xxx per year for service in addition to tuning without needing specific approval. 3) Dealer arrangement. If you service pianos in home for a dealer, by mutual agreement, $xx worth of extra service should be acceptable per tuning without additional approval. 4) Home service. Ask every customer on the phone and _again_ upon arriving at the appointment if anything needs taken care of in addition to the tuning. Assuming this is possible within a single appointment time, fix everything they mention and present a bill. 5) Home service (sort of) hard sell. When you find something that needs taken care of, tell the customer you need to go out to the car to get some tools/materials to take care of [fill in blank]. If they do not object, they have approved. This approach has _never_ caused me a problem, particularly since most often these are repairs or service needed to complete a high quality tuning, for example, broken keys, strings, or action parts; rubbing keys, hammers, jacks, etc. And BTW I can keep my extra charges modest because I haven't spent time selling the job; important! 6) Do not offer tuning-only service. Others have written of "Super Service Calls", "Gold Service", "Extraordinary Service", or "Extended Service Appointments" in which the customer knows you will do everything possible within the allotted time. Piano service businesses are built through word of mouth; the customers that are referred to you by your "Super Service" customers are unlikely to ask for minimal service, so don't offer it. Kent Swafford </BLOCKQUOTE> </HTML>