<HTML>In a message = dated 9/21/04 5:19:37 PM Pacific Daylight Time, piano57@flash.net writes: <BLOCKQUOTE TYPE=CITE style="BORDER-LEFT: #0000ff 2px solid; MARGIN-= LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px"> My experience  (especially when I was working for a dealer) was tha= t I kept almost all the dealer tunings/referrals because I booked the next a= ppointment right then and there (just like the dentist).   The met= hod works remarkably well.    Barbara Richmond <BLOCKQUOTE TYPE=CITE style="BORDER-LEFT: #0000ff 2px solid; MARGIN-= LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px">----- Original Message ----= - From: <A HREF="mailto:Piannaman@aol.com">Piannaman@aol.com</A> To: <A HREF="mailto:pianotech@ptg.org">pianotech@ptg.org</A> Sent: Tuesday, September 21, 2004 3:45 PM Subject: Re: free tunings Carol, You are correct in the fantastic business opportunity suggestion.  = Having been in sales for sometime, I consider customer relations my strong s= uit.  That's why it's extremely frustrating when I go out of my way to = do the job as well as possible AND to be very professional about it, I get i= rked when it doesn't pay off.  But that's often the nature of dealer wo= rk.    The hard part is finding a that customer that you thought you'd bonded w= ith has looked elsewhere.  Learning to not take that sort of thing pers= onally is the lesson here. Thanks for your valuable insights, </BLOCKQUOTE> </BLOCKQUOTE> Carol, I do try to book 6 months in advance as much as possible.  Some peo= ple just claim that life in Silicon Valley is too durned hectic, and could I= remind them in 6 months.  I think I'll be a bit more aggressive about = it.  Having a steady income booked half a year in advance would be nice= . Thanks again, Dave S.</HTML>