<html><body> <DIV>I'm curious,</DIV> <DIV>Why would it be a bad thing to be booked well in advance.  I know a guy who 's booked 6 weeks or so in advance.  I think that would be a good thing, and knowing my financial situation, I sure wish I was booked solid.</DIV> <DIV>Marshall</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #1010ff 2px solid">-------------- Original message -------------- From: A440A@aol.com > Joseph writes: > > << Whe I facture that sales tax, car > > expenses (tolls, gas, etc.) and travel time are > > deducted from the gross fee, I do not see how I can > > charge less than $100 for a basic tuning. >> > > In the beginning, you will have to charge little enough to simply attract the > customers that are price shopping. You will want to move out of this category > as fast as you can. You will do this by impressing enough customers so that > word of mouth, (is there anywhere else words come from?, uh, I know a couple > of people that talk out their a. ahhhh, well, I'll just let that be), begins > to fill your schedule. > As soon as you realize that you are missing customers because you don't > have time to get to them, you will realize that you are not charging enough. > You will then raise your price until you have more time than customers, oops, > charging too much? You will know if your calls begin to drop off. (or maybe > you let your quality slip). > Return customers are the lifeblood of a service business, unless you > advertise so heavily that you don't need them, (hard to do). Do what you can to > make your customers feel like they got their money's worth. Customers usually > don't think in terms of dollars, but rather, what value they think they are > receiving. Also remember that 90% of communication is non-verbal, so if you are > confident that your price and the quality of your service are equal, your > body language, tone of voice, and general bearing will put the customer at ease. > A long term tech, with a large body of work and customers behind them, > will comfortably charge more than the beginner. In Nashville, the price of a > tuning varies from $60 to $130, depending on who is doing it. I have customers > that feel much better paying me twice as much as the last tuner they employed. > > If you are booked two months in advance, you are not charging enough. > If your phone is not ringing, you may be pricing yourself too high. The only > way to find your comfort zone is to get in the business and learn. > good luck, > > > Ed Foote RPT > http://www.uk-piano.org/edfoote/index.html > www.uk-piano.org/edfoote/well_tempered_piano.html > > _______________________________________________ > Pianotech list info: https://www.moypiano.com/resources/#archives </BLOCKQUOTE></body></html>