<!doctype html public "-//w3c//dtd html 4.0 transitional//en"> <html> Wim, Your response causes me to explain a small detail I left out of my recently posted "conversations."  Please notice that I give my name *first,* before asking to speak with the person who makes the piano service decisions.  That is deliberate.  Otherwise, before they even know who's calling, they assume I am a telemarketer trying to sell them something they don't want, and they come to the phone with a negative mindset.  The responses I get are much more positive if they know first thing who's calling. Wim, I do have a question that logistically may make a considerable difference.  When you did your experiment as outlined below, who was there to answer the phone when customers called to schedule?  Do you give them your cell phone number, or did they call a secretary or office manager? In my case, I am the entire company.  My wife and kids are involved only in saying that I am not home but will return the call.  It seems to me that my clients would get disgusted with me, because even if they called to schedule I wouldn't be available very often.  So I don't see how your method would work in my situation.  Or am I missing something? I agree that 3-4 hours per week setting up appointments is a lot.  I'm not sure where that figure came from.  I don't spend that much time, maybe two.  And it doesn't matter which method one uses, you will never get appointment-making time down to zero, even if you make the next appointment before you leave the client's home. One more thing.  There was a time when I also called people who hadn't had a tuning for quite some time.  I agree with you, that was a total waste of time, and I'll never do that again.  I never contact clients after two years; their records go into the "inactive" file. Regards, Clyde Wimblees@AOL.COM wrote: <blockquote TYPE=CITE>I have some thoughts on the matter. First of all, with today's marketing on the telephone, people are much more aware of any kind of sales pitches on the telephone. Most do not like to be called in the evening, no matter what they are being offered or asked. As an example, several years ago, in an attempt to drum up more business, I asked my wife to call customers who hadn't had their piano tuned in 5 or more years. Although most were polite, some didn't even want to hear her "spiel."  Since it wasn't someone they knew, as soon as she introduced herself as being with a "company," the automatic answer was "we don't want any," or "I'm not interested." The second reason for not calling is the time it takes. I used to call my customers. But then Julie Berry gave a class on how to get repeat business by sending out post cards,  and waiting for the customers to call. So I did an experiment. Over a 6 month period I sent out post cards, one moth saying I would call to schedule an appointment, and the next month asking them to call me, and so forth. At the end of the six months, I could not see any appreciable difference in my tuning income. That told me that those people who want their piano tuned will call you, or will say yes when you cal them, and those that do not want their piano tuned will not call you, or will say no when you call them. So why spend 3 or 4 hours a week on the phone, when you're income will not be any more, or less? Wim</blockquote> </html>