<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; = charset=iso-8859-1"> <META content="MSHTML 6.00.2719.2200" name=GENERATOR> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=#ffffff> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>    Alan, I was in that = type of area once when I was just starting out. I got tired of trying to educate = people. Of course after the piano was tuned they loved it, but when you call back = after a couple of months for the "regularly priced follow up to the 100 cent = pitch raise" tuning, many of them would tell me "It still sounds fine". = </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>    So, I just figured = that that particular area had no use for a piano technician, and indeed didn't = deserve one, and I left. Life's too short to have to struggle on neglected = instruments 90% of the time, plus you don't really get to develop your skills too = much beyond the "repair it, it's broke" level. </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>    Hope my experience = doesn't parallel yours too closely, but it sounds kind of familiar to me. One of = my best tech friends here worked in Kentucky. He said it was a constant string = of neglected spinets, so he got out too. </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; = BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px"> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV> <DIV style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: = black"><B>From:</B> <A title=mathstar@salemnet.com = href="mailto:mathstar@salemnet.com">Alan R. Barnard</A> </DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A = title=pianotech@ptg.org href="mailto:pianotech@ptg.org">pianotech@ptg.org</A> </DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Saturday, August 31, 2002 = 2:47 PM</DIV> <DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: Potential = Customers</DIV> <DIV><BR></DIV>Terry Farrell asked me, with regard to my Potential = Customers post:<BR><BR>"Are you trying to increase your servicing = volume?"<BR><BR>The answer is YES. When I ventured into this business (2 1/2 years = ago,<BR>Potter Course) I never had a hint that the vast majority of people--at = least<BR>in rural Missouri--have no idea, whatsoever, that their piano is out of tune<BR>and/or don't care. Even churches will go for years without a tune!<BR></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>