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<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; FONT: 10pt arial; font-color: =
black"><B>From:</B>
<A href="mailto:Tvak@AOL.COM" title=Tvak@AOL.COM>Tvak@AOL.COM</A> =
</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A =
href="mailto:pianotech@ptg.org"
title=pianotech@ptg.org>pianotech@ptg.org</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Tuesday, July 03, 2001 =
6:55
AM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> how long?</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV>List,<BR><BR>So whaddyathink? Am I just =
impatient? How
long does it take to build up a <BR>clientele to support one's
self?<BR><BR>Tom Sivak<BR>Chicago PTG Associate</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Tom--</DIV>
<DIV> It depends on so many variables: how =
aggressive
a businessperson you are and how good you are with people, selling =
other work
besides tuning, selling accessories, etc., what you do to get your =
name
around, how many pianos a day you're willing to tune/service, how many =
"off"
days & vacation time you take, how many referrals you get =
from the
store and the impression you leave on their customers/new piano =
owners, how
much you charge, how many services you offer, how many new clients you =
add per
year, what type of clients you add (piano teachers who will refer you =
to their
students, or struggling young musicians with no money?), how transient =
the
population is in your town or area of service, your lifestyle, habits, =
and
expenses, dependents, if any, how the economy goes, ad infinitum,
almost..... </DIV>
<DIV> But as a very general guesstimate, and based =
on my
experience, I'd say probably at least 5 years. It takes about =
that long
before you're starting to get good at it, anyhow. </DIV>
<DIV> I get only 3 tunings a year out of the Yellow =
Pages,
but then I don't have an ad -- just my name & phone. But =
still, most
of the new customers I get are referred to me by piano teachers, and =
by people
I've done a good job for (which I try to do for everybody) -- they =
give my
name to the lady across the street, their mother, their daughter, =
sister,
brother, doctor, dentist, other piano owners they run into from =
day to
day at work, church, day care, garden club, wherever.</DIV>
<DIV> I think the most important things are to =
always do a
good job and include little "extras", even if sometimes it seems like =
good
deeds get "punished" or open up a can of worms -- in the long run, =
they pay
off by boosting your reputation. And that's the other important =
thing --
reputation. You may not be an experienced, expert technician for =
maybe
10, 15 years or more, but if you try hard, aim to please, pay =
attention
to detail, do the best job you can even if the money at first isn't =
that
great, and keep learning, it'll pay off in the long run. You =
want people
to have you back every year, and one or two disgruntled customers =
could
destroy a hard-won "upstanding" image. </DIV>
<DIV> I'm one of those who make less than $33K, but =
then I
don't have a family to support nor heavy mortgage or car =
payments, and
lead a pretty modest lifestyle by choice, plus I'm not one of those =
type A,
gung-ho, suit & tie, 5 pianos a day, on-the-phone-all-evening go =
getters,
either. (But I do try to charge what I'm worth most of the time =
except
for my young struggling musician friends who don't have the money but =
really
need the piano in tune & working right -- in return, they get me =
into gigs
free). </DIV>
<DIV> Most of the other tuners I've seen start =
out and
keep going, had a pretty good clientele established after roughly 5 =
years (3
for some; maybe 8 or 10 years for others), but some of them may have =
done
other things or had part-time non-piano jobs for extra income,
too. </DIV>
<DIV> You do have to be patient, but persistent, =
too.
At least you have a huge population base.</DIV>
<DIV> --Sincerely, David Nereson, RPT,
Denver </DIV></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>