<!doctype html public "-//w3c//dtd html 4.0 transitional//en"> <html> <body bgcolor="#FFFFFF"> Alan, 1.  Yes.  Wouldn't you want to know if the roles were reversed?  I keep the Golden Rule in mind. 2.  I'm not aware of any in this area, but if I were, I would do my steering in an indirect way.  I try to find out if the prospective client just got my name from the phone book.  If they did and are just price shopping, I suggest that they may want to check with several friends who are satisfied with their piano technicians before making a decision. 3.  I advertised a lot at the beginning.  Nowadays I work at maintaining my credibility, treat my clients well, return phone calls promptly, take the time needed to talk on the phone, learn good listening skills, go the second mile, etc. Regards, Clyde Hollinger, RPT Lititz, PA "Alan R. Barnard" wrote: <blockquote TYPE=CITE>I'd like the list to share ideas about this: Telephone call: "How much do you charge to tune a piano?" 1. If it is obvious from the conversation that a pitch raise or other work will be needed, do you talk about charges beyond the standard tuning? 2. If you have a reeeeally incompetent bozo 'tooner' in the area (armed with a tuning hammer and electronic guitar tuner and literally does not know the meaning of the terms temperament, tempered tuning, inharmonicity, etc.) do you try in any way to steer the caller away from that person? 3. What "techniques" do you use to try and secure the business?</blockquote> </body> </html>