Service contracts: good, bad, or what?

[David Porritt]

On Tue, 19 Sep 1995 MHoffman11@aol.com wrote:

> Hello all,
>
> Here's a couple of questions I'd like to ask our experienced and seasoned
> technicians\business owners on the list.
>
> How do you deal with teachers that have multiple pianos?
>
> My situation is this:  I tune for a teacher that has three pianos in her
> studio, which she tunes twice per year. (They all have climate controls, so
> the pitch level stays fairly stable ).  She has now asked if there is any way
> to tune them more frequently, say monthly(!) so that they sound good all of
> the time.  Needless to say, she's thinking that the money will be about the
> same.
>
> So I've been considering a monthly service contract idea.  Have any of you
> had success with this sort of thing?
>
> Any help would be appreciated and many apologizes if a newcomer to the list
> has asked a question that has already been talked to death!
>
>
> Stay Tuned!
>
> Mike Hoffman, RPT

Teachers can come up with lots of ideas!  I tune for a lot of teachers (2
today) and they all want perfection all the time and free if possible.
Whatever you do make it financially feasable for you.  There is nothing
that will take the joy out of this job like having to face a day where you
know you are going to loose money - or at least not make any.  If you tune
her monthly for anywhere near the cost of twice a year, weekly tunings
will sound like a good idea.  You are in business to make a living while
also helping customers.  The minute you do one without doing the other the
process doesn't work.

Dave Porritt
SMU - Dallas