Trust

[Wimblees@aol.com]

A couple of days ago I got a call from a new customer who wanted her piano
tuned. I asked if I could schedule the appointment at 1 o'clock on Wednesday
because I had another appointment allready scheduled in her neck of the woods
later that afternoon. She agreed, even though she wasn't going to be there.
Although this customer didn't know me, she told me where the key will be on
the back porch,  and that a signed, blank check will be sitting on the piano.

Now this is probably nothing new to some of you, and in fact, this topic came
up at the convention. Lots of piano tuners have never met their cutomers face
to face. Doors are left unlocked, or keys are left in inconspicuous places,
blank checks are left on the piano, and cash is left laying around. And as a
man, there is another form of trust that has been given us. Children are
allowed to let me in the house without the parent home. In this day and age,
that is an even greater trust.

As a rule, piano tuners have gotten a reputation of being honest people, and
it would be disastrous for all of us if this trust is broken. Which brings me
to the point of this message. It is not going to take much to break that
trust. If just one of us makes a mistake, not only will it be bad for the
individual involved, it will be a bad mark on all the entire tunign
profession.

This trust comes in many different ways. The obvious ones I have talked
about. But there are several other ways in which we can assure our customers
we are honest people. Be honest with your customers, especially when they
call for the first time, by giving straight forward answers and correct
information. Be on time for your appointments, or at least call if you're
going to be late. And return phone calls as soon as possible.

And last, we can keep that trusting relationship if we do our work in a
timely manner, and charge the price we originally quoted. If you take an
action back to your shop, let the customer know when she can expect it back,
and then stick to that time frame, and the price you quoted her. While you
have the action at your shop, and the customer leaves a message asking about
the progress, make sure you call her back as soon as possible, and give her
the information she wants. If you find you cannot get the work done on time,
or that it is going to cost more than you indicated, be sure to keep the
customer informed. By the same token, if the job took less time than
anticipated, charging the customer less will help build a trusting
relationship.

Trust is something that is earned. We should be proud that as a profession,
we have earned that trust, and all of us need to work hard to make sure we
don't loose it. Because once it is gone, it will be very difficult to get it
back.

Willem Blees  RPT
St. Louis.