Hawkeye Harriet

[Kenneth W. Burton]

	James,
	My comment is, You'll get used to it! Sometimes, customers or kids
want to watch or listen while I am tuning. Actually, I welcome it since
piano tuning is a little bit of a lonely job. I usually converse a bit in
between sections of the tuning.
	This attention doesn't need to make you feel apprehensive. Your
customer can't hear what you are listening to. Just go ahead and do your
usual good tuning and there will be no problem. If you break a string or
do something else unfortunate, you may have to make some excuses.
	All in all, consider this unusual attention as positive
interest and everything will go well.

	Ken Burton "Doctor Piano" Calgary Alberta

On Tue, 8 Jul 1997, james allen bickerton wrote:

> 
> james allen bickerton wrote:
> > 
> > Performed a tuning for a first-time customer the other day.  Commenced
> > the pre-tuning inspection with the usual chit chat, and once she and I
> > agreed on the service to be performed, I sat down and began tuning the
> > piano.  It was an upright Samick, 2 years old that had been tuned 6
> > months prior.
> >   At this point, most of my customers say something to the effect, "I'll
> > be in the other room, if you need anything, just shout."  But not this
> > one.  She sat down on a couch 10 feet directly behind me and watched me
> > tune the piano pin by pin directly over my shoulder.
> >   Feeling a little uneasy, I again engaged her in conversation, hoping
> > that she would tire of the idle chit chat, but no such luck.  After 20
> > minutes, I found myself losing concentration as I attempted to both tune
> > the piano and verbally engage my customer.  I couldn't decide whether
> > she was just lonely, since she was a single parent in her early 40's, or
> > whether she didn't totally trust me with her piano.  To make matters
> > worse, I learned through our chat that I was her third tuner in 2 years
> > (was she too demanding?), and because I have pet allergies, I had taken
> > an allergy tablet prior to entering her house, so I was feeling a bit
> > edgy to begin with.
> >   She must have been satisfied because she agreed to have me tune her
> > piano again in 6 months.
> >   My question is, how do you TACTFULLY handle a situation like this?  My
> > business is young, and I am eager to please.  But in this case, my
> > eagerness slowed my progress, and I was an hour late for my next
> > appointment.
> >                                    Flailing in Fayetteville
>