Minimum Service Charges

[Delwin D Fandrich]

Zen Reinhardt wrote:
> 
> Dear List:
> 
> Here's a question to think about.  First, a scenerio.  A customer calls you
> to fish pencils out from behind the fallboard of a grand piano.  You know
> that the job will take less than 5 minutes to perform, but you are also
> mindful of your own expenses associated with performing any service call so
> you charge a Minimum Charge, based on, say, an hour of your time.  Do you
> ..
> 
> a]      Grab the money and run upon putting the case parts back together when
> you've been in the house for all of 5 minutes?
> 
> b]      Do little things for the piano such as dusting the soundboard or
> tweaking the action to fill up at least some of that hour?
> 
> What I'm interested in knowing about is how people balance job "efficiency"
> with the customer's sense of "getting their money's worth."

I've been out of field servicing for quite a while, but...

I charged a Standard Service Fee (that is, I did not have a fee for
"tuning" a piano) that entitled my customer to two hours of my time less
an amount for travel. During this time I would do whatever I could do to
make the piano play and sound better. If the piano was half a step flat,
then it got a pitch raise and a tuning. If it was a piano I serviced on
a regular basis, it got a touch-up tuning and whatever else I could do
for it. A little hammer work, a little regulating, some pedal
adjustment, cleaning, whatever. Each piano would obviously have
different requirements. I always felt better when I left knowing that I
had done as much for the piano and its players as I could. My customers
appreciated the performance of their pianos and the fact that there were
almost never any extra charges.

I'd have to go with [b] strictly from a good business standpoint. Do
what you can do in the time you have factored into your basic service
charge. You might also explain to your customer that "Well, as long as
I'm here and you're paying me for an hour anyway, I may as well go ahead
and touch up a few of these uninsons that are out, and perhaps I can fix
that...whatever." I would guess that they would be so surprised by your
approach that after they come out of shock they'll be your customer for
life. It's just a matter of being a professional at what you do rather
than an opportunist.

I would have no quarrel with anyone doing [a] since I don't think it
would be unethical or immoral. But you'll get and keep more "good"
customers with [b].

ddf