Teacher discounts

[UNATUNER@aol.com]

<In response to numerous posts>

My reaction to teachers who ask (or expect) a discount is that I  appear to
become very interested in sharing a business proposition. I ask "do you
compensate those who have referred you?  I say "how does 10% sound to you?"
"I would be glad to work out a mutual proposition".  I say "10% of just one
students yearly contribution (say a $20 lesson X 50 weeks) can really add up
to a nice comission over the years".
About this time they start to smile.  Of course THEY are not going to give up
a fee...  I remind them that one referral to a piano tuner may only be one
small job...that's it...and in the long run it is the teacher who would give
up the most in terms of dollars!   I remind them that  people are asking for
a recommendation of who is GOOD, not who kicks back the MOST!  I then offer
to the teacher that we each recommend each other based only on our merits.
 They always laugh and agree... So far, they have always seen it my way.

Besides, just as  the store who kickes back to a tuner (or teacher) for a
recommendation,  the kickback gets tagged onto the price one way or another!


Moral of the story:
Discount = Kickback >Somebody pays, hope it's not me.

Jerry Wood