Yesterday I got a call from one of my clients who is renting a piano from me. She is a piano teacher whose husband left her several years ago, (no support checks), and is trying desperatly to make ends meet. She called to ask for some very special help. If she doens't have $800 by Friday, she will be evicted from her apartment with her 2 children. She was considering suicide as a way out. After talking with her for about 15 minutes, I made a couple of phone calls, and gave her the names of a couple agencies ready to help her get through her tough times. This morning I tuned a piano for a widow who lost her husband a year ago. After tuning the piano I spent 30 extra minutes with her, just talking about music, teaching, vacations, pianos, etc. She seemed to need to talk to someone, even though she has her children living in town, and lives accross the street from her church. Even though I was late to my next appointment, I didn't mind. She needed someone to talk to. I am telling you this because I want all of us to remind ourselves that our profession allows us to be in contact with many customers who call us not just to ge their piano tuned. The human contact is very precious, and some people need it more than other. All of us are very busy, trying to make ends meet, fighting traffic to get to the next appointment. But please, don't forget to take a few extra minutes with our customers. I might loose a few dollars, but I find those moments with a customer who needs to talk about her late husband, or wants someone to help her with a personal problem, or needs to feel better, or be cheered up, to be more rewarding than getting paid extra for doing a good job tuning the piano. This is what I refer to as the human side of being in business. Just few thoughts after a couple of busy days. Willem Blees St. Louis
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