Z: The one thing my clients mention the most is that they can count on me to call them when the next tuning is due. I have often pondered the "best service" thingy. Let's set up a very likely scenario. A family buys a big old dead piano and moves it into their home. Then they call me. I go out and charge them a couple hundred to put the thing in "reasonable playing condition;" that is, all the keys do something, broken parts are repaired or replaced, and it is reasonably in tune even if it's flat. Have I done the right thing or not? I get the feeling that some technicians would simply say something like, "Sorry to be the bearer of sad news, but the piano is dead. Here's Larry Fine's book. Get a better one. That will be $30 (or whatever)". Which way will the client be most satisfied, having just expended all that energy to move that monster into the house? I have yet to have anyone express displeasure for my doing business this way. Consider this: Suppose I take a clunker car to the mechanic. Everything is wrong with it except that it runs. I want a tuneup and a muffler. Will I be happy with the mechanic if he refuses to do anything because the car is shot and those two things will cost more than the car is worth? Probably not. By the way, I HAVE condemned some pianos, but I could probably count them on one hand. I have also tried recently asking gently, "Have you ever considered getting a better piano?" Once the answer was yes; usually they don't look very happy with me. Just in case anyone is thinking I therefore get to tune only junkers, not true. I get my fair share of Baldwin, Kawai, Steinway and Yamaha grands, and a couple times each year I am told I am the best in the area. I don't argue, even though I feel otherwise. I have the gut feeling I just opened a plastic bottle of centipedes. I request your forgiveness in advance. Thanks! :-) Clyde Hollinger, RPT Lititz, PA Z! Reinhardt wrote: > > This brings up another interesting topic, that being Perceived Worth. I'd > be curious to read the stories about what constitutes "best possible > service" as you perceive yourselves, and as what the customers perceive in > you. We've already heard about such "value-added extras" as removing shoes > at the door, tightening bench bolts, etc. > > Before I was any good as a technician, customers often hired me on the > basis that I had befriended their pets. Customers nowadays appreciate my > troubleshooting abilities. As a Disklavier technician, I try as I might to > stay abreast of the latest developments, and that includes any problems, > quirks, whatever, that are encountered in the field.
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