Charging for services

[Clyde Hollinger]

In response to Leslie Bartlett, I would say one needs to become
comfortable selling your labor.  For me, 95% of my piano service income
is selling my time and expertise; relatively little comes from parts,
Dampp-Chaser systems, etc.

There are probably as many different charge practices as there are piano
technicians.  If a procedure takes about the same amount of time every
time, I charge by the job.  Other work I charge by the hour.  

I consider my tuning charge to include a charge for travel time. 
Hypothetically, if I allow an hour to tune a piano and charge $60, I
might consider $20 of that the service call charge to get to the home
plus the tuning at $40/hour.  Additional labor would then be charged at
$40/hour.

It took me years to arrive at the principles I now follow in charging
for services, and I still have one or two bugs to work out.  I would
think things through like this:  If the tables were turned and *I* were
the client, would my charges make sense to me?  I continued modifying
the way I charged until I was comfortable with it, and now I know the
rationale behind every charge I make.  (I could write an article on this
and will probably do a chapter technical on it later this year.)  New
piano technicians will likely go through the same throes, and it's not
much fun, but eventually they will find their way!

I agree with Willem Blees that it is better to keep the estimate high
enough, then reduce the final bill if a procedure takes less time.  As a
matter of principle I do not charge more than the estimate (for the work
described), and when I miss it, the extra time is free, which is never
much fun.

Clyde Hollinger, RPT
Lititz, PA