Evenings and weekends

[Wimblees@AOL.COM]

In a message dated 98-11-04 07:43:43 EST, you write:

<< Has anyone tried looking at these times as overtime and charging more? 
 If so, how do clients or potential customers respond?  Are they grateful
 or resentful if they can find someone to accommodate them at an extra
 cost?  If this has worked for you, how much extra do you charge?  Your
 input will be helpful. 
 
 Maybe I should add, in case you're wondering, that I do bend to favor my
 regular clients.  I am trying to build their loyalty to me, and I
 respond by being loyal, and available, to them.  
 
 Thank you.
 Clyde Hollinger >>

Clyde:

Not only do I not work evenings or Sundays, ( I do go out and tune pianos on
some Saturdays when I am not in my store), but I don't even answer the phone,
or make phone calls in the evening. I never thought about charging extra for
working "overtime". Like I said, I just don't work those hours. Like you, I do
make special arrangments for my good clients, like being there first thing in
the morning before they go to work, or at 5 or 5:30 when they get home. But
for the most part, if an appointment can't be scheduled during the day during
the week, I just won't do it. 

As I said, I don't even make phone calls, or answer the phone during the
evening. Of course, having the phone in the store does make a difference. When
I was still working out of my house, I would answer the phone any time it
rang. But that is a choice. If you don't want to answer the phone, just turn
it off. 

This is off the subject, but before I had a secretary, I also did all of my
own paper work, bookkeeping, etc in the evening and on weekends. Then I hired
a woman to work about 10 hours a week transferring information from one
computer file to another. (No it could not have been done electronically). In
addition to doing that, I asked her to do the paper work and bookkeeping.
After about 2 weeks, all she did during those 10 hours was keep up with my
paper work. She never got to the things I hired her for. This made me realize
that I was spending about 10 hours a week, in the evenings, doing paper work
and bookkeeping.

If you guys are spending 10 hours a week doing paper work, think about hiring
someone to do it for you. At $7.00 an hour, one tuning will pay for her, and
it leaves you free to do more important things, like doing shop work, spending
time with your family, just relaxing, or answering your e-mail messages.

Willem Blees