Psychology

[Kristinn Leifsson]

I don´t know whether I should tell you this...

ahem...

here goes...


I´m very aware that the customer needs to feel at ease and trust the tuner.
 That´s why I´m always very polite in any way, (not like that stupid auto
mechanic I saw this morning).  This includes having impeccable phone
manners and using a well chosen section of my vocabulary and also
remembering to ask; "Is it alright that I lay this here?", when holding a
lid of some sorts.  
Well, I also feel that the customer needs to feel he´s paying for something. 
When I tune a piano that needs more than one tuning and I have to come back
and finish the job, perhaps the day after, I sometimes leave the unisons in
the middle with a little "whang, meow, or what you will" in them...
DELIBERATELY...I´m so sorry.  
Please, I have no flame suit.

Sometimes the rough tunings can get pretty good and I just want to be sure
that the possibly tone deaf customer definitely hears a difference between
the fine and the rough tuning.

Am I evil? I don´t know!  Please help me.


Kristinn the Cruel,
Conqueror of Reykjavík, Iceland








At 09:03 18.5.2000 -0400, you wrote:
>
>
>> I think this is true, but if it is possible to do the same level of work in
>> half the time, then that means mo money (and mo free time).  :-)
>>
>John, it is my suggestion to you that you be careful with this line of
>thinking..it is my opinion that you do not want the customer to ever feel
>short-changed in any way..even if it takes you 35 minutes to tune the piano,
>spend some time with the regulation - clean the keys - touch-up a spot
here and
>there..NO, I am NOT advocating giving away the farm - I am offering
suggestions
>to help with the perception that it takes xx amount of time to
'tune'..those that
>see you, as a technician, caring for their instrument more than they do(in
many
>cases) will be the first people who will call you back to service their
piano or
>will be the first to ok your suggestion to them that it is time to
service their
>piano again or will be the first people to refer your services to their
friends.
>
>Many times I will spend 3-5 minutes playing on my work - I do this for 2
reasons:
>1) I still like to play! and 2) The customer likes to hear what it sounds
like
>after you're done..yes, it is part of my persona as a piano technician
that I can
>play what I work on..not very well!, but in most cases, better than the
customer
>can play - If I know the customer is a player, I offer the bench to them
to 'test
>drive' my work..again, part of my overall persona.
>
>This has been my experiences to date...yes - time is money - charge
>accordingly..it has taken me a while to figure this out for myself.
>
>Rook
>
>
>