This is a multi-part message in MIME format. ---------------------- multipart/alternative attachment ----- Original Message -----=20 From: Farrell To: pianotech@ptg.org=20 Sent: Sunday, August 05, 2001 6:27 AM Subject: Re: Under an=20 . I wish we could charge strictly by the hour. I came into this thread a little late Soooooooo Am I missing something? Why don't you, every other business does. Any = way a good flat rate is supposed to encompass prep,drive and work time. The old upright. The old upright. Geeeeezzz. The old upright. Hmmm. = First you spend 20 minutes trying to talk the owner out of doing = anything with it. After failure at that (although I do not always = fail!), you tune three notes - pound in a tuning pin - tune a few more - = now you gotta stop because you have a jack flange unglued - fix that - = bla, bla, bla, - hammers flying off - bla, bla, bla, - you know the = picture here - even though you charge extra to fix the jack flange and = unglued hammer butt leather, and broken hammer, etc., etc., it still = slows you down big time. I find that old uprights will take anywhere = from 1 to 2 hours to tune - plus the repairs. =20 TerryBeen there done that! =20 Time in customers home plus travel time , multiply by your hourly = rate. What's the problem? Educating the customer is the problem and = that starts on the phone with an explanation of cost based on time = spent. Yes some people will not go for anything but the Lowest price in = town ( so what)but what are they going to get for that ? The possibly = worst most unstable tuning money can buy. Quality most be sold and then proven when given the oppurtunity. =20 So here I tune pianos in 45 minutes to 2 hours and charge the same thing = (actually I do charge the same for all except $5 more for spinets and = $10 more for old uprights). This is dictated by piano owners expecting = one price for tuning. =20 Change their expectations. The point? Just trying to understand how others work some of this out. = Thanks. Terry Farrell Terry, when a potential client calls we quote a price range between = 90 and 125 shekels of silver with the explanation of why and also the = posibility that the piano could possibly need other work and that I (or = you or somebody) can assess that while tuning. Mostly this scares off = the low end that are only calling for my every other-decade tune up. = Yawnnnnn. These people are the worst clients and almost a waste of your = effort. They tell no one else about you and you spent a herculean = effort for the not enough shekels one price fits all tuning fee to try = to straighten out thir Sorry& and Yuck( I really liked that) Hope that helps. Just my two cents worth. =20 Dale Erwin -----=20 ---------------------- multipart/alternative attachment An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: https://www.moypiano.com/ptg/pianotech.php/attachments/19/4b/fe/0b/attachment.htm ---------------------- multipart/alternative attachment--
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