Appearance

[John Musselwhite]

At 08:49 AM 8/25/01 -0500, John Formsma wrote:

>It depends on the area in which you are located. New York City has much
>different standards than Podunkville, MS. I wear khakis and polos, and have
>considered getting polos with my logo on them.

Here in Calgary, a rather casual city where the weather is cool (or damned 
cold!) for 9 months of the year, I still like to wear flannel dress pants 
that I keep neatly pressed and a dress shirt and tie along with a blue 
blazer. I've always liked to wear a nice necktie and I make sure my collars 
fit so that isn't a problem for me. I realize that others detest them, but 
I've worn everything from hand-knotted bow ties to cravats in my life and 
I'm comfortable in them. In the warmer months it's khakis or cargo pants 
and a short-sleeved dress shirt and I generally forego the tie and blazer 
if it's a warm day.  Even though this is Cowtown and I could probably get 
away with it I'll leave my jeans, Stetson and boots for after work unless I 
have a "country" tuning where it's more appropriate. Even then I ensure 
that my Wranglers are newish and neatly pressed and my boots are polished.

Sometimes I'll wear a suit with a jacket and tie if that's appropriate for 
the appointment. Two years ago I purchased a dark "Traveller" suit 
impregnated with Teflon(tm) from Moore's . It's very smart, won't stain and 
doesn't wrinkle easily. I facetiously call it the "Steinway Suit" because 
of the Teflon.

One piece of advice about appearances that I was given a long time ago in 
another life was to make sure your shoes are polished and in good condition 
and wear them with newish matching socks with no holes. In many places it 
is considered polite to remove your shoes at the door most of the time, and 
good slip-on type shoes with clean and neat insoles and heels that you 
leave nicely lined up at the door make a positive impression. In winter I 
wear dress snow boots and carry little knitted booties to keep my feet warm 
if they're needed. Some people who can't (or won't or shouldn't!) take 
their shoes off wear little surgical booties over them, which is a nice touch.

Speaking of positive impressions, one time my Florsheims made a positive 
impression on a customer's dog and I was left with mushy bits of black 
leather and an uncomfortable drive back home. They were most apologetic 
even though that was an expensive tuning for them.

While we're dealing with appearances, don't forget to keep your vehicle 
clean and neat *inside* and out and make sure it doesn't leak oil, 
antifreeze or power steering fluid (or drop pieces of bodywork!) all over 
your customer's driveway or road. That's a sure way of not being asked 
back! Sometimes driving an "interesting" vehicle like a Volvo or Saab 
wagon, a PT Cruiser or a Beetle act as a catalyst for conversation and 
"bonding" with some customers, but that may be stretching the "appearance" 
point here.

If I may digress having mentioned PT Cruisers, some say the "PT" should 
stand for "Piano Tuner". Well, apparently there is a new panel-truck 
version that is more like a delivery van than a car, which would make it 
quite practical as a service vehicle for piano tuners. If anyone sees one, 
check it out!

There is one last thing I'd like to mention to a growing number of people. 
I've been trying to quit smoking since April and while I've slipped the odd 
time I did go over 100 days (until Reno!) without so much as a drag and now 
go days without smoking. I can see why reformed smokers used to be such a 
pain in the butt (as it were)! Smokers carry the smell of cigarette smoke 
with them everywhere like Pig-Pen, the kid in the Peanuts comic strip with 
the cloud of dust, and non-smokers don't like it. If you smoke, either 
limit it severely and don't do it at all unless you can wash your hands 
afterward, or do the right thing and make your best effort to quit. You may 
look neat and tidy and be professional in the performance of your work, but 
if you stink up the house with a cloud of stale cigarette smoke you may not 
be invited back.

Don't ask how I know... but my call back cards all have "A Happy 
Non-Smoker!" printed in red on them now and it's already working!

                         John

John Musselwhite, RPT    -     Calgary, Alberta Canada
http://www.musselwhite.com  http://canadianpianopage.com/calgary
mailto: john@musselwhite.com    http://www.mp3.com/fatbottom