advertising & stuff

[Tom Servinsky]

Phil,
Well stated.  My feelings exactly. I, too, had a big hang-up about no shows.
Thinking back several years ago, I guess I was subconsciously trying to get
revenge for their lack of attention with customers who can't keep an
appointment.
I used to just leave a bill for the failed service call, along with a note
reminding them that they missed their appointment.  I think maybe one person
was apologetic enough to send the service call bill.  The rest blew me off.
Which was fine. But still, mind you, I was the one who was looking to get
even.  Not them. From a psychological point of view, (they) not responding
gives them the power to say "forget about it".
Then I finally chilled out a bit and now leave a very nice pre-printed
"sorry we missed each other" flyer on their door, with no bill.  The letter
is non-confrontational and basically says it appears one of us apparently
wrote the appointment time down incorrectly and I'll be happy to reschedule
this for at my earliest convenience. This style yields a lot of responses
with  apologies included.
I live in an area where senior citizens are the majority, bless their
hearts, and they keep extremely busy. Between golf, tennis, bingo, screwing
up the last Presidential election (  Palm Beach County), and then
complaining why their vote got screwed up, they have a plateful of things to
keep track of.  They do get forgetful...it comes with the territory.  Most
of the times by the time I get home they are horrified at the very thought
that they inconvienced someone.  Many times they will offer to cover my time
and trouble to be at their home at the agreed time.  Now that's a loyal
customer. If it happens a second time...then  I begin to hit the delete
button on my PTG Biz program.
  Looking at the big picture, my schedule is so thick that many times the
no-show is a welcome "happy nap" time and I either will relax a bit or catch
up on the many of other things that need to get done.
I agree with you whole-heartedly...get over it. It's not worth the hassle.
It's their loss.  And if they don't respond with an apology then they get
put on the schmuck list...forever!
Tom Servinsky, RPT
----- Original Message -----
From: "Phil Bondi" <tito@PhilBondi.com>
To: <pianotech@ptg.org>
Sent: Wednesday, June 06, 2001 8:00 PM
Subject: Re: advertising & stuff


> Willem said (and I have to quote the whole thing):
>
>
> > First, regarding specialty advertising. I found, for the most part, that
> > anything but the Yellow Pages, or a constantly running 3 or 4 line ad in
> the
> > classifieds promoting your tuning business, doesn't pay. I have tried
> dozens
> > of them, and none of them produced enough additional work to make it
worth
> > while. Sometimes they just barely broke even, and some didn't do a darn
> > thing.
> >
> > As far as no shows are concerned. I wrote a post about this subject
about
> a
> > year ago. Basically, I give the customer the benefit of the doubt for
her
> > excuse why she wasn't home. In fact, what difference does it make what
her
> > excuse is, the bottom line is, she wasn't there to let you in to tune
the
> > piano. Therefore, my stand on this subject is that this part of the "job
> > description" of being a piano tuner. It comes with  the territory. No
> matter
> > how hard we try, there are always going to be no shows. Therefore, I
write
> it
> > off, and go on with my life. When I did try to collect in the past, it
> > created bad feelings. I just don't need that. So I let it go, and hope
we
> can
> > reschedule at a later date. Of course, the customer only gets one shot
at
> > this. The second time, I get nasty, and either collect, or write the
> customer
> > off for ever.
> >
>
> There is a God..for once, I actually ALMOST agree word-for-word!..the only
> difference for me is, if there's a no-show the 2nd time(it hasn't happened
> yet to me), I would leave a bill for a minimum service call..if it gets
> paid, great, but if this person is a 2-time no-show, I don't expect to
ever
> see it anyway.
>
> in shock,
> roo(k)
>