Fees

[David Love]

I charge for everything I do to, but this way a certain amount of what needs
to be done is built in to the fee.  Work beyond what can be accomplished in
1.5 hours is billed in addition.  Separating each category of what is done:
$20 for voicing, $15 for cleaning, etc. I find a pain.  I'd rather say you
owe me for 2 hours worth of work and this is what I did: tune, lubricate,
clean, voice... Rarely have I encountered a piano that needed only tuning.
I like to educate as well and spend a lot of time with people explaining,
but if I have to spend 15 minutes "selling" to perform a 15 minute
operation: now let me tell you about cleaning, now let me tell you about
voicing, now let me explain the intricacies of fitting the hammers to the
string... I'd be there all day for a half-day's work.  At any rate, the
point of this really was to build in a certain amount of extra time in the
basic fee to cover at least a portion of the things that invariably need to
be done without having to go into explanations, selling, educating. For me,
it's a more efficient system.

David Love


----- Original Message -----
From: "pianolover 88" <pianolover88@hotmail.com>
To: <pianotech@ptg.org>
Sent: March 15, 2002 8:21 PM
Subject: Re: Fees


> I charge for everything i do. The tuning is one fee. Pitch adjustment is
> another fee. Voicing, regulation, cleaning job, these are ALL extra fees.
Of
> course, I will usually do minor stuff in addition to the tuning, as long
as
> it doesn't take more than a few extra mintues. Never a complaint as I lay
> out the charges ahead of time, and my customers are quite pleased. My
> customers also appreciate when i educate them about their pianos. It also
> helps to have a strong background in sales, as I have.
>
> Terry
>
>
> >From: "David Love" <davidlovepianos@earthlink.net>
> >Reply-To: pianotech@ptg.org
> >To: "Pianotech" <pianotech@ptg.org>
> >Subject: Fees
> >Date: Fri, 15 Mar 2002 14:54:37 -0800
> >
> >I have gone around in circles about the best way to bill for my services
> >that is fair to the customer, adequately compensates me for my time, and
> >allows me to provide the best service possible.  Inequities stemming from
> >frequency of service, problem pianos, customer expectations, combined
with
> >my desire to avoid having to explain every nickel and dime operation that
I
> >see as necessary, have finally led me to structure my fee schedule as a
> >pure function of time.
> >
> >My basic fee is now based on a 1.5 hour service call.  In that time, if
the
> >piano is serviced regularly, I can usually complete a tuning in about an
> >hour.  That leaves me 30 minutes to do whatever else I see as most
> >pressing: lubricating, cleaning, voicing, etc..  If the piano requires a
> >pitch raise or lowering prior to fine tuning, I can usually accomplish
both
> >comfortably in 1.5 hours, usually with a little time left over.  If the
> >amount of work required, or requested, exceeds 1.5 hours then I bill the
> >additional hourly.  If the piano is a Steinway F or some other such
monster
> >I will usually require the entire 1.5 hours if the piano is at pitch to
> >begin with (not my problem, they bought the stinkin' thing without asking
> >me).  But generally, I can then leave the piano having taken care of
> >something other than tuning.  The customer will be more satisfied with
the
> >instrument and the instrument will better represent my abilities.
> >
> >In the past, when I have suggested that a piano needs something to a
> >customer, they have often replied, "Gee, why didn't the last technician
> >tell me that."  The truth is that we get into such a mindset that
customers
> >are unwilling to entertain the idea of doing something that entails an
> >additional cost, that we often neglect to do things that really should be
> >done routinely.  Using this method I can, over time, address most of the
> >needs of a piano if the customer is servicing the piano on a regular
basis.
> >
> >Going to this method required a slight increase in my fee and I was a bit
> >concerned about this at first.  But I am finding little or no resistance
> >when I explain that the fee buys a block of time.  Overall, it has
allowed
> >me to reduce my appointment load on any given day to a maximum of 4
(before
> >it was 5).  There is less driving and less stress involved in making it
to
> >the next appointment on time when I run into something unexpected.  I can
> >deliver better service and feel more satisfied with my work.  Customers
are
> >ultimately more pleased with the instruments (even if they don't know
> >exactly why) which is good for referral business.  I suggest you all
> >consider it.
> >
> >David Love
>
>
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