Fees

[pianolover 88]

David,

I take care of ALL the pre-qualification, such as you state below,  BEFORE I 
even step foot in the customer's house; on the phone! I have a simple, 
effective system, and it works great- for me.

Terry Peterson

>From: "David Love" <davidlovepianos@earthlink.net>

>That's not how I present it.  Before I ever state the fee I go through my
>usual inquiries about type of piano, make, last time it was serviced, any
>particular problems they are having or want me to address.
>David Love
>
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "pianolover 88" <pianolover88@hotmail.com>
>To: <pianotech@ptg.org>
>Sent: March 16, 2002 9:49 AM
>Subject: Re: Fees
>
>
> > I don't believe it's a good idea to tell the customer, "I charge $100 
>per
> > hour", or whatever. I charge by the job based on everything involved, 
>plus
> > travel time, mileage and gas.
> > If you went to have Laser eye surgery and the Doc told you "I charge
>$20,000
> > per hour", you'd run outta there so fast you'd leave your shoes behind!
>That
> > figure is not exact, but we know that the actual procedure takes only a
>few
> > minutes per eye, and costs, depending on the deal you find, between
> > $1,000-$3,000 per eye! Of course, the Doc isn't charging JUST for those
>few
> > minutes, but for post op, all the pre-op prep, and has to pay his staff,
> > office rent, and the cost of his laser.
> > But if he WERE to advertise his "hourly" rate, he wouldn't be in 
>business
> > very long. I have NEVER been asked to "justify" my rate, and I don't; I
> > charge for the particular job I'm doing and that's that.
> >
> >
> >
> > Terry Peterson
> >
> >
> > >From: Wimblees@AOL.COM
> > >Reply-To: pianotech@ptg.org
> > >To: pianotech@ptg.org
> > >Subject: Re: Fees
> > >Date: Sat, 16 Mar 2002 01:34:46 EST
> > >
> > >In a message dated 3/16/02 4:34:12 AM !!!First Boot!!!,
> > >davidlovepianos@earthlink.net writes:
> > >
> > >
> > > > Don't take me quite so literally.
> > > >
> > > > David Love
> > > >
> > >
> > >David
> > >
> > >I realize that the story you gave is not a word for word telephone
> > >conversation, and neither was mine. And I am not trying to persuade you
>to
> > >change your practice. I wish you all the luck in the world with it. I
>just
> > >wanted you to be aware that what you are doing might not solve the
>problem
> > >you described. It doesn't make any difference what you charge, and how
>you
> > >justify it. Someone is going to ask you to explain your fee structure,
>and
> > >they will not be happy with it.
> > >
> > >One of the problems we have in this business is that we are dealing 
>with
> > >two
> > >different price structures. One is a set fee for a set task. ($80 to 
>tune
>a
> > >piano). The other is an hourly wage to do everything else. Now we may
>have
> > >come up with set fees for doing other things, ($250 to put on a set of
> > >bridle
> > >straps, $800 to regulate an action, $350 for a new set of keytops). but
> > >they
> > >are all based on the amount of time we spend doing them, multiplied by
>the
> > >hourly rate we charge, (plus parts).
> > >
> > >That is why we should set our tuning fee by what we charge per hour. 
>But
> > >you
> > >first need to figure out what that hourly rate is. Vivian Brooks and I
>both
> > >have excellent classes on this, and if you look in the archives, or on
>the
> > >CD
> > >ROM, you will probably find many articles on the subject.
> > >
> > >One thing I find disturbing, is there are tuners who charge $70 per
>tuning,
> > >and take an hour and half to do that tuning. But then they charge $70 
>per
> > >hour to do technical work.  That means if they need to charge $70 per
>hour
> > >to
> > >pay the bills, every time they go do a tuning, they loose $35. If they
>did
> > >20
> > >tunings in a week, they will have lost $700. They should be charging 
>the
> > >same
> > >for a tuning as they do for technical work, which would be $105. But 
>that
> > >would be way over what everyone else charges. So something's got to 
>give.
> > >My
> > >recommendation is to learn to tune faster.
> > >
> > >Again, David, please don't think that I am arguing with what you are
>doing.
> > >As I said, if you think it is fair, and the customers are satisfied, go
>for
> > >it.
> > >
> > >Wim.
> >
> >
> > _________________________________________________________________
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> >
> >
>


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