Grand Island Tuner

[David Andersen]

> To honor and support each other would be to understand the problems of low 
>pay scale and not infer it is necessarily the tuners fault because we 
>undervalue our time.  Most of the members in the PTG and on this list 
>understand the problems and participate, not only to learn, but to raise the 
>consciousness of the public and therefore our value.

I'm open to what you say, and want to honor and support everyone. 
However, I've been doing this for many, many years, and have found that 
it's my tendency, as well as those of my compatriots that I know well, to 
spend a lot of time for a little money, to "throw in stuff for free," to 
be afraid that the total charges will be shocking to people, and shave 
some off.....so I'm talking to myself as well as others. I've learned to 
be more aggressive with my pricing through observing other high-end 
service professionals who seem to have less problems getting paid well 
and consistently raising their rates to reflect their raised skill level 
and the cost of living.

2 things:
---when you become perceived as both a consummate professional and a 
long-term associate or friend, it's easier to charge more money.  I 
believe common-sense people realize that in the service/craft sector, you 
DO get what you pay for. As I've said before, I have little interest in 
dealing with people who make their decisions based solely on price.
---As Norm Neblett said once: "just make a big difference in how the 
piano sounds and feels."
In my experience, following other technicians on pianos for 27 years, 
most don't or can't do this.  If you do, you'll stand out.

Thanks....David Andersen