price-shoppers revisited

[Mike Kurta]

    Hi Terry:
    I think what you are seeing is the "banana syndrome" i.e. they come in
bunches.  Remember there are a new crop of price shoppers every year who
have to try out their wings.  You just happen to be in their line of fire.
DO NOT cut your prices, it is a path down which you don't want to go.  Price
customers will hound  you once they know you will discount, they will tell
their cheapskate friends, they will want more than they deserve, and they
have no loyalty and will go elsewhere if the price is less.  They are not
good long-term customers.
    When they call, do just what you have been doing, move them gently away
from the $ and on to what their reason is for tuning.  A recently acquired
instrument?  a new student? its been a long time since?  Bring out the fact
that you will look over their piano, "give it a physical" at no extra charge
for first time customers, and that you often do minor additional work such
as pedal adjustments, scratch touch ups, dating the age of their piano all
at no additional cost.  You might mention there is no travel charge (if that
IS the case) and as someone else mentioned, a small discount on their next
tuning for referrals.  Be nice to them, they can be potential long term
customers and may really be looking for advice and a good job even though
they asked about cost initially.  Sometimes it is habit more than anything,
and they have to be educated that there is more to piano service than just
price.  Tell these shoppers of your years of experience and who else of
importance you tune for in addition to the items above.
    Hang in there Terry, your good work will stand the test of time, while
other's will drop away one by one.
    Mike Kurta
----- Original Message -----
From: "pianolover 88" <pianolover88@hotmail.com>
To: <pianotech@ptg.org>
Sent: Monday, July 21, 2003 12:41 AM
Subject: price-shoppers revisited


> Maybe it's the state of the present economy, but is anybody else getting
> more than the usual ration of "price-shopper"  phone inquiries?
>
> If so, I would like to get as many examples of your responses to the
typical
> FIRST,  and seemingly most important question on the price-shopper's mind:
> "How much do you charge?" Nothing else seems to matter to this ilk, like,
> say, experience, quality, attention to detail and professionalism. I'm
> wondering if I should try to "sell" these bargain hunters on these far
more
> important qualities, or just simply state my fee and shut up...or maybe I
> should qualify THEM, and decide if I want to have THEM as a regular
client.
>
> It seems that lately, asking when their piano was last tuned, and the
usual
> routine intro questions are a waste of breath, because it seems, again,
that
> these "looky-loos" just want the very lowest, rock bottom price they can
> find, damn the quality or experience! Maybe it's my imagination, but it
just
> seems as though these types of calls a becoming more and more frequent,
and
> I hate to lose ALL of them. Short of lowering my rates, which I do NOT
want
> to do, I wonder if there is another way to salvage at least SOME of these
> calls.
>
> I realize that not everyone shops on Rodeo Drive, but then again, the vast
> majority of people don't have to settle for the crap at the "99 Cent
Store"
> either. Feedback from those with more experience is welcome and
appreciated.
>
>
> Terry Peterson
>
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