customer education

[Sarah Fox]

Hi Dave,

Well, many of the items in your list of myths impact humidity, including
carpet shampooing, outside weather (including temperature -- e.g. hot
summer), shutting off the furnace for a few days, etc.  So maybe they're not
all-wrong all the time.  ;-)  Perhaps when someone explains the tuning shift
in terms of air conditioning or heating or carpet shampooing, you should
translate into humidity terms:  "Yes, you're probably right.  The summer has
been quite hot, so your air conditioner has been working overtime and has
been drying out the air too much.  You know, it's really the humidity, not
the temperature that does this.  That's because of <insert explanation of
swelling wood>.  But the good news is that there's a great system made by
Dampp Chaser that can keep this from happening in the future...."

As for newer pianos requiring more tuning, I think drawing an analogy to
breaking in a new car would help (e.g. the oil changes being more frequent
at first).  Even better than that, have something in print for them.
Perhaps the PTG could produce some sort of pamphlet about new pianos for
y'all.  It's sad, but people are much, much more likely to believe almost
anything if it's in print, sometimes even if you put it down on paper
yourself (nicely type set, of course, with full color graphics).  One of the
most daunting things I faced as a college professor was breaking students of
the notion that anything in print MUST be true.  I think that's what happens
when teachers have programmed them for 12 years to "memorize the text."
It's is a much more pervasive attitude than most people think!

Peace,
Sarah





----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Dave Nereson" <davner@kaosol.net>
To: <pianotech@ptg.org>
Sent: Saturday, July 17, 2004 11:05 PM
Subject: customer education


>     I don't know how many times I've told customers, even those who should
> be more knowledgeable, such as piano teachers, that it's changes in
humidity
> that make the piano go out of tune, but it just does not register with
them!
>     It goes in one ear and out the other, or they just don't believe it,
or
> they don't believe the soundboard can swell up or contract, or they're
> convinced it's because:
>
>     they didn't play it enough,
> or because the toddler banged on the keys with a toy,
> or because they had the carpet shampooed and the steam must've thrown it
out
> of tune,
> or the dust from the remodeling,
> or 'cause they moved it across the room,
> or there was a gas leak so they had to shut off the heat for a few days,
> or maybe it's not a good piano after all,
> or because we had a real cold winter or a hot summer (was the piano
> outside?)
> or because I didn't do a good enough job last time (3 to 10 years ago).
>
>     It's amazing how large a percentage of piano owners think that playing
> it helps keep it in tune.
>     No matter how much you tell them it's changes in humidity more than
> anything else, they still think it's temperature or moving or any number
of
> other causes.  Sure, these things can throw it out a little, but not the
20
> cents that several weeks of rain can do, or 5 years without tuning!
>     Another thing they just will not believe no matter how often you tell
> them or how you phrase it is that new pianos go out of tune faster than
any
> others and need tuning at least 3 times the first year, 2 or 3 times the
> second,  and twice a year for the next few years after that.  They just
> refuse to accept that.  Then they're all up in arms two years down the
road
> when you have to charge them extra for a huge pitch raise.
>    The pianos need some kind of pop-up reminder display every six months
or
> year  (3 or 4 months for new pianos).
>     --David Nereson, RPT
>
>
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