Greetings all, For new tuning calls, I do as much qualifying over the phone as I can when booking the appointment: "what type of piano do you have? when was it last tuned? are there any mechanical problems (sticking notes, pedal problems, etc.)? was the piano recently moved? before I give a price for servicing. New customers will always ask tuning price, so before I state my fee (and forever lock a number into their conciousness). If there are extra factors to the basic call, possible pitch raise, sticking notes, I let them know they will be looking at a tuning charge plus additional charges. Most customers are pretty good over the phone, if you get this out of the way when you book the tuning. Of course, there are those who say, "Oh, I don't think I can afford this now" but I'd rather deal with that up front at the booking stage than after the job is done and now I'm trying to render a bill. With an existing client, booking service calls is much easier, as they have been through the qualifying phase, and the piano is now a known quantity for servicing. Regarding client 'education', I find that short explainations work better: "your piano drifts out of tune due to seasonal humidity shifts" works well, most clients are happy with that when they ask why it's out of pitch because no one has played it for years. Yes, you're going to get those customers who just don't care about their instrument, they don't want to spend anything more than a tuning fee. Those are the customers I don't do any 'extras' for: quick capstan adjust, pedal regulation, squeak finding and elimination. I tune, smile, bill and leave. There are more rewarding jobs to be done. Good to see the Pianotech crew again, I've been signed off for a while, but we're back! Regards, Rob Kiddell RPT Edmonton, Canada *insert witty sig here*
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