<<Do you then charge full price for the follow-up tuning?>> Absolutely! In many cases, first-time client's pianos may have been neglected for many years, maybe even DECADES without so much as a basic tuning, and I tell them that even if you only would have tuned 1X per year, and then average only $75 per tuning over the last ten years, that's $750 that they HAVEN'T spent! It obviously DOUBLES for bi-annual tunings! (the recommended MINIMUM) So for about that or less, I can easily sell (if needed, which is usually the case) a file & reshape job, full cleaning, a little reg, and P&T (Pitch & Tune) Terry Peterson ----Original Message Follows---- From: "Geoff Sykes" <thetuner@ivories52.com> Reply-To: Pianotech <pianotech@ptg.org> To: "'Pianotech'" <pianotech@ptg.org> Subject: RE: How to explain a pitch adjustment..and! Date: Tue, 20 Dec 2005 19:26:48 -0800 Do you then charge full price for the follow-up tuning? Where does one go, other than the street, to learn salesmanship? I think many of us could stand to have a better grasp of that skill. -----Original Message----- Frm: pianotech-bounces@ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces@ptg.org] On Behalf Of pianolover 88 Sent: Tuesday, December 20, 2005 4:24 PM To: pianotech@ptg.org Subject: Re: How to explain a pitch adjustment..and! Depending on the amount of PR, ususally more than 12C, I always schedule a "follow-up" tuning in 1-3 months, explaining that after restoring all that loststring tension, the piano now must "settle" and adjust to that added tension, and it some shifting of will occur. So the follow-up is crucial in building long term stabilty. And that tuning will leave the piano much more stable because tuning pin movement will be much smaller than during the initial PR and tuning. Again, never a problem. Yes, it does help to have a high confidence level and be able to effectively communicate and impart information to your client in a clearand concice manner. I am a salesman as well as a technician; that has made the difference between just getting by to making a six figures. Terry Peterson ----Original Message Follows---- From: J Patrick Draine <draine@comcast.net> Reply-To: Pianotech <pianotech@ptg.org> To: Pianotech <pianotech@ptg.org> Subject: Re: How to explain a pitch adjustment Date: Tue, 20 Dec 2005 18:45:03 -0500 Geoff, I'm sure you've received many replies already, but I'll give you my two cents. First, up here in New England, we have a very wide range of pitch variation as a result of seasonal change. So my base rate assumes I'll be doing a significant amount of pitch adjustment in an average appointment. So over the phone I quote my base rate for a 1.5 hr. appointment ($120) and my hourly rate beyond that ($60/hr.), explaining that if "it's been awhile" the appointment may well take an additional hour hour or whole hour. Or more, depending on the particular piano's condition. I don't try to make do pitch raises super super fast. A half tone pr can be pretty stable in 2+ hr with multiple passes. Though, of course, a follow up tuning is advisable (but not the practice of 95% of my customers). Some customers want a detailed explanation of pitch raising, but most don't -- they just want it done right for a fair price. The PTG Home Office has a one page handout that explains pitch raising. If they want a low initial price quote, they can phone somebody else. Patrick Draine On Dec 20, 2005, at 3:44 PM, Geoff Sykes wrote: >Greetings all -- > >Many pianos need a pitch adjustment prior to tuning. Usually because >it >hasn't been touched in five years. Therefore, like many of you I'm sure, I >frequently find myself having to explain to customers what a pitch >adjustment is, and why their piano needs one prior to tuning. I have found >that car analogies often help when explaining things but I have not been >able to come up with one that would help with a pitch adjustment. Even >after explaining, as simply as I know how, the relationship of the >incredible string tension across the plate and why it needs to be >equalized before a fine tuning will hold, I often feel like I'm coming off >trying to sell them something bogus. How do you people explain pitch >adjustments to your customers whose piano needs it so that they not only >understand what it is but why it's important that their piano gets one >prior to tuning? > >-- Geoff Sykes >-- Assoc. Los Angeles _______________________________________________ pianotech list info: https://www.moypiano.com/resources/#archives _______________________________________________ pianotech list info: https://www.moypiano.com/resources/#archives _______________________________________________ pianotech list info: https://www.moypiano.com/resources/#archives
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