How to sell a broken string

[Geoff Sykes]

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Dean --
=20
I guess that does have to be considered into the calculation. Still in =
the
beginnings of this career move I am, in fact, feeding off the lower end =
of
the food chain. Nice to learn that trust and negotiating gets easier as =
one
moves up. Yet even more reason for me to continue reaching for RPT =
status.
=20
-- Geoff Sykes
-- Assoc. Los Angeles
-----Original Message-----
From: pianotech-bounces@ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces@ptg.org] On =
Behalf
Of Dean May
Sent: Tuesday, December 27, 2005 7:41 AM
To: 'Pianotech'
Subject: RE: How to sell a broken string


As David and others have said it is primarily a matter of confidence. I
remember in the early days sweating how to explain to the customer that =
they
were going to have to pay extra for a new string. Now I charge three =
times
as much for a string as I did then and it is never a problem. Of course =
I
break fewer strings now as well.=20
=20
I tell them that if a string is going to break it is most likely to =
break
during tuning since that is when it is bound to see its greatest stress
load. It could have been any one of the faults David listed, but it will
happen when the string gets the extra stress load of tuning.=20
=20
Another factor is when I first started tuning my customer's tended to be
lower on the food chain than the customers I have now. I was underpriced =
and
I attracted customers who were very price conscious and who thought =
tuning
once every 20 years was adequate. That kind of clientele is going to be =
more
suspicious of upsells.=20
=20
Bottom line: be confident of your skills, develop a smooth pitch on the
reasons for string breakage, don't undercharge.
=20
Dean
Dean May             cell 812.239.3359
PianoRebuilders.com   812.235.5272
Terre Haute IN  47802
=20
-----Original Message-----
From: pianotech-bounces@ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces@ptg.org] On =
Behalf
Of Geoff Sykes
Sent: Tuesday, December 27, 2005 12:23 AM
To: Pianotech@Ptg. Org
Subject: How to sell a broken string
=20
Greetings all, and happy holidays to everyone --
=20
I had such great success with my last question that I thought I would =
post a
second one. (I have a third one coming in a couple of days.)
=20
Broken strings happen! Sometimes you can see the precursor evidence that
indicates strings MAY break, but there really is no way to know for sure
that it may until it does.
=20
When a string breaks, how do you explain to your customer that it wasn't
your fault? Naturally this may be a little easier with established =
customers
with whom you have developed some trust. But what about those first time
customers? The ones to whom you may have already had to explain the =
concept
of pitch adjustment and stability, and that subsequent additional =
charge.
How do you explain the situation, either before or after the fact, so =
that
they will not only pay for the repair, but also (hopefully) call you =
again?
=20
Bonus question: What measures do you take, beyond being careful and =
crossing
your fingers, to help prevent string breakage?
=20
-- Geoff Sykes
-- Assoc. Los Angeles

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