out-of-towners

[Barbara Richmond]

----- Original Message ----- 
> From: Giovanni Voltaggio
> To: Pianotech
> Sent: Thursday, October 06, 2005 2:24 PM
> Subject: out-of-towners


> First Question:


> I've got 3 clients in a town located 40 miles from my shop.  I can
> schedule
> all three of them in one day, putting the last client  whose piano I've
> never seen at the end of the day.  Ok, who pays my mileage?

I'd recommend dividing it among the three.  Also, it's good to charge
something for your travel time.  Tell the out-of-towners that your fee
includes travel and if they can find someone else to have their piano
serviced, you would be willing to split the travel fee among them.  Many
times they'll come up with another customer or two...

I have a fee for those who are in the Peoria, IL area (where I live), but
frequently go to Bloomington, IL (where I used to live) which is about 40
miles away and I've come up with a fee that I feel is fair.  If I'm doing
more than one piano (different customers) in Bloomington, I'll split the
travel fee between the customers.   Mostly, my appointments are longer ones
(more than tuning) with folks who are willing to pay to take care of their
high-end instruments.   My days are short so I can be home in time to be
with my son after school, so I just usually do one piano and the customer
pays the entire fee.

BTW, the IRS is allowing 48 1/2 cents per mile for mileage from September 1
to December 31, 2005.


> Second question:


> I have 1 client in a town 40 miles from my shop.  I'm called to service
> the
> piano.  I am also an accompanist and the same client hires me to accompany
> their mother for her voice lesson...after I tune the piano.    How do I
> charge mileage in this case?

Charge a travel fee for whenever you travel to the town.  That fee should
include getting home, too!  I just have one fee for my traveling to the
Bloomington area (I recently raised it because I realized I wasn't charging
enough--blush).  If you want to quote a fee before you go and need to know
the mileage, go to Mapquest.com or a service like it and type in your
address and the client's to get directions, and then you'll get a very good
estimate of mileage and travel time.

BTW, when someone from out of town contacts me to work on their
piano, I don't state what my travel fee is, I just tell them my fee includes
travel.

Of course, all this may be affected by the business climate that exists
where you live or other variables.  So, naturally, your mileage may
vary--so to speak.  ;-)

Good luck.  Don't cheat yourself.

Barbara Richmond, RPT