I like that saying on your postcards Wim. It's a good way to explain it to
them.
I have a database pre-set up, a good friend of mine (Lyle Wood) helped me
with that. It has a pre-set pop up for when my college (Calvin College now
that you've been in Grand Rapids, you've probably heard of it), my churches,
schools, other organizations and homes are due for their tunings. If it is
annual, I set the value it at 365. Bi annual, 180 days etc. It pops up 3-4
months in advance so I see it and know they are ready to be called. I
simply have to only look at the month they are due to make sure they are
called for that month. I also ask them which months they prefer for
tunings.
I usually, only put in those customers who have requested or agreed to be
called for a tuning. If after a few years, they don't return my calls, they
are deleted from being called back and are on their own now with one last
reminder that I am not deleting them from the call back database. I get a
lot of calls returned from that statement alone.
I have had the most luck with this calling system. They know they will be
called. They do not have to worry at all about being called. They do not
have to remember to call me and they know and appreciate this. And, I do
not have to wait for them to call me and then worry about trying to cram
them all in at the same time as I have the spread out according to my
availability. I can't tell you the amount of times people have told me they
are so happy that I remembered to call them for their tunings.
I also attempt to schedule them when I call now for example, with
organizations, as far ahead through the year as possible. Many places like
Calvin, knows their concert schedule by the 3rd week in August and I know
what other pianos are to be tuned there. Calvin amounts to about 300
tunings total in one year for me. All others realize their schedule at
least through December of what events will be taking place. I try and
schedule according to their events but also according to what I have left as
well.
So, 1. I set Calvin first. My most important client.
2. I call my churches next as they are my next most reliable clients.
3. I call my schools next.
4. I call all other organizations, retirement homes and the like.
5. Homes get what's left, if anything.
Our organizations (at least for me) are our most reliable repeat type of
business.
November and December for me are pre-booked months. Meaning, I have no
openings for any new customers during those months. If asked, I simply turn
them down asking if they can do it later like in January or eariler in
October. Again though, it depends on if I can squeeze them in. If they
insist on tuning them during Nov or Dec., I will then subcontract the work
out instead with myself sending the bills so my name and number remains on
their account. I know as a fact that my November and December will be
booked solid with 4-7 or more tunings per day. Sometime more.
I can guarantee that when I begin calling my fall customers, which I will be
doing in the next week or so, that I will be booked solid all the way
through December in no time flat with this method. I've been doing that for
20 years now with fantastic success.
One last thing. I absoultely HATE making these calls myself. My wife
happens to have a very good phone voice and gets along great with my
customers so she makes the calls, I point to the time slot, she gives the
that or other dates and I type in the info.
Jer
From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On Behalf
Of wimblees at aol.com
Sent: Saturday, August 01, 2009 8:53 AM
To: pianotech at ptg.org
Subject: Re: [pianotech] Why bother to tune a Piano?
Matthew
The post cards are sent the ALL the schools and churches in August, (I just
did a mailing), at the end of November, just before Easter and again in May.
It's to remind them that I'm here, ready and available to work. There are
over about 300 schools, both public and private, and about 250 churches on
Oahu. Most probably don't have a piano, but since I don't know which ones
don't, all of them get a post card, anyway.
I usually get enough phone calls to pay for the post cards. As I said, I
just did my August mailing, mostly because public schools are starting next
week. So far I've I gotten one call from a private high school with 4
pianos, and one call from a church. I also got a call from the music
director of a church that doesn't have a piano, but has one in her house. (a
20 year old grand that no one has ever serviced other than tuning, so there
is a potential action regulation job there).
Wim
-----Original Message-----
From: Matthew Todd <toddpianoworks at att.net>
To: pianotech at ptg.org
Sent: Sat, Aug 1, 2009 2:35 am
Subject: Re: [pianotech] Why bother to tune a Piano?
Wim,
On your postcards to school and churches, do you find yourself having to
call them anyway to remind them of their tunings?
TODD PIANO WORKS
Matthew Todd, Piano Technician
(979) 248-9578
http://www.toddpianoworks.com <http://www.toddpianoworks.com/>
--- On Sat, 8/1/09, wimblees at aol.com <wimblees at aol.com> wrote:
From: wimblees at aol.com <wimblees at aol.com>
Subject: Re: [pianotech] Why bother to tune a Piano?
To: fg at floydgadd.com, pianotech at ptg.org
Date: Saturday, August 1, 2009, 6:31 AM
On my postcards to churches I write:
The piano provides great inspiration for your church service. Having the
pianos serviced twice a year assures that they will be in tune, maintain
their value and give many years of service
On my post cards to schools I write:
Children learn by listening and reading. Listening to an out of tune piano
is like reading a text book with spelling mistakes. Having the pianos
serviced twice a year assures that they will be in tune, maintain their
value and give many years of service
Willem (Wim) Blees, RPT
Piano Tuner/Technician
Mililani, Oahu, HI
808-349-2943
Author of:
The Business of Piano Tuning
available from Potter Press
www.pianotuning.com <http://www.pianotuning.com/>
-----Original Message-----
From: Floyd Gadd <fg at floydgadd.com>
To: pianotech at ptg.org
Sent: Fri, Jul 31, 2009 5:24 pm
Subject: [pianotech] Why bother to tune a Piano?
List,
I am sending out a newsletter from time to time to a mailing list of
schools, churches and piano teachers. (Archive is at
http://tuning.floydgadd.com/html/newsletters.html) I've just finished
composing my August edition. In my next issue I would like to delve into
the question of why it is desirable and important to tune a piano.
In this case, I'm not exploring reasons that benefit the longevity of the
piano itself. I'm looking for particularly apt statements that speak to
such things as the capacity of the human spirit for beauty, the benefits of
having a well trained ear, and so forth.
Maybe the core question I'm really after is this: Why bother to attune
ourselves to beauty?
I think we live in an age where we have largely lost the capacity to talk
about beauty. So much of the music and entertainment industry is driven by
a pragmatic approach to success, where success is defined in terms of money,
fame, power (political and otherwise) and self actualization. And much
current thinking is driven by a cultural relativism the essentially pushes
to deny any real possibility that beauty actually exists.
I find that at times I need to deliberately read and think in this area just
to keep my courage up. Some particularly helpful books for me (even if they
don't tackle the topic head-on) have been:
C. S. Lewis - An Experiment in Criticism
- The Abolition of Man
Ken Meyers - All God's Children and Blue Suede Shoes
Jason Harms - The Affections of the Heart in Art
Abraham Kaplan - The Aesthetics of the Popular Arts (in The journal of
Aesthetics and Art Criticism, Spring 1966)
What have you read that has particularly nourished your courage to pursue
and promote beauty in a world where so many parents of piano students (and
even some teachers) seem to have the attitude of "why bother?" (In our
case, why bother to tune a piano?)
Or maybe you've got some things just burning in your soul and you're ready
for a soapbox. Here's your chance. Some of us are listening.
Floyd Gadd
Manitoba Chapter
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