[pianotech] Scheduling

[Richard]

I have my 11 yr. Old daughter call the day b4
To confirm, they love it and she gets $3 a day.

Rick Ucci/ Ucci Piano

On Oct 7, 2009, at 7:51 AM, "Gerald Groot" <tunerboy3 at comcast.net>  
wrote:

> As much as I dread doing this, I always call them all the night  
> before to remind them even if they were only scheduled 2 weeks ago.   
> I'd rather have them cancel then than to drive all the way there and  
> find nobody home or a house for sale.
>
>
>
> Jer
>
>
>
> From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org]  
> On Behalf Of wimblees at aol.com
> Sent: Tuesday, October 06, 2009 11:32 PM
> To: pianotech at ptg.org
> Subject: Re: [pianotech] Scheduling
>
>
>
> Matthew
>
>
>
> I had never done pre-scheduling before I came to Hawaii,until I  
> bought the client list from the widow of a tuner. He had his  
> customers "programmed" to where they were insisting to pre-schedule,  
> not just 6 months ahead, but even a year ahead. I've been doing this  
> now for 2 years, and it's great. Before I leave, I get out my palm  
> pilot and schedule the next appointment, and write it on the tuning  
> ticket as well. When I get home, I've created a spreadsheet on which  
> I keep track of all my pre-schedules. I also have programmed my data  
> base to show me which customers are pre-scheduled. Then by about the  
> 15th of every month, I look at my calendar/palm pilot, and cross  
> reference that with my spreadsheet and database. I send out a  
> reminder card 2 weeks before the appointment to remind my customers  
> I'm coming, giving them a chance to cancel or change the appointment.
>
>
>
> No, it's not fool proof. Some customers will call to cancel. Some  
> will re-schedule. Some will totally forget to call me, and won't be  
> home. I had one the other day, after I showed up, say. "Oh, I'm  
> sorry, I forgot to call you to tell you not to come. I don't need it  
> tuned". And when I got to one house a couple of months ago, there  
> was a for sale sign in front of the house, and the house was empty.  
> But, by the same token, I've had customers call me 3 or 4 months  
> ahead of schedule to re-schedule to another day, because they knew  
> they were going to be busy, or off island, for the day I was  
> supposed to show up.
>
>
>
> So while it may be a hassle for some customers, and for you, to keep  
> it all straight, for the most part it works great. Most of my  
> customers are home, and they appreciate not only the post card, but  
> also that I am conscientious enough to make sure their pianos are  
> kept in tune, even though some of them don't even play it any more.
>
> Almost two thirds of my customers are pre-scheduled for either 6  
> months or a year. This month alone, I have 32 appointments already  
> scheduled.
>
> Wim
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Matthew Todd <toddpianoworks at att.net>
> To: pianotech at ptg.org
> Sent: Tue, Oct 6, 2009 5:03 pm
> Subject: [pianotech] Scheduling
>
> I would like to get everyone's input on scheduling appointments six  
> months out before leaving the customer's home.  I just scheduled a  
> few this past week.  I don't want to do too many until I get a feel  
> for this method.  On one hand it can be good because you have that  
> time slot taken.  But on the other hand, how often would a customer  
> call to cancel right before the appointment, creating a hole?  I  
> guess there is no way to know, which is why I only did a few.
>
>
>
> Just wondering who has had success with this, and who hasn't.
>
>
>
> Thanks!
>
> TODD PIANO WORKS
> Matthew Todd, Piano Technician
> (979) 248-9578
>
> http://www.toddpianoworks.com
>
>
>
>
>
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