I have been prescheduling all of my customers for the last 2 years, and I love it. I don't do anything nearly as in-depth as Wim does; I have a space at the bottom of my (2-part carbonless) receipts that says "Next Appointment". When I'm done with the tuning, I say, "I recommend you tune your piano every 6 months. If you like, we can get something on the calendar now for [April], and when we get there, if it won't work we can always reschedule." 95% of my customers agree to preschedule. I put the appointment in my iPAQ calendar, and that's it. I've not done the reminder cards because I don't want to deal with all the office work in getting them sent when they should be; I find a phone call is sufficient. I always call all of my customers 1-2 days before their tuning as a reminder, and if I get the machine I ask them to call me back and confirm. Yes, some do reschedule, but at least they're rescheduling, not canceling, right? I have very few cancellations. They appreciate not having to remember when it's time to call me, and I have appointments on the calendar even when the phone isn't ringing much. Scott ------ Scott A. Helms, Registered Piano Technician 480-818-3871 www.helmsmusic.net > I agree with Mr. Weiss, preschedule! > > > > I use the example of a dentist prescheduling the next appointment and I > tell > the clients that I follow the same procedure. Recently, I have been asking > whether they prefer a 6 month or a year appointment. ( that way they are > think "either. or" as opposed to "yes or no" if I ask the question " Do > you > want to schedule the next appointment ) If they hesitate, then I offer > them the idea of scheduling a year in advance with the option to call me > before that if hear the piano go out of tune. Most go for that option. > There is no pressure on them, and I get another appointment from them. I > promise to call them the week before.normally the Friday afternoon > prior..to > confirm. > > > > This system works for me, but I try to be deliberate in my wording and > aware > of small changes in my verbiage that might make my presentation more > professional and trustworthy. > > > > From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On > Behalf > Of David Weiss > Sent: Wednesday, October 07, 2009 4:31 PM > To: pianotech at ptg.org > Subject: Re: [pianotech] Scheduling > > > > Pre-scheduling is the way to go. It's efficient, and makes it easier to > arrange your driving to reduce mileage on your car. > > > > About 40% of my clients pre-schedule, most for 6 months but some for a > year. I send either a post card or email reminder one month in advance. > The day before I call to confirm. I call during the day because I want to > get their voice mail, not a live person. There's time for conversation at > the actual appointment. > > > > Develop a system and give it a try. > > > > David Weiss > > > > From: pianotech-bounces at ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces at ptg.org] On > Behalf > Of Matthew Todd > Sent: Wednesday, October 07, 2009 12:00 AM > To: pianotech at ptg.org > Subject: Re: [pianotech] Scheduling > > > > > That sounds good, thanks! > > > > Anyone else care to chime in? > > TODD PIANO WORKS > Matthew Todd, Piano Technician > (979) 248-9578 > > http://www.toddpianoworks.com <http://www.toddpianoworks.com/> > > > > --- On Wed, 10/7/09, wimblees at aol.com <wimblees at aol.com> wrote: > > > From: wimblees at aol.com <wimblees at aol.com> > Subject: Re: [pianotech] Scheduling > To: pianotech at ptg.org > Date: Wednesday, October 7, 2009, 3:31 AM > > 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 <http://www.toddpianoworks.com/> > > > >
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