Actually Tom, I misread your post - You did say *at least *once a year. My rant is more focused towards those who *recommend *once a year. I even see it on some techs' web sites. I agree that only the owner can decide how often they want to tune. For that reason I don't give a recommendation. I quote what the manufactures' say, and I can explain why pianos go out of tune. Personally I don't care if they tune it once a week or once every 10 years - its their piano and their money. I didn't mean to suggest that most of my clients get their pianos serviced 3 or 4 times per year. Some do, most don't. Either way is fine. Sometimes I enjoy the ones that have been neglected because the improvement is so striking - the client thinks your a hero! -Ryan On Wed, Aug 18, 2010 at 8:22 PM, Tom Dickson <td_tuner at hotmail.com> wrote: > Ryan, > > Glad I could be of service - regarding your rant. > > A key part of my post was - know your clients. You may have people who will > and can afford to have pianos tuned 3 or 4 times a year. And, yes, my > discerning clients, including performers, teachers, and performance venues > have , and want, several tunings a year. However, the bulk of my in-home > people would balk at tuning even twice a year. I know my clients. > > Congratulations to you for having the bulk of your clients in the > discerning group. I am not there yet. > > I understand that you did not mean I'm nuts for my approach. > > Sincerely, > Tom > > > ------------------------------ > Date: Wed, 18 Aug 2010 19:19:47 -0700 > From: tunerryan at gmail.com > To: pianotech at ptg.org > > Subject: Re: [pianotech] repeat business > > Tom, > > No offence, but telling people to tune their piano once a year in > my opinion is nuts! You really shoot yourself in the foot, at least in our > climate (Pacific Northwest). When people ask how often they should tune > their piano I let them know that to keep it really nice it will probably > require at least 3 or 4 tunings or more. But I also let them know that we > have a lot of clients who don't get it done that often - its a personal > choice. > > I think tuners that see pianos once a year don't realize how bad they sound > at the 6th month interval! When I started out I gave a discount to clients > who had their pianos tuned in 6 months. I pretty quickly learned that I was > making less money for MORE WORK! What's wrong with this picture?? If > anything, give a discount for the once a year, if they schedule the same > month. I've been amazed at how sour tunings can go with a seasonal change, > and how they can magically heal themselves when things return to time of > tuning conditions. > > I think we just need to be honest and give accurate information. Tunings > sometimes last a long time, sometimes they are out in a week. It depends on > the conditions. If you tell someone "the piano needs to be tuned once a > year" and they notice it sounds like a tin can after 2 or 3 months, what are > they going to think? > > Done ranting! Time for dinner...MMMM chicken enchiladas with homamade corn > tortillas and fresh basil, pine nuts and garlic! Life is grand. > > -Ryan > > On Wed, Aug 18, 2010 at 1:58 PM, Tom Dickson <td_tuner at hotmail.com> wrote: > > Hi, All, > > I usually tell my customers that in-home tuning should be done at least > once a year, around the same time as the last one. > > In regards to contacting customers, I see 3 kinds. Those that say, "Will > you call me when it is time for retuning?" CHECK. > > Then there's the, "Thanks, that's interesting.." And the ensuing > conversation about why the same time of year - yada, yada. Get to know them > more before CHECK. > > And then there's the eyes-glaze-over people who get it done when ever they > think it needs it and appear to be saying to themselves, "What a scam." > DON'T check, > > With all the input to this topic, it seems that rather than having a > blanket policy which may alienate some of your first time clients, it's > better to take time to know them, advise them, and then - if they seem to be > receptive - contact them for more business. > > Sincerely, > > Tom Dickson, > Regina, SK, Can. > > > > > Date: Wed, 18 Aug 2010 13:29:51 -0700 > > To: pianotech at ptg.org > > From: skline at peak.org > > > Subject: Re: [pianotech] repeat business > > > > > > >My best results have always been post cards, followed by a phone > > >call, asking if they received it. The post card breaks the ice, and > > >it will be much easier to get an appointment. But again, if they say > > >no, be gracious and say thank you, and go on. Don't take it personally. > > >Wim > > > > When I was just beginning, the first year or two, I put a tiny > > classified ad in a local paper. It was a weekly in a tiny town, and I > > bought their minimum ten word ad. Let's see if I can remember -- it > > was thirty years ago, and time flies. "Good piano tuning, [price]. > > Call Susan Kline at ...-...." -- something like that. The ad was dirt > > cheap. I got quite a few tunings from that, eventually, because there > > was something physical to remind people, but no demands to decide > > right away, which would have been turned down. Several said that > > they'd clipped out the ad and had it on their kitchen tables for six > > months. A card would be that way, too. No demands to do something, > > just a reminder, and there's an action in between buying the tuning > > versus throwing away the card, in case they are hanging on the fence, > > feeling like maybe they MIGHT want a tuning, or maybe not, or maybe > > later, so they keep the card. Eventually all the stars and > > constellations are in alignment, and then they call. Or not. Some of > > those cards are probably cleared out when the heirs get the house > > ready for an estate sale, 35 years later. > > > > Another little thing worked well for me, and it was just an accident. > > When I got to the Corvallis area, I went and put a classified ad in > > the Corvallis paper (a service directory, they had), like that first > > newspaper ad when I was up in Canada. But in the Corvallis paper, the > > minimum ad size was three lines. I wrote out my little spiel just > > like before, took it to the window with the lady typsetting it into a > > computer of sorts, and it came up short. I had just a little more > > room. I thought a second, and then told her to add, "I love pianos." > > And she took the bull by the horns, and put it in caps with > > exclamation points. "I LOVE PIANOS!!" I thought that was sort of > > silly, but didn't have the heart to tell her to tone it down. A lot > > of people noticed those words and eventually called me because of > > them. In a way it was kind of a bona fide, because any tuner who > > really was tired of pianos and didn't want to fuss with their > > problems wouldn't have dared to put "I love pianos" in the ad. > > > > And, "don't take it personally" is always good advice. > > > > Susan Kline > > > > > > > > > > > -- > Ryan Sowers, RPT > Puget Sound Chapter > Olympia, WA > www.pianova.net > -- Ryan Sowers, RPT Puget Sound Chapter Olympia, WA www.pianova.net -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://ptg.org/pipermail/pianotech.php/attachments/20100818/63de4c54/attachment-0001.htm>
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