[pianotech] Raising rates in recession

[Matthew Todd]

I like the idea of the Chuck Bucks.  Whenever I have client refer someone to me AND the I actually service and receive the pay from the new client, I send my client who referred the person a thank you letter along with either a movie ticket OR a gift card to a local burger joint.  They are each worth $5, and are a small token of my appreciation.
 
I have also used discounts for my services and I found that I've had several people who were wanting to schedule with me, but you know how it is, they never get around to it.  Well these discount were the final motivation or push to have them book with me.
 
Having a hard backup system besides your computer is probably the smartest thing to do!


TODD PIANO WORKS 
Matthew Todd, Piano Technician 
(979) 248-9578
http://www.toddpianoworks.com

--- On Tue, 6/29/10, Chuck Behm <behmpiano at gmail.com> wrote:


From: Chuck Behm <behmpiano at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [pianotech] Raising rates in recession
To: pianotech at ptg.org
Date: Tuesday, June 29, 2010, 12:05 PM


>Chuck

Sounds like you've got a great system worked out. Just a couple of things. First, it might pay you to get a computer, and do all that card system stuff that way. It might take you a few days to enter all the information, but once you've got the hang of it, you'll be surprise how easy it is to keep track of all your customers. Second, for your pre-scheduled appointments, instead of calling a week in advance to remind them, I would suggest you send them a post card. That way you can be assured that they get it. You might still want to call them the night before, just to make sure they're home, but I would hate to have you call and leave a message, only to discover that they were gone on vacation, or that someone erased the message. A post card will come back to you if they's moved, and it give the customer a couple of days to call you to re-schedule. It's not fool proof, but most of my customers like the post card.

And last is the Chuck Bucks. For about 6 months last year I sent a $10 coupon to each customer in a thank you letter. I sent out about 150 letters, and got one coupon, and last week had a customer give me the coupon towards her tuning. In other words, I spent a lot of money on printing coupons and postage, and got one customer.

Any way, good luck with your pre-scheduling. It has worked great for me.

Wim<

Thanks for your comments, Wim. You're the one that gave me the idea of pre-scheduling a year in advance in a post you submitted a long time ago. I had just never gotten around to it until now, but I always had it in the back of my mind to try.

As far as the computer, I've had all my customers on a computer data base for years, organized by location. I just needed to reorganize my cards to fit that system. I like having the cards, which I pull out and clip together for each day's work. I know it's a redundant system, but that aspect of the way I have done it works for me, so I have no plans to abandon the card system.

I have thought about mailing postcards out, but will probably only do so when I don't reach the person directly by phone. Most of my customers seem to appreciate the personal call, so I'll continue with that.

I'll let you know how the "ChuckBucks" work as things progress. It's only for adding in new customers, and only gives the old customer a discount if they refer my name to someone who books an appointment. The jury's still out. I'll know within a short time if I'm picking up new customers or not, and will report back. I'll send you a sheet of "ChuckBucks" so you can see for yourself what they look like. 

Again, thanks for the comments. Have a safe trip home from Vegas. Chuck
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