The PTG has lost another one of our truly great treasures. He has given so much to our organization, it will be hard to find someone to replace him. Below is an article I wrote several years ago for the December '04 Journal, as part of the Economic Affairs Committee series, based on a letter I received from Virgil. He was not only an excellent tuner, but also a very good businessman. Thank you, Virgil, for all that you have done for us. I'm sure God will put you to work tuning them golden harps. And He will ask, what did you do those harps, they never sounded so good. Wim What did you do to my piano? Willem Blees RPT Economics Affairs Committee Believe it or not, this is a compliment. Several months ago I wrote an article on advertising. In response to the article, Golden Hammer Award winner Virgil Smith, RPT, wrote me a letter, saying, in part, “Many of us don’t spend a penny on advertising, yet we have all the customers we can handle”. So how does he, and other highly sought after piano technicians, have so many customers, without advertising? Virgil said, “There are two general categories of piano service: those who tune four or five pianos a day to make a living, and those who service a piano until it functions at it’s best”. Although we would all like to be in the latter category, most of us are probably in the first category because we need to make a living. So how do we get from one to the other? The secret is knowledge. How Virgil got to be where is today is through diligence. It wasn’t long after he became a piano tuner that he concentrated on servicing pianos, instead of just tuning them. “The real romance and thrill in piano service is to work on a piano until it is at its best in tuning, regulating and voicing.” When you do that, customers will be more than happy to write you a check for whatever you ask for, and still ask, “is that enough”? Not only will these customers call you back over and over, they will recommend you to their friends. These are usually musicians who not only know, but appreciate, the way a piano should really sound and play. These customers would never allow anyone but you touch their piano. As Virgil puts it, “This is what makes piano service exciting”. The way to get to this point is to do the basics. Instead of trying to get in and out of a customers house as quickly as possible, so you can get to the next appointment on time to collect yet another tuning fee, take the time to do the basics of piano service. If you don’t know what the basics are, attend a chapter meeting and ask. Better yet, offer to teach a class on the subject, and do some research. If you think that only high-end pianos need this kind of service, and that only musicians demand this kind of service, think again. I wrote an article about low-end pianos where I mentioned that even those low-end pianos need servicing. What is not understood by a lot of piano tuners, is that when these pianos are properly tuned, regulated, and voiced, they will actually sound and play a lot better. The problem is, the customers who buy these instruments do not know their pianos can sound or play better. They have not been educated. This is where you can make a difference. What you can do is educate the customers. As part of their regular tuning service, offer to do a little voicing or regulating. If you do it a little at a time, without charging a lot of money, the pianos will gradually start sounding and playing better. Over a period of time, your customers will notice, and they will insist that only you service their piano. They will recommend you to their friends, and the next thing you know you’re servicing pianos, instead of just tuning them, making more money, and spending less on advertising. And your customers will be saying, “what did you do to my piano, it never sounded so good”. -----Original Message----- From: Bruce Dornfeld <bdornfeld at earthlink.net> To: pianotech <pianotech at ptg.org> Sent: Mon, Sep 27, 2010 11:48 am Subject: [pianotech] Virgil Smith Sad news. Virgil Smith passed away this morning. He had given up tuning and auctioned off all of his tools a few years ago. He was mentally active up to the end and even came to meetings on occasion, when someone would bring him and his wheel chair. Virgil gave much time, effort, and devotion to PTG and did all he could to help bring up the standards of tuning and voicing. He will be missed here, but has rejoined many of his loved ones in the better place. Bruce Dornfeld, RPT North Shore Chapter bdornfeld at earthlink.net -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: <http://ptg.org/pipermail/pianotech.php/attachments/20100927/ee23a0b0/attachment.htm>
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