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I only discount for one music teacher. I have many new customers that have been referred by her. I sometime give her a cut on the the tuning or free Dampp-Chaser product (pads or treatment). Most times teachers looking for a discount will say they will refer you but I never hear any student mentioning that teacher name.

Yes, I am very fortunate to stay busy, thank you. But, I am also not just lucky. I have worked very hard over the years to maintain top notch quality, honesty, good service, dependability and ethics all in one. Along with learning how to properly run a business so I really can make a very good living. That's why I am willing to share what I have learned with other techs in this forum.

3 more things to consider SF.

1. When one tuner follows up after another tuner and in particular, when we follow up after a tuner or home owner that tunes their own piano and does not properly set the tuning pins, it leaves the tuning pins unstable which creates more work for us during the next tuning. We can feel this inexplicable difference in the tuning pins and we often wind up fighting with them to make them stay put. Whereas, if the same tech tunes the piano every single time, they get to know the instrument along with its quirks. This makes for a much more stable tuning in the long haul.

2. If a client flip flops between tuners, they just may wind up on a black list for us and none of us will service for them. The reason being, is that we do not want to follow up after someone that the client thinks is good but we know isn't for the reasons listed in number 1. We know all of the good technicians and we know all of the bad "tooners."

It is very frustrating and undesirable for us to service a piano like that. Many of us do not want a client that is not willing to be totally loyal to us when we have been totally loyal to them.

My family has been tuning for the local college here, the largest one around Grand Rapids for 3 generations now. It amounts to about 300 tunings a year plus repairs. Roughly only about 1/3 of what I actually do each year. I do give them a major discount for so many tunings. I do break my back to get over there sometimes as late as 11 PM or 4 AM to accomplish those emergency repairs or tunings that do creep in here and there. But, again, I also charge extra as well. Just like any service that comes after hours.

4. My best clients (most regular clients) all book in advance with me including the college. I contact them in August at which time, we schedule all concert events and any other tunings clean through Christmas. I have a secretary who comes in and does this for me. Now, neither one of us has to worry about getting that last minute phone call other than the occasional broken wire or something else that crops up which I always run over and fix, even after hours. So, if you can find a technician that you are willing to stick with and work with in this manner, they will also be willing to stick and work with you as well. Things will be much smoother and happier for both parties involved.

I will say this much. If a music teacher sends me a student and I actually tune the piano and if this music teacher is a loyal client, I will give that person a $10 discount for each student they send my way up to the amount of one tuning which is $130 for a standard tuning fee for me in town.

Good luck.

Well put Master Groot.

Thanks Sam. I enjoy and appreciate your posts a great deal as well.

Fantastic guys

You are dead wrong SF10. It is MUCH easier to follow your own work than follow someone else, particularly when the previous tuner is amature. A quality tuning requires specfic learned skills of pin setting and techniques that varies from one tuner to the next. Folks who want to keep their piano in tune find a quality tech and KEEP them. It is not a question of vanity, it is simply the nature of the work.

Truer words have never been spoken.

I wish more piano owners understood the importance of good pin setting technique and that it is not something that everyone can do easily. It takes years to get good at it. If you don't know what you are doing you can really destabilize a piano to the point where it will need 8 tunings a year.
Following up on a do it yourselfer or someone who hasn't set the pins well can make for a much bigger job. The tuning can take longer and may not be as stable afterwards.

Most people focus on whether or not the tuner is using a machine or not before they even consider their hammer technique abilities.

I have a customer who calls me to tune on short notice. He pays a PREMIUM because I sometimes have to juggle my schedule to service him, which costs me time and money. It would save him money to pre-schedule tunings, but his schedule limits that option. You can't expect a Technician to come at short notice AND offer a discount.

Not many techs like sharing a piano with other techs. I keep records on each piano I service. I note if I raised pitch, filed hammers, adjusted lost motion, or even if the piano is garbage. It's all there for me to find before I tune the piano again. If another tech services the piano, I lose knowledge of what service was done, and that's bad for your instrument. Like Jerry, I'm very booked, and most customers understand there is a wait, or there is an premium paid.

As an example, If SF called today for a tuning - I'm not working till Jan 4th, when I have 16 straight days of tuning booked without a break. SF would have to wait until January 19th, or pay a premium to have me shift my schedule to make room for him at an earlier date.