From "Geoff Sykes" <thetuner@ivories52.com>
Brian --
Thank you for your thoughts and ethical concerns. Indeed, what you are
describing is exactly how I would handle the situation if I was doing the
evaluation for the person that already owned the piano. I would hope that
delivering honesty and developing trust in a potential client with whom one
wants a lasting relationship is ultimately the goal of all tuner
technicians. It's certainly mine.
In this instance I was asked by a potential buyer to evaluate an old Yamaha
UX on a dealers floor. Fortunately this is not a dealer I already have a
relationship with, so my obligation is to the buyer, who is paying me for my
skills and time. (If I did have a relationship with the dealer I probably
would not have accepted the job due to conflict of interest.) My objective
is really only to determine if the piano is worth buying, and to advise my
customer, the buyer, of possible problems and repair costs should they
decide to buy. I believe that the price, unless it is outrageous, is
ultimately whatever the buyer and the dealer decide on and I don't think it
would be my place to intervene.
Your observations on customer relations is well thought out and very good.
Thank you for sharing it with me and the rest of the list.
-- Geoff Sykes
-- Assoc. Los Angeles
Original Message-----
From: pianotech-bounces@ptg.org [mailto:pianotech-bounces@ptg.org] On Behalf
Of BRIAN GRIST
Sent: Thursday, June 29, 2006 11:57 PM
To: Pianotech List
Cc: MARY; Andrea Sed; slgrist Grist; bng0809@msn.com
Subject: Re: piano evaluation checklist
Geoff,
It seems as if you have received several forms and lots of good advice on
your evaluation journey. I would like to share with you my ethical and
professional business opinions at no cost and expect only that you will
value them accordingly.
In practical terms, your customer has asked you for an evaluation of
their instrument and you are eager to demonstrate your ability to perform
this evaluation. However, what your customer is really asking of you is to
satisfy their musical needs and desires. They have invited you into their
home to find out if you can help them reach this personal musical goal and
how much it will cost them to do so. Therefore, it is critical to clearly
understand their specific needs and desires before starting any of the
technical aspects of this evaluation. Perhaps if you approached it in a
fashion that you might utilize to determine if the young man that has just
crossed your threshold is worthy of dating your daughter; my advice might
resonate more clearly for you.
What are the customer's intentions for their piano? How much do they
value their piano right now? What kind of relationship do they have in mind
for their piano? Who will be playing the piano and how often will it be
played? What is their musical skill level and how often do they intend to
service and tune it in the future? Are they willing to make a long term
commitment to their piano or are they perhaps intending to play it only for
a short while and then sell it and move on to another instrument? I think
you get what type of questions I ask at the beginning of the evaluation and
also (in a different but related topic) what I put the young man that
recently married my daughter through.
The primary thing you are selling them is a relationship with you.
Understanding your customer's needs will allow you to customize the
information in an evaluation to satisfy them. They will be happy to have
chosen you to evaluate their piano and you will have satisfied the most
basic pretense of all business; you will have sold yourself .All of the
technical stuff will fall into place after you develop an understanding of
their needs. They will be happy to pay you for getting the results they may
or may not have known they had to begin with. They will tell their friends
what a great listener their piano tuner is (pun intended).
Try using a piano tuner's most valuable asset; your ears. Listen to your
customer to understand before beginning the technical aspects of the
evaluation. I trust this will make your experience far more rewarding for
all involved and may very well result in some valuable referrals for
additional business. What more gratifying profession could one ask for? How
many people get the opportunity to bring musical joy into other people's
lives on a daily basis and then be blessed by them once again with payment
for having done so?
Brian Grist
bng0809@msn.com