Thanks for your clarification. It certainly seems reasonable.
Original Message:
Sent: 10-27-2020 18:28
From: Benjamin Sanchez
Subject: Piano Data Base
Hi Terry,
When you mark a client as inactive, Gazelle will stop sending them reminders. It does not delete their data, just in case they call you later. Also, you have to mark the client as inactive, Gazelle will not.
An "active" client is one who either has an appointment on the calendar, or one whom you want Gazelle to send reminders to.
Hope this helps!
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Benjamin Sanchez, RPT
Piano Technician / Artisan
(805) 315-8050
www.professional-piano-services.com
Original Message:
Sent: 10-27-2020 04:49
From: Terrence Farrell
Subject: Piano Data Base
Benjamin S. wrote: "Gazelle only charges you based on your active client count. This means you could have 5,000 clients, but only 100 are marked as active. In this case you'd only pay $75 a month. If you have more than 300 active clients, you pay $150 a month. You control who's active and who's not, so it may take you quite a while to work your way up to the highest cost package."
I took another look at Gazelle recently out of curiosity - I'm trying to understand some of its features. My database has at least several thousand clients - and no doubt many of those are dead ends - they'll never have their piano tuned again for various reasons. But that leaves way more than 500 clients that I don't know how you'd want to classify them as anything other than "active". Can you tell me what happens when you classify a client as "inactive"? I ask that because I'm paying $35/month with PianoCal (which works very well for me) and I'm having trouble thinking of spending $150/month to get me one Gazelle feature that PianoCal does not have.
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Terry Farrell
Farrell Piano Service, Inc.
Brandon, Florida
terry@farrellpiano.com
813-684-3505
Original Message:
Sent: 10-27-2020 00:16
From: Benjamin Sanchez
Subject: Piano Data Base
Hi Daniel,
I've been using Gazelle for over a year now, and I absolutely love it! I can't speak about Pianocal, but my understanding is that it's a bit of an older system and may not work properly on certain browsers or servers.
Your cost will Gazelle with be quickly recouped. Once it's set up it saves you literally a dozen hours a week in office work. It does everything from allowing the client to self-schedule to invoicing to smart routing (which may save a lot of time depending on your geography) to automated reminders by email, text, or both.
I used to balk at the price, but now I don't know how I lived without it. Gazelle only charges you based on your active client count. This means you could have 5,000 clients, but only 100 are marked as active. In this case you'd only pay $75 a month. If you have more than 300 active clients, you pay $150 a month. You control who's active and who's not, so it may take you quite a while to work your way up to the highest cost package.
Yes, $75 or $150 per month is a lot, but if your business isn't bringing in that much there's a problem. You have two solutions: downgrade to the free package (which works the same as the other two, but with less active clients), or, watch the Gazelle School of Business videos and webinars! These are really awesome videos put together by the Gazelle team that can help your business grow and be less stressful, no matter what stage of the game you're in.
Can you tell that I'm a fan, LOL?!?! Seriously, I really do recommend it. If you have any questions feel free to PM me and I'd be pleased to help.
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Benjamin Sanchez, RPT
Piano Technician / Artisan
(805) 315-8050
www.professional-piano-services.com
Original Message:
Sent: 10-26-2020 19:12
From: Daniel Alberts
Subject: Piano Data Base
Thank you so much, Phil. I have been trying Pianocal, but I'm having a very difficult time launching the client emailing feature . It is mentioned on the Pianocal site that some servers may not support Pianocal. This has nothing to do with the quality of the Pianocal product, but it appears more with my carrier. It is resolvable, but just more effort than what I might be willing to pursue. I attended a class with Gazelle and they sure seemed like nice folks and very knowable. I have well over 300 clients so I would be looking at the unlimited package. I assume that you feel that the savings in time clearly offsets the monthly cost? Again, thank you for taking the time to comment.
Dan
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Daniel Alberts
Connellsville PA
724-628-4298
Original Message:
Sent: 10-26-2020 17:41
From: Phil Bondi
Subject: Piano Data Base
Hi Daniel.
I am a Gazelle user and I highly recommend it. I hemmed and stammered for years before finally pulling the trigger 2 years ago. What initially impressed me about the software is how it handled the turnover from what I was using(Access 95) to import into Gazelle. Gazelle did not break a sweat, and it was in a better format to read in than what I was use to in Access 95! Since the turnover, there have been numerous improvements to the day-to-day operations of the software, and it is very accessible as far as a cloud-based format...3G might be a bit slow, but you will be able to input information.
I am unfamiliar with PianoCal but I do know it has been around as long as, if not longer, than Gazelle.
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-Phil Bondi
Original Message:
Sent: 10-26-2020 17:28
From: Daniel Alberts
Subject: Piano Data Base
Hello Folks,
I'm considering changing/updating my client data base and client management program. I'm looking at Gazelle and Pianocal or recommendations for others that might be worth considering. Can anyone provide any helpful feedback? Many thanks.
Dan Alberts
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Daniel Alberts
Connellsville PA
724-628-4298
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