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Tuning referrals

  • 1.  Tuning referrals

    Registered Piano Technician
    Posted 07-24-2021 07:26
    Hello fellow techs,
      I am curious as to what some of you do when your schedule is too full, as can happen during certain times of the year. Do you give some new customers to a fellow colleague without any "referral fee", or accept a small previously agreed upon amount for sending new work to another qualified tech? I have done both in the past. It is a nice problem to have during the Easter and Christmas Seasons. Thanks in advance!

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    Greg Junker
    Greg Junker's Piano Shoppe, LLC
    Belleville IL
    618-971-9595
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  • 2.  RE: Tuning referrals

    Member
    Posted 07-24-2021 07:34
    I'm currently not taking any new clients as my schedule is full.  I know 2 techs that are glad for the referrals and I do that with no fee.  Actually I never thought of a referral fee.  Seems that if you are not going to service the piano, the client will call someone else anyway!

    Deb

    --
    5 Tarr's Lane WEST
    Rockport, MA  01966
    978-546-8428



    Original Message


  • 3.  RE: Tuning referrals

    Registered Piano Technician
    Posted 07-24-2021 07:58
    Yes, some piano techs send a check after they schedule the service call, as part of their business policy, even without asking.

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    Greg Junker
    Owner
    Belleville IL
    618-971-9595
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    Original Message


  • 4.  RE: Tuning referrals

    Posted 07-24-2021 08:16
    The issues here have commonality with what I want to do with my "High Definition" system of reliable unequal temperament tuning which is a commercially potentially valuable system. It's a way of achieving a strong, to the extent of being audible, temperament which stops short of anything sounding unpleasant, that gives the same results for musicians across instruments, different brands and models.

    So I have been hoping to find techs willing to adopt the system, charge more appropriately to the client, and forward referral fees to me. As the system results from 1 1/2 decades of research, work and experiment such fees represent payment for something tangible . . . and go towards the costs of maintenance of the historic instruments which have led the research along the way as well as the Benjamin Latrobe house in which they are curated.

    Best wishes

    David P

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    David Pinnegar, B.Sc., A.R.C.S.
    - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
    +44 1342 850594



    Original Message


  • 5.  RE: Tuning referrals

    Posted 07-24-2021 08:09
    hello Greg,
    A nice luxurious problem to have indeed.
    I started with asking a referral fee of $25 first. However, keeping track of that was not worth it to me, so I just refer to a semi-retired colleague, no strings attached. That way, everybody can be happy.
    Peter

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    Petrus Janssen
    Peachtree City GA
    678-416-8055
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    Original Message


  • 6.  RE: Tuning referrals

    Registered Piano Technician
    Posted 07-24-2021 10:06
    I make the referral with no thought or expectation of compensation. I would (personally) consider it a conflict of interest. 

    Pwg

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    Peter Grey
    Stratham NH
    603-686-2395
    pianodoctor57@gmail.com
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    Original Message


  • 7.  RE: Tuning referrals

    Posted 07-24-2021 10:24
    I happily refer them to other Techs, for free.



    Original Message


  • 8.  RE: Tuning referrals

    Registered Piano Technician
    Posted 07-24-2021 11:23
    Whenever you refer an existing customer to someone else you stand a very good chance of losing them. If it's a customer I really want to keep, I can almost always find a way to accommodate them. When it's not, or I can't, then I refer them to a tech that I already know and trust in their area. I've never asked for a kickback from those techs. The way I see it working is that when I'm busy, I refer to them. When they're busy, hopefully they refer back to me. Win, win.

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    Geoff Sykes, RPT
    Los Angeles CA
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    Original Message


  • 9.  RE: Tuning referrals

    Registered Piano Technician
    Posted 07-24-2021 14:32
    Receiving compensation for a referral implies a certain amount of liability which I don't want to have. I don't look for kickbacks from piano movers or dealers either. I am happy with the good will and fostering a sense of cooperation. Pays off in the long run.

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    Steven Rosenthal
    Honolulu HI
    808-521-7129
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    Original Message


  • 10.  RE: Tuning referrals

    Member
    Posted 07-24-2021 15:29
    Steven,

    I'm in total agreement with you.

    Deb



    Original Message


  • 11.  RE: Tuning referrals

    Registered Piano Technician
    Posted 07-24-2021 21:51
    I never ask for a referral fee. I make referrals not infrequently as I just can't handle all the calls I get. Pay it forward.

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    David Love RPT
    www.davidlovepianos.com
    davidlovepianos@comcast.net
    415 407 8320
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    Original Message


  • 12.  RE: Tuning referrals

    Registered Piano Technician
    Posted 07-26-2021 07:57
    Thanks for all of your input. Don't you just love this occupation? You, as the boss, get to make decisions based upon which direction is best, not being forced by someone else's agenda!

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    Greg Junker
    Owner
    Belleville IL
    618-971-9595
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    Original Message