Pianotech

As I was setting up to send out reminder emails recently, out of curiosity I took a look at my customer database see how many active vs inactive customers I actually have. I was shocked to discover that only about 20% of the customers in my database are currently listed as active. I keep pretty good notes on everyone so I took a look at about 20% of the inactive customers to find out why they are listed as inactive. In other words, I wanted to find out what, if anything, I might be doing wrong to no longer have those customers. After several hours going through about 20% of the inactive customers I saw a pretty consistent pattern showing up, so I didn't go further. Here are the results, and some comments about them.

 : 12% - The piano just never gets tuned unless absolutely necessary. It's rarely played and unless they suddenly need it for a party, or their teacher says they're not coming back until it's tuned, they don't care.

: 12% - Customer never responds to reminders. This is frequently the result of new piano 1st free tunings provided for people that already have a tech. Or, they eventually wind up falling in to the previous category. Many times it's simply because the customer is just too busy to respond and they forget, or they never see the reminder in the first place. As a rule I send reminder emails to every customer about twice a year. If I get no reply in two, sometimes three years if I really want the customer, I make them inactive. I don't want to pester them if they've moved on. Then again, sometimes, after four, five or even more years it dawns on them that their piano needs service and they contact me, almost always with apologies.

: 12% - Customer has moved far away. Most of the time they tell me and I am able to help them find a new tech in their new location.

: 11% - I'm no longer willing to make the drive. They are too far away by Los Angeles standards. This is a travel experience issue, mostly. For example, a 20 mile drive to the west side that once upon a time used to take half an hour or so can nowadays frequently mean a 2-1/2 to 3 hour round trip. Charging more, or scheduling multiple tunings in the same area is not the answer. I'm just no longer willing to spend that much time in 5mph traffic. Customers that I have explained this to always understand and are grateful for my referral to a tech closer to them.

: 7% - I don't like the customer and don't want to provide service to them. 

: 5% - I was only substituting for another tech. In other words, it was never my customer.

: 5% - They were renting and the piano was returned.

: 5% - The customer is too difficult to contact. Only access is an assistant that changes out frequently, with a new and now unknown email address and/or phone number, or a management company that isn't able, or willing to coordinate with the customer.

: 4% - The customer is too difficult to schedule. They want hours, or days, that I am not available, or continually cancel and reschedule due to forgotten plans or emergencies.

: 3% - I don't like the piano, or the home is just filthy. Customer may be fine but I get shivers at the thought of going back.

: 3% - I'm told I'm too expensive

: 3% - Customer has a spinet. Due to lower back problems that come with age, I am no longer able to service these instruments so I recommend them to a younger tech in their area.

: 2% - Unable to convert the person to a paying customer. Sometimes this was a first time appointment that got cancelled at the last minute and the customer would not respond to reschedule. Sometimes this was a potential customer that wound up only wanting advice or, ultimately, was just price shopping.

: 2% - Customer sold the piano.

: 2% - Customer requested that I do not send reminders. Promised they would call when tuning was wanted. And most of them actually do. But because they do not get reminders they are categorically inactive customers.

: 2% - Piano is no longer serviceable without many problems and customer won't invest in repairs or replace.

: 2% - Customer died.

: 2% - Customer wants my services but due to health, family emergencies, divorce etc., can no longer afford it.

: 1% - Warranty service call. Usually the customer already has a tech and I was brought in because that tech could not take care of the problem. This 1% is the number of warranty calls I take where I was unable to take advantage of the previous techs failure and convert them into an active customer.

: 1% - Business closed.

: 1% - Customer told me they found another tech.

: 1% - Not their piano. Paid for tuning for a friend, or relative. That person then usually winds up in the It's Never Tuned category.

: 1% - Referred to another tech as I was not qualified to do required repairs.

: 1% - Believe it or not, there are parts of Los Angeles that I just feel unsafe going to.

 Seeing how this information fell together I'd like to believe that I'm basically doing OK in the customer relations department, so please try to refrain from offering suggestions. Yes, there are likely customers in several of those categories that I have failed. I can't please everyone. And that's OK because all of us are always on the lookout for new customers for all the reasons stated above, and more. There will always be customer turnover. Customers disappear and new customers take their place. That's the nature of what we're doing. Still, statistically I found it a little disconcerting that only 20% of my customer database is comprised of active customers. On the other hand, I've been doing this for a bit over 20 years so my total customer database is a decent size, and if I had to actually deal with too much more than about 20% of my total customer database I would be overworked. So, the main reason I'm posting this here is to find out if my situation is unique or rather common. What percentage of your customer database is actually active?

As I was setting up to send out reminder emails recently, out of curiosity I took a look at my customer database see how many active vs inactive customers I actually have. I was shocked to discover that only about 20% of the customers in my database are currently listed as active. I keep pretty good notes on everyone so I took a look at about 20% of the inactive customers to find out why they are listed as inactive. In other words, I wanted to find out what, if anything, I might be doing wrong to no longer have those customers. After several hours going through about 20% of the inactive customers I saw a pretty consistent pattern showing up, so I didn't go further. Here are the results, and some comments about them.

 : 12% - The piano just never gets tuned unless absolutely necessary. It's rarely played and unless they suddenly need it for a party, or their teacher says they're not coming back until it's tuned, they don't care.

: 12% - Customer never responds to reminders. This is frequently the result of new piano 1st free tunings provided for people that already have a tech. Or, they eventually wind up falling in to the previous category. Many times it's simply because the customer is just too busy to respond and they forget, or they never see the reminder in the first place. As a rule I send reminder emails to every customer about twice a year. If I get no reply in two, sometimes three years if I really want the customer, I make them inactive. I don't want to pester them if they've moved on. Then again, sometimes, after four, five or even more years it dawns on them that their piano needs service and they contact me, almost always with apologies.

: 12% - Customer has moved far away. Most of the time they tell me and I am able to help them find a new tech in their new location.

: 11% - I'm no longer willing to make the drive. They are too far away by Los Angeles standards. This is a travel experience issue, mostly. For example, a 20 mile drive to the west side that once upon a time used to take half an hour or so can nowadays frequently mean a 2-1/2 to 3 hour round trip. Charging more, or scheduling multiple tunings in the same area is not the answer. I'm just no longer willing to spend that much time in 5mph traffic. Customers that I have explained this to always understand and are grateful for my referral to a tech closer to them.

: 7% - I don't like the customer and don't want to provide service to them. 

: 5% - I was only substituting for another tech. In other words, it was never my customer.

: 5% - They were renting and the piano was returned.

: 5% - The customer is too difficult to contact. Only access is an assistant that changes out frequently, with a new and now unknown email address and/or phone number, or a management company that isn't able, or willing to coordinate with the customer.

: 4% - The customer is too difficult to schedule. They want hours, or days, that I am not available, or continually cancel and reschedule due to forgotten plans or emergencies.

: 3% - I don't like the piano, or the home is just filthy. Customer may be fine but I get shivers at the thought of going back.

: 3% - I'm told I'm too expensive

: 3% - Customer has a spinet. Due to lower back problems that come with age, I am no longer able to service these instruments so I recommend them to a younger tech in their area.

: 2% - Unable to convert the person to a paying customer. Sometimes this was a first time appointment that got cancelled at the last minute and the customer would not respond to reschedule. Sometimes this was a potential customer that wound up only wanting advice or, ultimately, was just price shopping.

: 2% - Customer sold the piano.

: 2% - Customer requested that I do not send reminders. Promised they would call when tuning was wanted. And most of them actually do. But because they do not get reminders they are categorically inactive customers.

: 2% - Piano is no longer serviceable without many problems and customer won't invest in repairs or replace.

: 2% - Customer died.

: 2% - Customer wants my services but due to health, family emergencies, divorce etc., can no longer afford it.

: 1% - Warranty service call. Usually the customer already has a tech and I was brought in because that tech could not take care of the problem. This 1% is the number of warranty calls I take where I was unable to take advantage of the previous techs failure and convert them into an active customer.

: 1% - Business closed.

: 1% - Customer told me they found another tech.

: 1% - Not their piano. Paid for tuning for a friend, or relative. That person then usually winds up in the It's Never Tuned category.

: 1% - Referred to another tech as I was not qualified to do required repairs.

: 1% - Believe it or not, there are parts of Los Angeles that I just feel unsafe going to.

 Seeing how this information fell together I'd like to believe that I'm basically doing OK in the customer relations department, so please try to refrain from offering suggestions. Yes, there are likely customers in several of those categories that I have failed. I can't please everyone. And that's OK because all of us are always on the lookout for new customers for all the reasons stated above, and more. There will always be customer turnover. Customers disappear and new customers take their place. That's the nature of what we're doing. Still, statistically I found it a little disconcerting that only 20% of my customer database is comprised of active customers. On the other hand, I've been doing this for a bit over 20 years so my total customer database is a decent size, and if I had to actually deal with too much more than about 20% of my total customer database I would be overworked. So, the main reason I'm posting this here is to find out if my situation is unique or rather common. What percentage of your customer database is actually active?

As I was setting up to send out reminder emails recently, out of curiosity I took a look at my customer database see how many active vs inactive customers I actually have. I was shocked to discover that only about 20% of the customers in my database are currently listed as active. I keep pretty good notes on everyone so I took a look at about 20% of the inactive customers to find out why they are listed as inactive. In other words, I wanted to find out what, if anything, I might be doing wrong to no longer have those customers. After several hours going through about 20% of the inactive customers I saw a pretty consistent pattern showing up, so I didn't go further. Here are the results, and some comments about them.

 : 12% - The piano just never gets tuned unless absolutely necessary. It's rarely played and unless they suddenly need it for a party, or their teacher says they're not coming back until it's tuned, they don't care.

: 12% - Customer never responds to reminders. This is frequently the result of new piano 1st free tunings provided for people that already have a tech. Or, they eventually wind up falling in to the previous category. Many times it's simply because the customer is just too busy to respond and they forget, or they never see the reminder in the first place. As a rule I send reminder emails to every customer about twice a year. If I get no reply in two, sometimes three years if I really want the customer, I make them inactive. I don't want to pester them if they've moved on. Then again, sometimes, after four, five or even more years it dawns on them that their piano needs service and they contact me, almost always with apologies.

: 12% - Customer has moved far away. Most of the time they tell me and I am able to help them find a new tech in their new location.

: 11% - I'm no longer willing to make the drive. They are too far away by Los Angeles standards. This is a travel experience issue, mostly. For example, a 20 mile drive to the west side that once upon a time used to take half an hour or so can nowadays frequently mean a 2-1/2 to 3 hour round trip. Charging more, or scheduling multiple tunings in the same area is not the answer. I'm just no longer willing to spend that much time in 5mph traffic. Customers that I have explained this to always understand and are grateful for my referral to a tech closer to them.

: 7% - I don't like the customer and don't want to provide service to them. 

: 5% - I was only substituting for another tech. In other words, it was never my customer.

: 5% - They were renting and the piano was returned.

: 5% - The customer is too difficult to contact. Only access is an assistant that changes out frequently, with a new and now unknown email address and/or phone number, or a management company that isn't able, or willing to coordinate with the customer.

: 4% - The customer is too difficult to schedule. They want hours, or days, that I am not available, or continually cancel and reschedule due to forgotten plans or emergencies.

: 3% - I don't like the piano, or the home is just filthy. Customer may be fine but I get shivers at the thought of going back.

: 3% - I'm told I'm too expensive

: 3% - Customer has a spinet. Due to lower back problems that come with age, I am no longer able to service these instruments so I recommend them to a younger tech in their area.

: 2% - Unable to convert the person to a paying customer. Sometimes this was a first time appointment that got cancelled at the last minute and the customer would not respond to reschedule. Sometimes this was a potential customer that wound up only wanting advice or, ultimately, was just price shopping.

: 2% - Customer sold the piano.

: 2% - Customer requested that I do not send reminders. Promised they would call when tuning was wanted. And most of them actually do. But because they do not get reminders they are categorically inactive customers.

: 2% - Piano is no longer serviceable without many problems and customer won't invest in repairs or replace.

: 2% - Customer died.

: 2% - Customer wants my services but due to health, family emergencies, divorce etc., can no longer afford it.

: 1% - Warranty service call. Usually the customer already has a tech and I was brought in because that tech could not take care of the problem. This 1% is the number of warranty calls I take where I was unable to take advantage of the previous techs failure and convert them into an active customer.

: 1% - Business closed.

: 1% - Customer told me they found another tech.

: 1% - Not their piano. Paid for tuning for a friend, or relative. That person then usually winds up in the It's Never Tuned category.

: 1% - Referred to another tech as I was not qualified to do required repairs.

: 1% - Believe it or not, there are parts of Los Angeles that I just feel unsafe going to.

 Seeing how this information fell together I'd like to believe that I'm basically doing OK in the customer relations department, so please try to refrain from offering suggestions. Yes, there are likely customers in several of those categories that I have failed. I can't please everyone. And that's OK because all of us are always on the lookout for new customers for all the reasons stated above, and more. There will always be customer turnover. Customers disappear and new customers take their place. That's the nature of what we're doing. Still, statistically I found it a little disconcerting that only 20% of my customer database is comprised of active customers. On the other hand, I've been doing this for a bit over 20 years so my total customer database is a decent size, and if I had to actually deal with too much more than about 20% of my total customer database I would be overworked. So, the main reason I'm posting this here is to find out if my situation is unique or rather common. What percentage of your customer database is actually active?

As I was setting up to send out reminder emails recently, out of curiosity I took a look at my customer database see how many active vs inactive customers I actually have. I was shocked to discover that only about 20% of the customers in my database are currently listed as active. I keep pretty good notes on everyone so I took a look at about 20% of the inactive customers to find out why they are listed as inactive. In other words, I wanted to find out what, if anything, I might be doing wrong to no longer have those customers. After several hours going through about 20% of the inactive customers I saw a pretty consistent pattern showing up, so I didn't go further. Here are the results, and some comments about them.

 : 12% - The piano just never gets tuned unless absolutely necessary. It's rarely played and unless they suddenly need it for a party, or their teacher says they're not coming back until it's tuned, they don't care.

: 12% - Customer never responds to reminders. This is frequently the result of new piano 1st free tunings provided for people that already have a tech. Or, they eventually wind up falling in to the previous category. Many times it's simply because the customer is just too busy to respond and they forget, or they never see the reminder in the first place. As a rule I send reminder emails to every customer about twice a year. If I get no reply in two, sometimes three years if I really want the customer, I make them inactive. I don't want to pester them if they've moved on. Then again, sometimes, after four, five or even more years it dawns on them that their piano needs service and they contact me, almost always with apologies.

: 12% - Customer has moved far away. Most of the time they tell me and I am able to help them find a new tech in their new location.

: 11% - I'm no longer willing to make the drive. They are too far away by Los Angeles standards. This is a travel experience issue, mostly. For example, a 20 mile drive to the west side that once upon a time used to take half an hour or so can nowadays frequently mean a 2-1/2 to 3 hour round trip. Charging more, or scheduling multiple tunings in the same area is not the answer. I'm just no longer willing to spend that much time in 5mph traffic. Customers that I have explained this to always understand and are grateful for my referral to a tech closer to them.

: 7% - I don't like the customer and don't want to provide service to them. 

: 5% - I was only substituting for another tech. In other words, it was never my customer.

: 5% - They were renting and the piano was returned.

: 5% - The customer is too difficult to contact. Only access is an assistant that changes out frequently, with a new and now unknown email address and/or phone number, or a management company that isn't able, or willing to coordinate with the customer.

: 4% - The customer is too difficult to schedule. They want hours, or days, that I am not available, or continually cancel and reschedule due to forgotten plans or emergencies.

: 3% - I don't like the piano, or the home is just filthy. Customer may be fine but I get shivers at the thought of going back.

: 3% - I'm told I'm too expensive

: 3% - Customer has a spinet. Due to lower back problems that come with age, I am no longer able to service these instruments so I recommend them to a younger tech in their area.

: 2% - Unable to convert the person to a paying customer. Sometimes this was a first time appointment that got cancelled at the last minute and the customer would not respond to reschedule. Sometimes this was a potential customer that wound up only wanting advice or, ultimately, was just price shopping.

: 2% - Customer sold the piano.

: 2% - Customer requested that I do not send reminders. Promised they would call when tuning was wanted. And most of them actually do. But because they do not get reminders they are categorically inactive customers.

: 2% - Piano is no longer serviceable without many problems and customer won't invest in repairs or replace.

: 2% - Customer died.

: 2% - Customer wants my services but due to health, family emergencies, divorce etc., can no longer afford it.

: 1% - Warranty service call. Usually the customer already has a tech and I was brought in because that tech could not take care of the problem. This 1% is the number of warranty calls I take where I was unable to take advantage of the previous techs failure and convert them into an active customer.

: 1% - Business closed.

: 1% - Customer told me they found another tech.

: 1% - Not their piano. Paid for tuning for a friend, or relative. That person then usually winds up in the It's Never Tuned category.

: 1% - Referred to another tech as I was not qualified to do required repairs.

: 1% - Believe it or not, there are parts of Los Angeles that I just feel unsafe going to.

 Seeing how this information fell together I'd like to believe that I'm basically doing OK in the customer relations department, so please try to refrain from offering suggestions. Yes, there are likely customers in several of those categories that I have failed. I can't please everyone. And that's OK because all of us are always on the lookout for new customers for all the reasons stated above, and more. There will always be customer turnover. Customers disappear and new customers take their place. That's the nature of what we're doing. Still, statistically I found it a little disconcerting that only 20% of my customer database is comprised of active customers. On the other hand, I've been doing this for a bit over 20 years so my total customer database is a decent size, and if I had to actually deal with too much more than about 20% of my total customer database I would be overworked. So, the main reason I'm posting this here is to find out if my situation is unique or rather common. What percentage of your customer database is actually active?

As I was setting up to send out reminder emails recently, out of curiosity I took a look at my customer database see how many active vs inactive customers I actually have. I was shocked to discover that only about 20% of the customers in my database are currently listed as active. I keep pretty good notes on everyone so I took a look at about 20% of the inactive customers to find out why they are listed as inactive. In other words, I wanted to find out what, if anything, I might be doing wrong to no longer have those customers. After several hours going through about 20% of the inactive customers I saw a pretty consistent pattern showing up, so I didn't go further. Here are the results, and some comments about them.

 : 12% - The piano just never gets tuned unless absolutely necessary. It's rarely played and unless they suddenly need it for a party, or their teacher says they're not coming back until it's tuned, they don't care.

: 12% - Customer never responds to reminders. This is frequently the result of new piano 1st free tunings provided for people that already have a tech. Or, they eventually wind up falling in to the previous category. Many times it's simply because the customer is just too busy to respond and they forget, or they never see the reminder in the first place. As a rule I send reminder emails to every customer about twice a year. If I get no reply in two, sometimes three years if I really want the customer, I make them inactive. I don't want to pester them if they've moved on. Then again, sometimes, after four, five or even more years it dawns on them that their piano needs service and they contact me, almost always with apologies.

: 12% - Customer has moved far away. Most of the time they tell me and I am able to help them find a new tech in their new location.

: 11% - I'm no longer willing to make the drive. They are too far away by Los Angeles standards. This is a travel experience issue, mostly. For example, a 20 mile drive to the west side that once upon a time used to take half an hour or so can nowadays frequently mean a 2-1/2 to 3 hour round trip. Charging more, or scheduling multiple tunings in the same area is not the answer. I'm just no longer willing to spend that much time in 5mph traffic. Customers that I have explained this to always understand and are grateful for my referral to a tech closer to them.

: 7% - I don't like the customer and don't want to provide service to them. 

: 5% - I was only substituting for another tech. In other words, it was never my customer.

: 5% - They were renting and the piano was returned.

: 5% - The customer is too difficult to contact. Only access is an assistant that changes out frequently, with a new and now unknown email address and/or phone number, or a management company that isn't able, or willing to coordinate with the customer.

: 4% - The customer is too difficult to schedule. They want hours, or days, that I am not available, or continually cancel and reschedule due to forgotten plans or emergencies.

: 3% - I don't like the piano, or the home is just filthy. Customer may be fine but I get shivers at the thought of going back.

: 3% - I'm told I'm too expensive

: 3% - Customer has a spinet. Due to lower back problems that come with age, I am no longer able to service these instruments so I recommend them to a younger tech in their area.

: 2% - Unable to convert the person to a paying customer. Sometimes this was a first time appointment that got cancelled at the last minute and the customer would not respond to reschedule. Sometimes this was a potential customer that wound up only wanting advice or, ultimately, was just price shopping.

: 2% - Customer sold the piano.

: 2% - Customer requested that I do not send reminders. Promised they would call when tuning was wanted. And most of them actually do. But because they do not get reminders they are categorically inactive customers.

: 2% - Piano is no longer serviceable without many problems and customer won't invest in repairs or replace.

: 2% - Customer died.

: 2% - Customer wants my services but due to health, family emergencies, divorce etc., can no longer afford it.

: 1% - Warranty service call. Usually the customer already has a tech and I was brought in because that tech could not take care of the problem. This 1% is the number of warranty calls I take where I was unable to take advantage of the previous techs failure and convert them into an active customer.

: 1% - Business closed.

: 1% - Customer told me they found another tech.

: 1% - Not their piano. Paid for tuning for a friend, or relative. That person then usually winds up in the It's Never Tuned category.

: 1% - Referred to another tech as I was not qualified to do required repairs.

: 1% - Believe it or not, there are parts of Los Angeles that I just feel unsafe going to.

 Seeing how this information fell together I'd like to believe that I'm basically doing OK in the customer relations department, so please try to refrain from offering suggestions. Yes, there are likely customers in several of those categories that I have failed. I can't please everyone. And that's OK because all of us are always on the lookout for new customers for all the reasons stated above, and more. There will always be customer turnover. Customers disappear and new customers take their place. That's the nature of what we're doing. Still, statistically I found it a little disconcerting that only 20% of my customer database is comprised of active customers. On the other hand, I've been doing this for a bit over 20 years so my total customer database is a decent size, and if I had to actually deal with too much more than about 20% of my total customer database I would be overworked. So, the main reason I'm posting this here is to find out if my situation is unique or rather common. What percentage of your customer database is actually active?

As I was setting up to send out reminder emails recently, out of curiosity I took a look at my customer database see how many active vs inactive customers I actually have. I was shocked to discover that only about 20% of the customers in my database are currently listed as active. I keep pretty good notes on everyone so I took a look at about 20% of the inactive customers to find out why they are listed as inactive. In other words, I wanted to find out what, if anything, I might be doing wrong to no longer have those customers. After several hours going through about 20% of the inactive customers I saw a pretty consistent pattern showing up, so I didn't go further. Here are the results, and some comments about them.

 : 12% - The piano just never gets tuned unless absolutely necessary. It's rarely played and unless they suddenly need it for a party, or their teacher says they're not coming back until it's tuned, they don't care.

: 12% - Customer never responds to reminders. This is frequently the result of new piano 1st free tunings provided for people that already have a tech. Or, they eventually wind up falling in to the previous category. Many times it's simply because the customer is just too busy to respond and they forget, or they never see the reminder in the first place. As a rule I send reminder emails to every customer about twice a year. If I get no reply in two, sometimes three years if I really want the customer, I make them inactive. I don't want to pester them if they've moved on. Then again, sometimes, after four, five or even more years it dawns on them that their piano needs service and they contact me, almost always with apologies.

: 12% - Customer has moved far away. Most of the time they tell me and I am able to help them find a new tech in their new location.

: 11% - I'm no longer willing to make the drive. They are too far away by Los Angeles standards. This is a travel experience issue, mostly. For example, a 20 mile drive to the west side that once upon a time used to take half an hour or so can nowadays frequently mean a 2-1/2 to 3 hour round trip. Charging more, or scheduling multiple tunings in the same area is not the answer. I'm just no longer willing to spend that much time in 5mph traffic. Customers that I have explained this to always understand and are grateful for my referral to a tech closer to them.

: 7% - I don't like the customer and don't want to provide service to them. 

: 5% - I was only substituting for another tech. In other words, it was never my customer.

: 5% - They were renting and the piano was returned.

: 5% - The customer is too difficult to contact. Only access is an assistant that changes out frequently, with a new and now unknown email address and/or phone number, or a management company that isn't able, or willing to coordinate with the customer.

: 4% - The customer is too difficult to schedule. They want hours, or days, that I am not available, or continually cancel and reschedule due to forgotten plans or emergencies.

: 3% - I don't like the piano, or the home is just filthy. Customer may be fine but I get shivers at the thought of going back.

: 3% - I'm told I'm too expensive

: 3% - Customer has a spinet. Due to lower back problems that come with age, I am no longer able to service these instruments so I recommend them to a younger tech in their area.

: 2% - Unable to convert the person to a paying customer. Sometimes this was a first time appointment that got cancelled at the last minute and the customer would not respond to reschedule. Sometimes this was a potential customer that wound up only wanting advice or, ultimately, was just price shopping.

: 2% - Customer sold the piano.

: 2% - Customer requested that I do not send reminders. Promised they would call when tuning was wanted. And most of them actually do. But because they do not get reminders they are categorically inactive customers.

: 2% - Piano is no longer serviceable without many problems and customer won't invest in repairs or replace.

: 2% - Customer died.

: 2% - Customer wants my services but due to health, family emergencies, divorce etc., can no longer afford it.

: 1% - Warranty service call. Usually the customer already has a tech and I was brought in because that tech could not take care of the problem. This 1% is the number of warranty calls I take where I was unable to take advantage of the previous techs failure and convert them into an active customer.

: 1% - Business closed.

: 1% - Customer told me they found another tech.

: 1% - Not their piano. Paid for tuning for a friend, or relative. That person then usually winds up in the It's Never Tuned category.

: 1% - Referred to another tech as I was not qualified to do required repairs.

: 1% - Believe it or not, there are parts of Los Angeles that I just feel unsafe going to.

 Seeing how this information fell together I'd like to believe that I'm basically doing OK in the customer relations department, so please try to refrain from offering suggestions. Yes, there are likely customers in several of those categories that I have failed. I can't please everyone. And that's OK because all of us are always on the lookout for new customers for all the reasons stated above, and more. There will always be customer turnover. Customers disappear and new customers take their place. That's the nature of what we're doing. Still, statistically I found it a little disconcerting that only 20% of my customer database is comprised of active customers. On the other hand, I've been doing this for a bit over 20 years so my total customer database is a decent size, and if I had to actually deal with too much more than about 20% of my total customer database I would be overworked. So, the main reason I'm posting this here is to find out if my situation is unique or rather common. What percentage of your customer database is actually active?

As I was setting up to send out reminder emails recently, out of curiosity I took a look at my customer database see how many active vs inactive customers I actually have. I was shocked to discover that only about 20% of the customers in my database are currently listed as active. I keep pretty good notes on everyone so I took a look at about 20% of the inactive customers to find out why they are listed as inactive. In other words, I wanted to find out what, if anything, I might be doing wrong to no longer have those customers. After several hours going through about 20% of the inactive customers I saw a pretty consistent pattern showing up, so I didn't go further. Here are the results, and some comments about them.

 : 12% - The piano just never gets tuned unless absolutely necessary. It's rarely played and unless they suddenly need it for a party, or their teacher says they're not coming back until it's tuned, they don't care.

: 12% - Customer never responds to reminders. This is frequently the result of new piano 1st free tunings provided for people that already have a tech. Or, they eventually wind up falling in to the previous category. Many times it's simply because the customer is just too busy to respond and they forget, or they never see the reminder in the first place. As a rule I send reminder emails to every customer about twice a year. If I get no reply in two, sometimes three years if I really want the customer, I make them inactive. I don't want to pester them if they've moved on. Then again, sometimes, after four, five or even more years it dawns on them that their piano needs service and they contact me, almost always with apologies.

: 12% - Customer has moved far away. Most of the time they tell me and I am able to help them find a new tech in their new location.

: 11% - I'm no longer willing to make the drive. They are too far away by Los Angeles standards. This is a travel experience issue, mostly. For example, a 20 mile drive to the west side that once upon a time used to take half an hour or so can nowadays frequently mean a 2-1/2 to 3 hour round trip. Charging more, or scheduling multiple tunings in the same area is not the answer. I'm just no longer willing to spend that much time in 5mph traffic. Customers that I have explained this to always understand and are grateful for my referral to a tech closer to them.

: 7% - I don't like the customer and don't want to provide service to them. 

: 5% - I was only substituting for another tech. In other words, it was never my customer.

: 5% - They were renting and the piano was returned.

: 5% - The customer is too difficult to contact. Only access is an assistant that changes out frequently, with a new and now unknown email address and/or phone number, or a management company that isn't able, or willing to coordinate with the customer.

: 4% - The customer is too difficult to schedule. They want hours, or days, that I am not available, or continually cancel and reschedule due to forgotten plans or emergencies.

: 3% - I don't like the piano, or the home is just filthy. Customer may be fine but I get shivers at the thought of going back.

: 3% - I'm told I'm too expensive

: 3% - Customer has a spinet. Due to lower back problems that come with age, I am no longer able to service these instruments so I recommend them to a younger tech in their area.

: 2% - Unable to convert the person to a paying customer. Sometimes this was a first time appointment that got cancelled at the last minute and the customer would not respond to reschedule. Sometimes this was a potential customer that wound up only wanting advice or, ultimately, was just price shopping.

: 2% - Customer sold the piano.

: 2% - Customer requested that I do not send reminders. Promised they would call when tuning was wanted. And most of them actually do. But because they do not get reminders they are categorically inactive customers.

: 2% - Piano is no longer serviceable without many problems and customer won't invest in repairs or replace.

: 2% - Customer died.

: 2% - Customer wants my services but due to health, family emergencies, divorce etc., can no longer afford it.

: 1% - Warranty service call. Usually the customer already has a tech and I was brought in because that tech could not take care of the problem. This 1% is the number of warranty calls I take where I was unable to take advantage of the previous techs failure and convert them into an active customer.

: 1% - Business closed.

: 1% - Customer told me they found another tech.

: 1% - Not their piano. Paid for tuning for a friend, or relative. That person then usually winds up in the It's Never Tuned category.

: 1% - Referred to another tech as I was not qualified to do required repairs.

: 1% - Believe it or not, there are parts of Los Angeles that I just feel unsafe going to.

 Seeing how this information fell together I'd like to believe that I'm basically doing OK in the customer relations department, so please try to refrain from offering suggestions. Yes, there are likely customers in several of those categories that I have failed. I can't please everyone. And that's OK because all of us are always on the lookout for new customers for all the reasons stated above, and more. There will always be customer turnover. Customers disappear and new customers take their place. That's the nature of what we're doing. Still, statistically I found it a little disconcerting that only 20% of my customer database is comprised of active customers. On the other hand, I've been doing this for a bit over 20 years so my total customer database is a decent size, and if I had to actually deal with too much more than about 20% of my total customer database I would be overworked. So, the main reason I'm posting this here is to find out if my situation is unique or rather common. What percentage of your customer database is actually active?

As I was setting up to send out reminder emails recently, out of curiosity I took a look at my customer database see how many active vs inactive customers I actually have. I was shocked to discover that only about 20% of the customers in my database are currently listed as active. I keep pretty good notes on everyone so I took a look at about 20% of the inactive customers to find out why they are listed as inactive. In other words, I wanted to find out what, if anything, I might be doing wrong to no longer have those customers. After several hours going through about 20% of the inactive customers I saw a pretty consistent pattern showing up, so I didn't go further. Here are the results, and some comments about them.

 : 12% - The piano just never gets tuned unless absolutely necessary. It's rarely played and unless they suddenly need it for a party, or their teacher says they're not coming back until it's tuned, they don't care.

: 12% - Customer never responds to reminders. This is frequently the result of new piano 1st free tunings provided for people that already have a tech. Or, they eventually wind up falling in to the previous category. Many times it's simply because the customer is just too busy to respond and they forget, or they never see the reminder in the first place. As a rule I send reminder emails to every customer about twice a year. If I get no reply in two, sometimes three years if I really want the customer, I make them inactive. I don't want to pester them if they've moved on. Then again, sometimes, after four, five or even more years it dawns on them that their piano needs service and they contact me, almost always with apologies.

: 12% - Customer has moved far away. Most of the time they tell me and I am able to help them find a new tech in their new location.

: 11% - I'm no longer willing to make the drive. They are too far away by Los Angeles standards. This is a travel experience issue, mostly. For example, a 20 mile drive to the west side that once upon a time used to take half an hour or so can nowadays frequently mean a 2-1/2 to 3 hour round trip. Charging more, or scheduling multiple tunings in the same area is not the answer. I'm just no longer willing to spend that much time in 5mph traffic. Customers that I have explained this to always understand and are grateful for my referral to a tech closer to them.

: 7% - I don't like the customer and don't want to provide service to them. 

: 5% - I was only substituting for another tech. In other words, it was never my customer.

: 5% - They were renting and the piano was returned.

: 5% - The customer is too difficult to contact. Only access is an assistant that changes out frequently, with a new and now unknown email address and/or phone number, or a management company that isn't able, or willing to coordinate with the customer.

: 4% - The customer is too difficult to schedule. They want hours, or days, that I am not available, or continually cancel and reschedule due to forgotten plans or emergencies.

: 3% - I don't like the piano, or the home is just filthy. Customer may be fine but I get shivers at the thought of going back.

: 3% - I'm told I'm too expensive

: 3% - Customer has a spinet. Due to lower back problems that come with age, I am no longer able to service these instruments so I recommend them to a younger tech in their area.

: 2% - Unable to convert the person to a paying customer. Sometimes this was a first time appointment that got cancelled at the last minute and the customer would not respond to reschedule. Sometimes this was a potential customer that wound up only wanting advice or, ultimately, was just price shopping.

: 2% - Customer sold the piano.

: 2% - Customer requested that I do not send reminders. Promised they would call when tuning was wanted. And most of them actually do. But because they do not get reminders they are categorically inactive customers.

: 2% - Piano is no longer serviceable without many problems and customer won't invest in repairs or replace.

: 2% - Customer died.

: 2% - Customer wants my services but due to health, family emergencies, divorce etc., can no longer afford it.

: 1% - Warranty service call. Usually the customer already has a tech and I was brought in because that tech could not take care of the problem. This 1% is the number of warranty calls I take where I was unable to take advantage of the previous techs failure and convert them into an active customer.

: 1% - Business closed.

: 1% - Customer told me they found another tech.

: 1% - Not their piano. Paid for tuning for a friend, or relative. That person then usually winds up in the It's Never Tuned category.

: 1% - Referred to another tech as I was not qualified to do required repairs.

: 1% - Believe it or not, there are parts of Los Angeles that I just feel unsafe going to.

 Seeing how this information fell together I'd like to believe that I'm basically doing OK in the customer relations department, so please try to refrain from offering suggestions. Yes, there are likely customers in several of those categories that I have failed. I can't please everyone. And that's OK because all of us are always on the lookout for new customers for all the reasons stated above, and more. There will always be customer turnover. Customers disappear and new customers take their place. That's the nature of what we're doing. Still, statistically I found it a little disconcerting that only 20% of my customer database is comprised of active customers. On the other hand, I've been doing this for a bit over 20 years so my total customer database is a decent size, and if I had to actually deal with too much more than about 20% of my total customer database I would be overworked. So, the main reason I'm posting this here is to find out if my situation is unique or rather common. What percentage of your customer database is actually active?

As I was setting up to send out reminder emails recently, out of curiosity I took a look at my customer database see how many active vs inactive customers I actually have. I was shocked to discover that only about 20% of the customers in my database are currently listed as active. I keep pretty good notes on everyone so I took a look at about 20% of the inactive customers to find out why they are listed as inactive. In other words, I wanted to find out what, if anything, I might be doing wrong to no longer have those customers. After several hours going through about 20% of the inactive customers I saw a pretty consistent pattern showing up, so I didn't go further. Here are the results, and some comments about them.

 : 12% - The piano just never gets tuned unless absolutely necessary. It's rarely played and unless they suddenly need it for a party, or their teacher says they're not coming back until it's tuned, they don't care.

: 12% - Customer never responds to reminders. This is frequently the result of new piano 1st free tunings provided for people that already have a tech. Or, they eventually wind up falling in to the previous category. Many times it's simply because the customer is just too busy to respond and they forget, or they never see the reminder in the first place. As a rule I send reminder emails to every customer about twice a year. If I get no reply in two, sometimes three years if I really want the customer, I make them inactive. I don't want to pester them if they've moved on. Then again, sometimes, after four, five or even more years it dawns on them that their piano needs service and they contact me, almost always with apologies.

: 12% - Customer has moved far away. Most of the time they tell me and I am able to help them find a new tech in their new location.

: 11% - I'm no longer willing to make the drive. They are too far away by Los Angeles standards. This is a travel experience issue, mostly. For example, a 20 mile drive to the west side that once upon a time used to take half an hour or so can nowadays frequently mean a 2-1/2 to 3 hour round trip. Charging more, or scheduling multiple tunings in the same area is not the answer. I'm just no longer willing to spend that much time in 5mph traffic. Customers that I have explained this to always understand and are grateful for my referral to a tech closer to them.

: 7% - I don't like the customer and don't want to provide service to them. 

: 5% - I was only substituting for another tech. In other words, it was never my customer.

: 5% - They were renting and the piano was returned.

: 5% - The customer is too difficult to contact. Only access is an assistant that changes out frequently, with a new and now unknown email address and/or phone number, or a management company that isn't able, or willing to coordinate with the customer.

: 4% - The customer is too difficult to schedule. They want hours, or days, that I am not available, or continually cancel and reschedule due to forgotten plans or emergencies.

: 3% - I don't like the piano, or the home is just filthy. Customer may be fine but I get shivers at the thought of going back.

: 3% - I'm told I'm too expensive

: 3% - Customer has a spinet. Due to lower back problems that come with age, I am no longer able to service these instruments so I recommend them to a younger tech in their area.

: 2% - Unable to convert the person to a paying customer. Sometimes this was a first time appointment that got cancelled at the last minute and the customer would not respond to reschedule. Sometimes this was a potential customer that wound up only wanting advice or, ultimately, was just price shopping.

: 2% - Customer sold the piano.

: 2% - Customer requested that I do not send reminders. Promised they would call when tuning was wanted. And most of them actually do. But because they do not get reminders they are categorically inactive customers.

: 2% - Piano is no longer serviceable without many problems and customer won't invest in repairs or replace.

: 2% - Customer died.

: 2% - Customer wants my services but due to health, family emergencies, divorce etc., can no longer afford it.

: 1% - Warranty service call. Usually the customer already has a tech and I was brought in because that tech could not take care of the problem. This 1% is the number of warranty calls I take where I was unable to take advantage of the previous techs failure and convert them into an active customer.

: 1% - Business closed.

: 1% - Customer told me they found another tech.

: 1% - Not their piano. Paid for tuning for a friend, or relative. That person then usually winds up in the It's Never Tuned category.

: 1% - Referred to another tech as I was not qualified to do required repairs.

: 1% - Believe it or not, there are parts of Los Angeles that I just feel unsafe going to.

 Seeing how this information fell together I'd like to believe that I'm basically doing OK in the customer relations department, so please try to refrain from offering suggestions. Yes, there are likely customers in several of those categories that I have failed. I can't please everyone. And that's OK because all of us are always on the lookout for new customers for all the reasons stated above, and more. There will always be customer turnover. Customers disappear and new customers take their place. That's the nature of what we're doing. Still, statistically I found it a little disconcerting that only 20% of my customer database is comprised of active customers. On the other hand, I've been doing this for a bit over 20 years so my total customer database is a decent size, and if I had to actually deal with too much more than about 20% of my total customer database I would be overworked. So, the main reason I'm posting this here is to find out if my situation is unique or rather common. What percentage of your customer database is actually active?

As I was setting up to send out reminder emails recently, out of curiosity I took a look at my customer database see how many active vs inactive customers I actually have. I was shocked to discover that only about 20% of the customers in my database are currently listed as active. I keep pretty good notes on everyone so I took a look at about 20% of the inactive customers to find out why they are listed as inactive. In other words, I wanted to find out what, if anything, I might be doing wrong to no longer have those customers. After several hours going through about 20% of the inactive customers I saw a pretty consistent pattern showing up, so I didn't go further. Here are the results, and some comments about them.

 : 12% - The piano just never gets tuned unless absolutely necessary. It's rarely played and unless they suddenly need it for a party, or their teacher says they're not coming back until it's tuned, they don't care.

: 12% - Customer never responds to reminders. This is frequently the result of new piano 1st free tunings provided for people that already have a tech. Or, they eventually wind up falling in to the previous category. Many times it's simply because the customer is just too busy to respond and they forget, or they never see the reminder in the first place. As a rule I send reminder emails to every customer about twice a year. If I get no reply in two, sometimes three years if I really want the customer, I make them inactive. I don't want to pester them if they've moved on. Then again, sometimes, after four, five or even more years it dawns on them that their piano needs service and they contact me, almost always with apologies.

: 12% - Customer has moved far away. Most of the time they tell me and I am able to help them find a new tech in their new location.

: 11% - I'm no longer willing to make the drive. They are too far away by Los Angeles standards. This is a travel experience issue, mostly. For example, a 20 mile drive to the west side that once upon a time used to take half an hour or so can nowadays frequently mean a 2-1/2 to 3 hour round trip. Charging more, or scheduling multiple tunings in the same area is not the answer. I'm just no longer willing to spend that much time in 5mph traffic. Customers that I have explained this to always understand and are grateful for my referral to a tech closer to them.

: 7% - I don't like the customer and don't want to provide service to them. 

: 5% - I was only substituting for another tech. In other words, it was never my customer.

: 5% - They were renting and the piano was returned.

: 5% - The customer is too difficult to contact. Only access is an assistant that changes out frequently, with a new and now unknown email address and/or phone number, or a management company that isn't able, or willing to coordinate with the customer.

: 4% - The customer is too difficult to schedule. They want hours, or days, that I am not available, or continually cancel and reschedule due to forgotten plans or emergencies.

: 3% - I don't like the piano, or the home is just filthy. Customer may be fine but I get shivers at the thought of going back.

: 3% - I'm told I'm too expensive

: 3% - Customer has a spinet. Due to lower back problems that come with age, I am no longer able to service these instruments so I recommend them to a younger tech in their area.

: 2% - Unable to convert the person to a paying customer. Sometimes this was a first time appointment that got cancelled at the last minute and the customer would not respond to reschedule. Sometimes this was a potential customer that wound up only wanting advice or, ultimately, was just price shopping.

: 2% - Customer sold the piano.

: 2% - Customer requested that I do not send reminders. Promised they would call when tuning was wanted. And most of them actually do. But because they do not get reminders they are categorically inactive customers.

: 2% - Piano is no longer serviceable without many problems and customer won't invest in repairs or replace.

: 2% - Customer died.

: 2% - Customer wants my services but due to health, family emergencies, divorce etc., can no longer afford it.

: 1% - Warranty service call. Usually the customer already has a tech and I was brought in because that tech could not take care of the problem. This 1% is the number of warranty calls I take where I was unable to take advantage of the previous techs failure and convert them into an active customer.

: 1% - Business closed.

: 1% - Customer told me they found another tech.

: 1% - Not their piano. Paid for tuning for a friend, or relative. That person then usually winds up in the It's Never Tuned category.

: 1% - Referred to another tech as I was not qualified to do required repairs.

: 1% - Believe it or not, there are parts of Los Angeles that I just feel unsafe going to.

 Seeing how this information fell together I'd like to believe that I'm basically doing OK in the customer relations department, so please try to refrain from offering suggestions. Yes, there are likely customers in several of those categories that I have failed. I can't please everyone. And that's OK because all of us are always on the lookout for new customers for all the reasons stated above, and more. There will always be customer turnover. Customers disappear and new customers take their place. That's the nature of what we're doing. Still, statistically I found it a little disconcerting that only 20% of my customer database is comprised of active customers. On the other hand, I've been doing this for a bit over 20 years so my total customer database is a decent size, and if I had to actually deal with too much more than about 20% of my total customer database I would be overworked. So, the main reason I'm posting this here is to find out if my situation is unique or rather common. What percentage of your customer database is actually active?

As I was setting up to send out reminder emails recently, out of curiosity I took a look at my customer database see how many active vs inactive customers I actually have. I was shocked to discover that only about 20% of the customers in my database are currently listed as active. I keep pretty good notes on everyone so I took a look at about 20% of the inactive customers to find out why they are listed as inactive. In other words, I wanted to find out what, if anything, I might be doing wrong to no longer have those customers. After several hours going through about 20% of the inactive customers I saw a pretty consistent pattern showing up, so I didn't go further. Here are the results, and some comments about them.

 : 12% - The piano just never gets tuned unless absolutely necessary. It's rarely played and unless they suddenly need it for a party, or their teacher says they're not coming back until it's tuned, they don't care.

: 12% - Customer never responds to reminders. This is frequently the result of new piano 1st free tunings provided for people that already have a tech. Or, they eventually wind up falling in to the previous category. Many times it's simply because the customer is just too busy to respond and they forget, or they never see the reminder in the first place. As a rule I send reminder emails to every customer about twice a year. If I get no reply in two, sometimes three years if I really want the customer, I make them inactive. I don't want to pester them if they've moved on. Then again, sometimes, after four, five or even more years it dawns on them that their piano needs service and they contact me, almost always with apologies.

: 12% - Customer has moved far away. Most of the time they tell me and I am able to help them find a new tech in their new location.

: 11% - I'm no longer willing to make the drive. They are too far away by Los Angeles standards. This is a travel experience issue, mostly. For example, a 20 mile drive to the west side that once upon a time used to take half an hour or so can nowadays frequently mean a 2-1/2 to 3 hour round trip. Charging more, or scheduling multiple tunings in the same area is not the answer. I'm just no longer willing to spend that much time in 5mph traffic. Customers that I have explained this to always understand and are grateful for my referral to a tech closer to them.

: 7% - I don't like the customer and don't want to provide service to them. 

: 5% - I was only substituting for another tech. In other words, it was never my customer.

: 5% - They were renting and the piano was returned.

: 5% - The customer is too difficult to contact. Only access is an assistant that changes out frequently, with a new and now unknown email address and/or phone number, or a management company that isn't able, or willing to coordinate with the customer.

: 4% - The customer is too difficult to schedule. They want hours, or days, that I am not available, or continually cancel and reschedule due to forgotten plans or emergencies.

: 3% - I don't like the piano, or the home is just filthy. Customer may be fine but I get shivers at the thought of going back.

: 3% - I'm told I'm too expensive

: 3% - Customer has a spinet. Due to lower back problems that come with age, I am no longer able to service these instruments so I recommend them to a younger tech in their area.

: 2% - Unable to convert the person to a paying customer. Sometimes this was a first time appointment that got cancelled at the last minute and the customer would not respond to reschedule. Sometimes this was a potential customer that wound up only wanting advice or, ultimately, was just price shopping.

: 2% - Customer sold the piano.

: 2% - Customer requested that I do not send reminders. Promised they would call when tuning was wanted. And most of them actually do. But because they do not get reminders they are categorically inactive customers.

: 2% - Piano is no longer serviceable without many problems and customer won't invest in repairs or replace.

: 2% - Customer died.

: 2% - Customer wants my services but due to health, family emergencies, divorce etc., can no longer afford it.

: 1% - Warranty service call. Usually the customer already has a tech and I was brought in because that tech could not take care of the problem. This 1% is the number of warranty calls I take where I was unable to take advantage of the previous techs failure and convert them into an active customer.

: 1% - Business closed.

: 1% - Customer told me they found another tech.

: 1% - Not their piano. Paid for tuning for a friend, or relative. That person then usually winds up in the It's Never Tuned category.

: 1% - Referred to another tech as I was not qualified to do required repairs.

: 1% - Believe it or not, there are parts of Los Angeles that I just feel unsafe going to.

 Seeing how this information fell together I'd like to believe that I'm basically doing OK in the customer relations department, so please try to refrain from offering suggestions. Yes, there are likely customers in several of those categories that I have failed. I can't please everyone. And that's OK because all of us are always on the lookout for new customers for all the reasons stated above, and more. There will always be customer turnover. Customers disappear and new customers take their place. That's the nature of what we're doing. Still, statistically I found it a little disconcerting that only 20% of my customer database is comprised of active customers. On the other hand, I've been doing this for a bit over 20 years so my total customer database is a decent size, and if I had to actually deal with too much more than about 20% of my total customer database I would be overworked. So, the main reason I'm posting this here is to find out if my situation is unique or rather common. What percentage of your customer database is actually active?

As I was setting up to send out reminder emails recently, out of curiosity I took a look at my customer database see how many active vs inactive customers I actually have. I was shocked to discover that only about 20% of the customers in my database are currently listed as active. I keep pretty good notes on everyone so I took a look at about 20% of the inactive customers to find out why they are listed as inactive. In other words, I wanted to find out what, if anything, I might be doing wrong to no longer have those customers. After several hours going through about 20% of the inactive customers I saw a pretty consistent pattern showing up, so I didn't go further. Here are the results, and some comments about them.

 : 12% - The piano just never gets tuned unless absolutely necessary. It's rarely played and unless they suddenly need it for a party, or their teacher says they're not coming back until it's tuned, they don't care.

: 12% - Customer never responds to reminders. This is frequently the result of new piano 1st free tunings provided for people that already have a tech. Or, they eventually wind up falling in to the previous category. Many times it's simply because the customer is just too busy to respond and they forget, or they never see the reminder in the first place. As a rule I send reminder emails to every customer about twice a year. If I get no reply in two, sometimes three years if I really want the customer, I make them inactive. I don't want to pester them if they've moved on. Then again, sometimes, after four, five or even more years it dawns on them that their piano needs service and they contact me, almost always with apologies.

: 12% - Customer has moved far away. Most of the time they tell me and I am able to help them find a new tech in their new location.

: 11% - I'm no longer willing to make the drive. They are too far away by Los Angeles standards. This is a travel experience issue, mostly. For example, a 20 mile drive to the west side that once upon a time used to take half an hour or so can nowadays frequently mean a 2-1/2 to 3 hour round trip. Charging more, or scheduling multiple tunings in the same area is not the answer. I'm just no longer willing to spend that much time in 5mph traffic. Customers that I have explained this to always understand and are grateful for my referral to a tech closer to them.

: 7% - I don't like the customer and don't want to provide service to them. 

: 5% - I was only substituting for another tech. In other words, it was never my customer.

: 5% - They were renting and the piano was returned.

: 5% - The customer is too difficult to contact. Only access is an assistant that changes out frequently, with a new and now unknown email address and/or phone number, or a management company that isn't able, or willing to coordinate with the customer.

: 4% - The customer is too difficult to schedule. They want hours, or days, that I am not available, or continually cancel and reschedule due to forgotten plans or emergencies.

: 3% - I don't like the piano, or the home is just filthy. Customer may be fine but I get shivers at the thought of going back.

: 3% - I'm told I'm too expensive

: 3% - Customer has a spinet. Due to lower back problems that come with age, I am no longer able to service these instruments so I recommend them to a younger tech in their area.

: 2% - Unable to convert the person to a paying customer. Sometimes this was a first time appointment that got cancelled at the last minute and the customer would not respond to reschedule. Sometimes this was a potential customer that wound up only wanting advice or, ultimately, was just price shopping.

: 2% - Customer sold the piano.

: 2% - Customer requested that I do not send reminders. Promised they would call when tuning was wanted. And most of them actually do. But because they do not get reminders they are categorically inactive customers.

: 2% - Piano is no longer serviceable without many problems and customer won't invest in repairs or replace.

: 2% - Customer died.

: 2% - Customer wants my services but due to health, family emergencies, divorce etc., can no longer afford it.

: 1% - Warranty service call. Usually the customer already has a tech and I was brought in because that tech could not take care of the problem. This 1% is the number of warranty calls I take where I was unable to take advantage of the previous techs failure and convert them into an active customer.

: 1% - Business closed.

: 1% - Customer told me they found another tech.

: 1% - Not their piano. Paid for tuning for a friend, or relative. That person then usually winds up in the It's Never Tuned category.

: 1% - Referred to another tech as I was not qualified to do required repairs.

: 1% - Believe it or not, there are parts of Los Angeles that I just feel unsafe going to.

 Seeing how this information fell together I'd like to believe that I'm basically doing OK in the customer relations department, so please try to refrain from offering suggestions. Yes, there are likely customers in several of those categories that I have failed. I can't please everyone. And that's OK because all of us are always on the lookout for new customers for all the reasons stated above, and more. There will always be customer turnover. Customers disappear and new customers take their place. That's the nature of what we're doing. Still, statistically I found it a little disconcerting that only 20% of my customer database is comprised of active customers. On the other hand, I've been doing this for a bit over 20 years so my total customer database is a decent size, and if I had to actually deal with too much more than about 20% of my total customer database I would be overworked. So, the main reason I'm posting this here is to find out if my situation is unique or rather common. What percentage of your customer database is actually active?

As I was setting up to send out reminder emails recently, out of curiosity I took a look at my customer database see how many active vs inactive customers I actually have. I was shocked to discover that only about 20% of the customers in my database are currently listed as active. I keep pretty good notes on everyone so I took a look at about 20% of the inactive customers to find out why they are listed as inactive. In other words, I wanted to find out what, if anything, I might be doing wrong to no longer have those customers. After several hours going through about 20% of the inactive customers I saw a pretty consistent pattern showing up, so I didn't go further. Here are the results, and some comments about them.

 : 12% - The piano just never gets tuned unless absolutely necessary. It's rarely played and unless they suddenly need it for a party, or their teacher says they're not coming back until it's tuned, they don't care.

: 12% - Customer never responds to reminders. This is frequently the result of new piano 1st free tunings provided for people that already have a tech. Or, they eventually wind up falling in to the previous category. Many times it's simply because the customer is just too busy to respond and they forget, or they never see the reminder in the first place. As a rule I send reminder emails to every customer about twice a year. If I get no reply in two, sometimes three years if I really want the customer, I make them inactive. I don't want to pester them if they've moved on. Then again, sometimes, after four, five or even more years it dawns on them that their piano needs service and they contact me, almost always with apologies.

: 12% - Customer has moved far away. Most of the time they tell me and I am able to help them find a new tech in their new location.

: 11% - I'm no longer willing to make the drive. They are too far away by Los Angeles standards. This is a travel experience issue, mostly. For example, a 20 mile drive to the west side that once upon a time used to take half an hour or so can nowadays frequently mean a 2-1/2 to 3 hour round trip. Charging more, or scheduling multiple tunings in the same area is not the answer. I'm just no longer willing to spend that much time in 5mph traffic. Customers that I have explained this to always understand and are grateful for my referral to a tech closer to them.

: 7% - I don't like the customer and don't want to provide service to them. 

: 5% - I was only substituting for another tech. In other words, it was never my customer.

: 5% - They were renting and the piano was returned.

: 5% - The customer is too difficult to contact. Only access is an assistant that changes out frequently, with a new and now unknown email address and/or phone number, or a management company that isn't able, or willing to coordinate with the customer.

: 4% - The customer is too difficult to schedule. They want hours, or days, that I am not available, or continually cancel and reschedule due to forgotten plans or emergencies.

: 3% - I don't like the piano, or the home is just filthy. Customer may be fine but I get shivers at the thought of going back.

: 3% - I'm told I'm too expensive

: 3% - Customer has a spinet. Due to lower back problems that come with age, I am no longer able to service these instruments so I recommend them to a younger tech in their area.

: 2% - Unable to convert the person to a paying customer. Sometimes this was a first time appointment that got cancelled at the last minute and the customer would not respond to reschedule. Sometimes this was a potential customer that wound up only wanting advice or, ultimately, was just price shopping.

: 2% - Customer sold the piano.

: 2% - Customer requested that I do not send reminders. Promised they would call when tuning was wanted. And most of them actually do. But because they do not get reminders they are categorically inactive customers.

: 2% - Piano is no longer serviceable without many problems and customer won't invest in repairs or replace.

: 2% - Customer died.

: 2% - Customer wants my services but due to health, family emergencies, divorce etc., can no longer afford it.

: 1% - Warranty service call. Usually the customer already has a tech and I was brought in because that tech could not take care of the problem. This 1% is the number of warranty calls I take where I was unable to take advantage of the previous techs failure and convert them into an active customer.

: 1% - Business closed.

: 1% - Customer told me they found another tech.

: 1% - Not their piano. Paid for tuning for a friend, or relative. That person then usually winds up in the It's Never Tuned category.

: 1% - Referred to another tech as I was not qualified to do required repairs.

: 1% - Believe it or not, there are parts of Los Angeles that I just feel unsafe going to.

 Seeing how this information fell together I'd like to believe that I'm basically doing OK in the customer relations department, so please try to refrain from offering suggestions. Yes, there are likely customers in several of those categories that I have failed. I can't please everyone. And that's OK because all of us are always on the lookout for new customers for all the reasons stated above, and more. There will always be customer turnover. Customers disappear and new customers take their place. That's the nature of what we're doing. Still, statistically I found it a little disconcerting that only 20% of my customer database is comprised of active customers. On the other hand, I've been doing this for a bit over 20 years so my total customer database is a decent size, and if I had to actually deal with too much more than about 20% of my total customer database I would be overworked. So, the main reason I'm posting this here is to find out if my situation is unique or rather common. What percentage of your customer database is actually active?

As I was setting up to send out reminder emails recently, out of curiosity I took a look at my customer database see how many active vs inactive customers I actually have. I was shocked to discover that only about 20% of the customers in my database are currently listed as active. I keep pretty good notes on everyone so I took a look at about 20% of the inactive customers to find out why they are listed as inactive. In other words, I wanted to find out what, if anything, I might be doing wrong to no longer have those customers. After several hours going through about 20% of the inactive customers I saw a pretty consistent pattern showing up, so I didn't go further. Here are the results, and some comments about them.

 : 12% - The piano just never gets tuned unless absolutely necessary. It's rarely played and unless they suddenly need it for a party, or their teacher says they're not coming back until it's tuned, they don't care.

: 12% - Customer never responds to reminders. This is frequently the result of new piano 1st free tunings provided for people that already have a tech. Or, they eventually wind up falling in to the previous category. Many times it's simply because the customer is just too busy to respond and they forget, or they never see the reminder in the first place. As a rule I send reminder emails to every customer about twice a year. If I get no reply in two, sometimes three years if I really want the customer, I make them inactive. I don't want to pester them if they've moved on. Then again, sometimes, after four, five or even more years it dawns on them that their piano needs service and they contact me, almost always with apologies.

: 12% - Customer has moved far away. Most of the time they tell me and I am able to help them find a new tech in their new location.

: 11% - I'm no longer willing to make the drive. They are too far away by Los Angeles standards. This is a travel experience issue, mostly. For example, a 20 mile drive to the west side that once upon a time used to take half an hour or so can nowadays frequently mean a 2-1/2 to 3 hour round trip. Charging more, or scheduling multiple tunings in the same area is not the answer. I'm just no longer willing to spend that much time in 5mph traffic. Customers that I have explained this to always understand and are grateful for my referral to a tech closer to them.

: 7% - I don't like the customer and don't want to provide service to them. 

: 5% - I was only substituting for another tech. In other words, it was never my customer.

: 5% - They were renting and the piano was returned.

: 5% - The customer is too difficult to contact. Only access is an assistant that changes out frequently, with a new and now unknown email address and/or phone number, or a management company that isn't able, or willing to coordinate with the customer.

: 4% - The customer is too difficult to schedule. They want hours, or days, that I am not available, or continually cancel and reschedule due to forgotten plans or emergencies.

: 3% - I don't like the piano, or the home is just filthy. Customer may be fine but I get shivers at the thought of going back.

: 3% - I'm told I'm too expensive

: 3% - Customer has a spinet. Due to lower back problems that come with age, I am no longer able to service these instruments so I recommend them to a younger tech in their area.

: 2% - Unable to convert the person to a paying customer. Sometimes this was a first time appointment that got cancelled at the last minute and the customer would not respond to reschedule. Sometimes this was a potential customer that wound up only wanting advice or, ultimately, was just price shopping.

: 2% - Customer sold the piano.

: 2% - Customer requested that I do not send reminders. Promised they would call when tuning was wanted. And most of them actually do. But because they do not get reminders they are categorically inactive customers.

: 2% - Piano is no longer serviceable without many problems and customer won't invest in repairs or replace.

: 2% - Customer died.

: 2% - Customer wants my services but due to health, family emergencies, divorce etc., can no longer afford it.

: 1% - Warranty service call. Usually the customer already has a tech and I was brought in because that tech could not take care of the problem. This 1% is the number of warranty calls I take where I was unable to take advantage of the previous techs failure and convert them into an active customer.

: 1% - Business closed.

: 1% - Customer told me they found another tech.

: 1% - Not their piano. Paid for tuning for a friend, or relative. That person then usually winds up in the It's Never Tuned category.

: 1% - Referred to another tech as I was not qualified to do required repairs.

: 1% - Believe it or not, there are parts of Los Angeles that I just feel unsafe going to.

 Seeing how this information fell together I'd like to believe that I'm basically doing OK in the customer relations department, so please try to refrain from offering suggestions. Yes, there are likely customers in several of those categories that I have failed. I can't please everyone. And that's OK because all of us are always on the lookout for new customers for all the reasons stated above, and more. There will always be customer turnover. Customers disappear and new customers take their place. That's the nature of what we're doing. Still, statistically I found it a little disconcerting that only 20% of my customer database is comprised of active customers. On the other hand, I've been doing this for a bit over 20 years so my total customer database is a decent size, and if I had to actually deal with too much more than about 20% of my total customer database I would be overworked. So, the main reason I'm posting this here is to find out if my situation is unique or rather common. What percentage of your customer database is actually active?

As I was setting up to send out reminder emails recently, out of curiosity I took a look at my customer database see how many active vs inactive customers I actually have. I was shocked to discover that only about 20% of the customers in my database are currently listed as active. I keep pretty good notes on everyone so I took a look at about 20% of the inactive customers to find out why they are listed as inactive. In other words, I wanted to find out what, if anything, I might be doing wrong to no longer have those customers. After several hours going through about 20% of the inactive customers I saw a pretty consistent pattern showing up, so I didn't go further. Here are the results, and some comments about them.

 : 12% - The piano just never gets tuned unless absolutely necessary. It's rarely played and unless they suddenly need it for a party, or their teacher says they're not coming back until it's tuned, they don't care.

: 12% - Customer never responds to reminders. This is frequently the result of new piano 1st free tunings provided for people that already have a tech. Or, they eventually wind up falling in to the previous category. Many times it's simply because the customer is just too busy to respond and they forget, or they never see the reminder in the first place. As a rule I send reminder emails to every customer about twice a year. If I get no reply in two, sometimes three years if I really want the customer, I make them inactive. I don't want to pester them if they've moved on. Then again, sometimes, after four, five or even more years it dawns on them that their piano needs service and they contact me, almost always with apologies.

: 12% - Customer has moved far away. Most of the time they tell me and I am able to help them find a new tech in their new location.

: 11% - I'm no longer willing to make the drive. They are too far away by Los Angeles standards. This is a travel experience issue, mostly. For example, a 20 mile drive to the west side that once upon a time used to take half an hour or so can nowadays frequently mean a 2-1/2 to 3 hour round trip. Charging more, or scheduling multiple tunings in the same area is not the answer. I'm just no longer willing to spend that much time in 5mph traffic. Customers that I have explained this to always understand and are grateful for my referral to a tech closer to them.

: 7% - I don't like the customer and don't want to provide service to them. 

: 5% - I was only substituting for another tech. In other words, it was never my customer.

: 5% - They were renting and the piano was returned.

: 5% - The customer is too difficult to contact. Only access is an assistant that changes out frequently, with a new and now unknown email address and/or phone number, or a management company that isn't able, or willing to coordinate with the customer.

: 4% - The customer is too difficult to schedule. They want hours, or days, that I am not available, or continually cancel and reschedule due to forgotten plans or emergencies.

: 3% - I don't like the piano, or the home is just filthy. Customer may be fine but I get shivers at the thought of going back.

: 3% - I'm told I'm too expensive

: 3% - Customer has a spinet. Due to lower back problems that come with age, I am no longer able to service these instruments so I recommend them to a younger tech in their area.

: 2% - Unable to convert the person to a paying customer. Sometimes this was a first time appointment that got cancelled at the last minute and the customer would not respond to reschedule. Sometimes this was a potential customer that wound up only wanting advice or, ultimately, was just price shopping.

: 2% - Customer sold the piano.

: 2% - Customer requested that I do not send reminders. Promised they would call when tuning was wanted. And most of them actually do. But because they do not get reminders they are categorically inactive customers.

: 2% - Piano is no longer serviceable without many problems and customer won't invest in repairs or replace.

: 2% - Customer died.

: 2% - Customer wants my services but due to health, family emergencies, divorce etc., can no longer afford it.

: 1% - Warranty service call. Usually the customer already has a tech and I was brought in because that tech could not take care of the problem. This 1% is the number of warranty calls I take where I was unable to take advantage of the previous techs failure and convert them into an active customer.

: 1% - Business closed.

: 1% - Customer told me they found another tech.

: 1% - Not their piano. Paid for tuning for a friend, or relative. That person then usually winds up in the It's Never Tuned category.

: 1% - Referred to another tech as I was not qualified to do required repairs.

: 1% - Believe it or not, there are parts of Los Angeles that I just feel unsafe going to.

 Seeing how this information fell together I'd like to believe that I'm basically doing OK in the customer relations department, so please try to refrain from offering suggestions. Yes, there are likely customers in several of those categories that I have failed. I can't please everyone. And that's OK because all of us are always on the lookout for new customers for all the reasons stated above, and more. There will always be customer turnover. Customers disappear and new customers take their place. That's the nature of what we're doing. Still, statistically I found it a little disconcerting that only 20% of my customer database is comprised of active customers. On the other hand, I've been doing this for a bit over 20 years so my total customer database is a decent size, and if I had to actually deal with too much more than about 20% of my total customer database I would be overworked. So, the main reason I'm posting this here is to find out if my situation is unique or rather common. What percentage of your customer database is actually active?

As I was setting up to send out reminder emails recently, out of curiosity I took a look at my customer database see how many active vs inactive customers I actually have. I was shocked to discover that only about 20% of the customers in my database are currently listed as active. I keep pretty good notes on everyone so I took a look at about 20% of the inactive customers to find out why they are listed as inactive. In other words, I wanted to find out what, if anything, I might be doing wrong to no longer have those customers. After several hours going through about 20% of the inactive customers I saw a pretty consistent pattern showing up, so I didn't go further. Here are the results, and some comments about them.

 : 12% - The piano just never gets tuned unless absolutely necessary. It's rarely played and unless they suddenly need it for a party, or their teacher says they're not coming back until it's tuned, they don't care.

: 12% - Customer never responds to reminders. This is frequently the result of new piano 1st free tunings provided for people that already have a tech. Or, they eventually wind up falling in to the previous category. Many times it's simply because the customer is just too busy to respond and they forget, or they never see the reminder in the first place. As a rule I send reminder emails to every customer about twice a year. If I get no reply in two, sometimes three years if I really want the customer, I make them inactive. I don't want to pester them if they've moved on. Then again, sometimes, after four, five or even more years it dawns on them that their piano needs service and they contact me, almost always with apologies.

: 12% - Customer has moved far away. Most of the time they tell me and I am able to help them find a new tech in their new location.

: 11% - I'm no longer willing to make the drive. They are too far away by Los Angeles standards. This is a travel experience issue, mostly. For example, a 20 mile drive to the west side that once upon a time used to take half an hour or so can nowadays frequently mean a 2-1/2 to 3 hour round trip. Charging more, or scheduling multiple tunings in the same area is not the answer. I'm just no longer willing to spend that much time in 5mph traffic. Customers that I have explained this to always understand and are grateful for my referral to a tech closer to them.

: 7% - I don't like the customer and don't want to provide service to them. 

: 5% - I was only substituting for another tech. In other words, it was never my customer.

: 5% - They were renting and the piano was returned.

: 5% - The customer is too difficult to contact. Only access is an assistant that changes out frequently, with a new and now unknown email address and/or phone number, or a management company that isn't able, or willing to coordinate with the customer.

: 4% - The customer is too difficult to schedule. They want hours, or days, that I am not available, or continually cancel and reschedule due to forgotten plans or emergencies.

: 3% - I don't like the piano, or the home is just filthy. Customer may be fine but I get shivers at the thought of going back.

: 3% - I'm told I'm too expensive

: 3% - Customer has a spinet. Due to lower back problems that come with age, I am no longer able to service these instruments so I recommend them to a younger tech in their area.

: 2% - Unable to convert the person to a paying customer. Sometimes this was a first time appointment that got cancelled at the last minute and the customer would not respond to reschedule. Sometimes this was a potential customer that wound up only wanting advice or, ultimately, was just price shopping.

: 2% - Customer sold the piano.

: 2% - Customer requested that I do not send reminders. Promised they would call when tuning was wanted. And most of them actually do. But because they do not get reminders they are categorically inactive customers.

: 2% - Piano is no longer serviceable without many problems and customer won't invest in repairs or replace.

: 2% - Customer died.

: 2% - Customer wants my services but due to health, family emergencies, divorce etc., can no longer afford it.

: 1% - Warranty service call. Usually the customer already has a tech and I was brought in because that tech could not take care of the problem. This 1% is the number of warranty calls I take where I was unable to take advantage of the previous techs failure and convert them into an active customer.

: 1% - Business closed.

: 1% - Customer told me they found another tech.

: 1% - Not their piano. Paid for tuning for a friend, or relative. That person then usually winds up in the It's Never Tuned category.

: 1% - Referred to another tech as I was not qualified to do required repairs.

: 1% - Believe it or not, there are parts of Los Angeles that I just feel unsafe going to.

 Seeing how this information fell together I'd like to believe that I'm basically doing OK in the customer relations department, so please try to refrain from offering suggestions. Yes, there are likely customers in several of those categories that I have failed. I can't please everyone. And that's OK because all of us are always on the lookout for new customers for all the reasons stated above, and more. There will always be customer turnover. Customers disappear and new customers take their place. That's the nature of what we're doing. Still, statistically I found it a little disconcerting that only 20% of my customer database is comprised of active customers. On the other hand, I've been doing this for a bit over 20 years so my total customer database is a decent size, and if I had to actually deal with too much more than about 20% of my total customer database I would be overworked. So, the main reason I'm posting this here is to find out if my situation is unique or rather common. What percentage of your customer database is actually active?

As I was setting up to send out reminder emails recently, out of curiosity I took a look at my customer database see how many active vs inactive customers I actually have. I was shocked to discover that only about 20% of the customers in my database are currently listed as active. I keep pretty good notes on everyone so I took a look at about 20% of the inactive customers to find out why they are listed as inactive. In other words, I wanted to find out what, if anything, I might be doing wrong to no longer have those customers. After several hours going through about 20% of the inactive customers I saw a pretty consistent pattern showing up, so I didn't go further. Here are the results, and some comments about them.

 : 12% - The piano just never gets tuned unless absolutely necessary. It's rarely played and unless they suddenly need it for a party, or their teacher says they're not coming back until it's tuned, they don't care.

: 12% - Customer never responds to reminders. This is frequently the result of new piano 1st free tunings provided for people that already have a tech. Or, they eventually wind up falling in to the previous category. Many times it's simply because the customer is just too busy to respond and they forget, or they never see the reminder in the first place. As a rule I send reminder emails to every customer about twice a year. If I get no reply in two, sometimes three years if I really want the customer, I make them inactive. I don't want to pester them if they've moved on. Then again, sometimes, after four, five or even more years it dawns on them that their piano needs service and they contact me, almost always with apologies.

: 12% - Customer has moved far away. Most of the time they tell me and I am able to help them find a new tech in their new location.

: 11% - I'm no longer willing to make the drive. They are too far away by Los Angeles standards. This is a travel experience issue, mostly. For example, a 20 mile drive to the west side that once upon a time used to take half an hour or so can nowadays frequently mean a 2-1/2 to 3 hour round trip. Charging more, or scheduling multiple tunings in the same area is not the answer. I'm just no longer willing to spend that much time in 5mph traffic. Customers that I have explained this to always understand and are grateful for my referral to a tech closer to them.

: 7% - I don't like the customer and don't want to provide service to them. 

: 5% - I was only substituting for another tech. In other words, it was never my customer.

: 5% - They were renting and the piano was returned.

: 5% - The customer is too difficult to contact. Only access is an assistant that changes out frequently, with a new and now unknown email address and/or phone number, or a management company that isn't able, or willing to coordinate with the customer.

: 4% - The customer is too difficult to schedule. They want hours, or days, that I am not available, or continually cancel and reschedule due to forgotten plans or emergencies.

: 3% - I don't like the piano, or the home is just filthy. Customer may be fine but I get shivers at the thought of going back.

: 3% - I'm told I'm too expensive

: 3% - Customer has a spinet. Due to lower back problems that come with age, I am no longer able to service these instruments so I recommend them to a younger tech in their area.

: 2% - Unable to convert the person to a paying customer. Sometimes this was a first time appointment that got cancelled at the last minute and the customer would not respond to reschedule. Sometimes this was a potential customer that wound up only wanting advice or, ultimately, was just price shopping.

: 2% - Customer sold the piano.

: 2% - Customer requested that I do not send reminders. Promised they would call when tuning was wanted. And most of them actually do. But because they do not get reminders they are categorically inactive customers.

: 2% - Piano is no longer serviceable without many problems and customer won't invest in repairs or replace.

: 2% - Customer died.

: 2% - Customer wants my services but due to health, family emergencies, divorce etc., can no longer afford it.

: 1% - Warranty service call. Usually the customer already has a tech and I was brought in because that tech could not take care of the problem. This 1% is the number of warranty calls I take where I was unable to take advantage of the previous techs failure and convert them into an active customer.

: 1% - Business closed.

: 1% - Customer told me they found another tech.

: 1% - Not their piano. Paid for tuning for a friend, or relative. That person then usually winds up in the It's Never Tuned category.

: 1% - Referred to another tech as I was not qualified to do required repairs.

: 1% - Believe it or not, there are parts of Los Angeles that I just feel unsafe going to.

 Seeing how this information fell together I'd like to believe that I'm basically doing OK in the customer relations department, so please try to refrain from offering suggestions. Yes, there are likely customers in several of those categories that I have failed. I can't please everyone. And that's OK because all of us are always on the lookout for new customers for all the reasons stated above, and more. There will always be customer turnover. Customers disappear and new customers take their place. That's the nature of what we're doing. Still, statistically I found it a little disconcerting that only 20% of my customer database is comprised of active customers. On the other hand, I've been doing this for a bit over 20 years so my total customer database is a decent size, and if I had to actually deal with too much more than about 20% of my total customer database I would be overworked. So, the main reason I'm posting this here is to find out if my situation is unique or rather common. What percentage of your customer database is actually active?

As I was setting up to send out reminder emails recently, out of curiosity I took a look at my customer database see how many active vs inactive customers I actually have. I was shocked to discover that only about 20% of the customers in my database are currently listed as active. I keep pretty good notes on everyone so I took a look at about 20% of the inactive customers to find out why they are listed as inactive. In other words, I wanted to find out what, if anything, I might be doing wrong to no longer have those customers. After several hours going through about 20% of the inactive customers I saw a pretty consistent pattern showing up, so I didn't go further. Here are the results, and some comments about them.

 : 12% - The piano just never gets tuned unless absolutely necessary. It's rarely played and unless they suddenly need it for a party, or their teacher says they're not coming back until it's tuned, they don't care.

: 12% - Customer never responds to reminders. This is frequently the result of new piano 1st free tunings provided for people that already have a tech. Or, they eventually wind up falling in to the previous category. Many times it's simply because the customer is just too busy to respond and they forget, or they never see the reminder in the first place. As a rule I send reminder emails to every customer about twice a year. If I get no reply in two, sometimes three years if I really want the customer, I make them inactive. I don't want to pester them if they've moved on. Then again, sometimes, after four, five or even more years it dawns on them that their piano needs service and they contact me, almost always with apologies.

: 12% - Customer has moved far away. Most of the time they tell me and I am able to help them find a new tech in their new location.

: 11% - I'm no longer willing to make the drive. They are too far away by Los Angeles standards. This is a travel experience issue, mostly. For example, a 20 mile drive to the west side that once upon a time used to take half an hour or so can nowadays frequently mean a 2-1/2 to 3 hour round trip. Charging more, or scheduling multiple tunings in the same area is not the answer. I'm just no longer willing to spend that much time in 5mph traffic. Customers that I have explained this to always understand and are grateful for my referral to a tech closer to them.

: 7% - I don't like the customer and don't want to provide service to them. 

: 5% - I was only substituting for another tech. In other words, it was never my customer.

: 5% - They were renting and the piano was returned.

: 5% - The customer is too difficult to contact. Only access is an assistant that changes out frequently, with a new and now unknown email address and/or phone number, or a management company that isn't able, or willing to coordinate with the customer.

: 4% - The customer is too difficult to schedule. They want hours, or days, that I am not available, or continually cancel and reschedule due to forgotten plans or emergencies.

: 3% - I don't like the piano, or the home is just filthy. Customer may be fine but I get shivers at the thought of going back.

: 3% - I'm told I'm too expensive

: 3% - Customer has a spinet. Due to lower back problems that come with age, I am no longer able to service these instruments so I recommend them to a younger tech in their area.

: 2% - Unable to convert the person to a paying customer. Sometimes this was a first time appointment that got cancelled at the last minute and the customer would not respond to reschedule. Sometimes this was a potential customer that wound up only wanting advice or, ultimately, was just price shopping.

: 2% - Customer sold the piano.

: 2% - Customer requested that I do not send reminders. Promised they would call when tuning was wanted. And most of them actually do. But because they do not get reminders they are categorically inactive customers.

: 2% - Piano is no longer serviceable without many problems and customer won't invest in repairs or replace.

: 2% - Customer died.

: 2% - Customer wants my services but due to health, family emergencies, divorce etc., can no longer afford it.

: 1% - Warranty service call. Usually the customer already has a tech and I was brought in because that tech could not take care of the problem. This 1% is the number of warranty calls I take where I was unable to take advantage of the previous techs failure and convert them into an active customer.

: 1% - Business closed.

: 1% - Customer told me they found another tech.

: 1% - Not their piano. Paid for tuning for a friend, or relative. That person then usually winds up in the It's Never Tuned category.

: 1% - Referred to another tech as I was not qualified to do required repairs.

: 1% - Believe it or not, there are parts of Los Angeles that I just feel unsafe going to.

 Seeing how this information fell together I'd like to believe that I'm basically doing OK in the customer relations department, so please try to refrain from offering suggestions. Yes, there are likely customers in several of those categories that I have failed. I can't please everyone. And that's OK because all of us are always on the lookout for new customers for all the reasons stated above, and more. There will always be customer turnover. Customers disappear and new customers take their place. That's the nature of what we're doing. Still, statistically I found it a little disconcerting that only 20% of my customer database is comprised of active customers. On the other hand, I've been doing this for a bit over 20 years so my total customer database is a decent size, and if I had to actually deal with too much more than about 20% of my total customer database I would be overworked. So, the main reason I'm posting this here is to find out if my situation is unique or rather common. What percentage of your customer database is actually active?

Sorry Geoff, I tried to reply to this yesterday but apparently it got lost in cyberspace. Since moving, I've lost my California client database so can't provide accurate numbers, and my Alabama business is still too young to do so. But, here's what I remember about my CA business. 

It was very similar to what you report. I think my active clients made up 25-30% of my total clients. My inactive clients were about the same break down as you wrote, I think. 

As much as I hate inactivating a client, I try to remind myself that it's for the best. It allows me to focus on my good clients and ultimately provide a much better service because I have a much narrower focus in my business. I believe someone once told me that's part of working on the business, not just in the business. 

As I was setting up to send out reminder emails recently, out of curiosity I took a look at my customer database see how many active vs inactive customers I actually have. I was shocked to discover that only about 20% of the customers in my database are currently listed as active. I keep pretty good notes on everyone so I took a look at about 20% of the inactive customers to find out why they are listed as inactive. In other words, I wanted to find out what, if anything, I might be doing wrong to no longer have those customers. After several hours going through about 20% of the inactive customers I saw a pretty consistent pattern showing up, so I didn't go further. Here are the results, and some comments about them.

 : 12% - The piano just never gets tuned unless absolutely necessary. It's rarely played and unless they suddenly need it for a party, or their teacher says they're not coming back until it's tuned, they don't care.

: 12% - Customer never responds to reminders. This is frequently the result of new piano 1st free tunings provided for people that already have a tech. Or, they eventually wind up falling in to the previous category. Many times it's simply because the customer is just too busy to respond and they forget, or they never see the reminder in the first place. As a rule I send reminder emails to every customer about twice a year. If I get no reply in two, sometimes three years if I really want the customer, I make them inactive. I don't want to pester them if they've moved on. Then again, sometimes, after four, five or even more years it dawns on them that their piano needs service and they contact me, almost always with apologies.

: 12% - Customer has moved far away. Most of the time they tell me and I am able to help them find a new tech in their new location.

: 11% - I'm no longer willing to make the drive. They are too far away by Los Angeles standards. This is a travel experience issue, mostly. For example, a 20 mile drive to the west side that once upon a time used to take half an hour or so can nowadays frequently mean a 2-1/2 to 3 hour round trip. Charging more, or scheduling multiple tunings in the same area is not the answer. I'm just no longer willing to spend that much time in 5mph traffic. Customers that I have explained this to always understand and are grateful for my referral to a tech closer to them.

: 7% - I don't like the customer and don't want to provide service to them. 

: 5% - I was only substituting for another tech. In other words, it was never my customer.

: 5% - They were renting and the piano was returned.

: 5% - The customer is too difficult to contact. Only access is an assistant that changes out frequently, with a new and now unknown email address and/or phone number, or a management company that isn't able, or willing to coordinate with the customer.

: 4% - The customer is too difficult to schedule. They want hours, or days, that I am not available, or continually cancel and reschedule due to forgotten plans or emergencies.

: 3% - I don't like the piano, or the home is just filthy. Customer may be fine but I get shivers at the thought of going back.

: 3% - I'm told I'm too expensive

: 3% - Customer has a spinet. Due to lower back problems that come with age, I am no longer able to service these instruments so I recommend them to a younger tech in their area.

: 2% - Unable to convert the person to a paying customer. Sometimes this was a first time appointment that got cancelled at the last minute and the customer would not respond to reschedule. Sometimes this was a potential customer that wound up only wanting advice or, ultimately, was just price shopping.

: 2% - Customer sold the piano.

: 2% - Customer requested that I do not send reminders. Promised they would call when tuning was wanted. And most of them actually do. But because they do not get reminders they are categorically inactive customers.

: 2% - Piano is no longer serviceable without many problems and customer won't invest in repairs or replace.

: 2% - Customer died.

: 2% - Customer wants my services but due to health, family emergencies, divorce etc., can no longer afford it.

: 1% - Warranty service call. Usually the customer already has a tech and I was brought in because that tech could not take care of the problem. This 1% is the number of warranty calls I take where I was unable to take advantage of the previous techs failure and convert them into an active customer.

: 1% - Business closed.

: 1% - Customer told me they found another tech.

: 1% - Not their piano. Paid for tuning for a friend, or relative. That person then usually winds up in the It's Never Tuned category.

: 1% - Referred to another tech as I was not qualified to do required repairs.

: 1% - Believe it or not, there are parts of Los Angeles that I just feel unsafe going to.

 Seeing how this information fell together I'd like to believe that I'm basically doing OK in the customer relations department, so please try to refrain from offering suggestions. Yes, there are likely customers in several of those categories that I have failed. I can't please everyone. And that's OK because all of us are always on the lookout for new customers for all the reasons stated above, and more. There will always be customer turnover. Customers disappear and new customers take their place. That's the nature of what we're doing. Still, statistically I found it a little disconcerting that only 20% of my customer database is comprised of active customers. On the other hand, I've been doing this for a bit over 20 years so my total customer database is a decent size, and if I had to actually deal with too much more than about 20% of my total customer database I would be overworked. So, the main reason I'm posting this here is to find out if my situation is unique or rather common. What percentage of your customer database is actually active?

Sorry Geoff, I tried to reply to this yesterday but apparently it got lost in cyberspace. Since moving, I've lost my California client database so can't provide accurate numbers, and my Alabama business is still too young to do so. But, here's what I remember about my CA business. 

It was very similar to what you report. I think my active clients made up 25-30% of my total clients. My inactive clients were about the same break down as you wrote, I think. 

As much as I hate inactivating a client, I try to remind myself that it's for the best. It allows me to focus on my good clients and ultimately provide a much better service because I have a much narrower focus in my business. I believe someone once told me that's part of working on the business, not just in the business. 

As I was setting up to send out reminder emails recently, out of curiosity I took a look at my customer database see how many active vs inactive customers I actually have. I was shocked to discover that only about 20% of the customers in my database are currently listed as active. I keep pretty good notes on everyone so I took a look at about 20% of the inactive customers to find out why they are listed as inactive. In other words, I wanted to find out what, if anything, I might be doing wrong to no longer have those customers. After several hours going through about 20% of the inactive customers I saw a pretty consistent pattern showing up, so I didn't go further. Here are the results, and some comments about them.

 : 12% - The piano just never gets tuned unless absolutely necessary. It's rarely played and unless they suddenly need it for a party, or their teacher says they're not coming back until it's tuned, they don't care.

: 12% - Customer never responds to reminders. This is frequently the result of new piano 1st free tunings provided for people that already have a tech. Or, they eventually wind up falling in to the previous category. Many times it's simply because the customer is just too busy to respond and they forget, or they never see the reminder in the first place. As a rule I send reminder emails to every customer about twice a year. If I get no reply in two, sometimes three years if I really want the customer, I make them inactive. I don't want to pester them if they've moved on. Then again, sometimes, after four, five or even more years it dawns on them that their piano needs service and they contact me, almost always with apologies.

: 12% - Customer has moved far away. Most of the time they tell me and I am able to help them find a new tech in their new location.

: 11% - I'm no longer willing to make the drive. They are too far away by Los Angeles standards. This is a travel experience issue, mostly. For example, a 20 mile drive to the west side that once upon a time used to take half an hour or so can nowadays frequently mean a 2-1/2 to 3 hour round trip. Charging more, or scheduling multiple tunings in the same area is not the answer. I'm just no longer willing to spend that much time in 5mph traffic. Customers that I have explained this to always understand and are grateful for my referral to a tech closer to them.

: 7% - I don't like the customer and don't want to provide service to them. 

: 5% - I was only substituting for another tech. In other words, it was never my customer.

: 5% - They were renting and the piano was returned.

: 5% - The customer is too difficult to contact. Only access is an assistant that changes out frequently, with a new and now unknown email address and/or phone number, or a management company that isn't able, or willing to coordinate with the customer.

: 4% - The customer is too difficult to schedule. They want hours, or days, that I am not available, or continually cancel and reschedule due to forgotten plans or emergencies.

: 3% - I don't like the piano, or the home is just filthy. Customer may be fine but I get shivers at the thought of going back.

: 3% - I'm told I'm too expensive

: 3% - Customer has a spinet. Due to lower back problems that come with age, I am no longer able to service these instruments so I recommend them to a younger tech in their area.

: 2% - Unable to convert the person to a paying customer. Sometimes this was a first time appointment that got cancelled at the last minute and the customer would not respond to reschedule. Sometimes this was a potential customer that wound up only wanting advice or, ultimately, was just price shopping.

: 2% - Customer sold the piano.

: 2% - Customer requested that I do not send reminders. Promised they would call when tuning was wanted. And most of them actually do. But because they do not get reminders they are categorically inactive customers.

: 2% - Piano is no longer serviceable without many problems and customer won't invest in repairs or replace.

: 2% - Customer died.

: 2% - Customer wants my services but due to health, family emergencies, divorce etc., can no longer afford it.

: 1% - Warranty service call. Usually the customer already has a tech and I was brought in because that tech could not take care of the problem. This 1% is the number of warranty calls I take where I was unable to take advantage of the previous techs failure and convert them into an active customer.

: 1% - Business closed.

: 1% - Customer told me they found another tech.

: 1% - Not their piano. Paid for tuning for a friend, or relative. That person then usually winds up in the It's Never Tuned category.

: 1% - Referred to another tech as I was not qualified to do required repairs.

: 1% - Believe it or not, there are parts of Los Angeles that I just feel unsafe going to.

 Seeing how this information fell together I'd like to believe that I'm basically doing OK in the customer relations department, so please try to refrain from offering suggestions. Yes, there are likely customers in several of those categories that I have failed. I can't please everyone. And that's OK because all of us are always on the lookout for new customers for all the reasons stated above, and more. There will always be customer turnover. Customers disappear and new customers take their place. That's the nature of what we're doing. Still, statistically I found it a little disconcerting that only 20% of my customer database is comprised of active customers. On the other hand, I've been doing this for a bit over 20 years so my total customer database is a decent size, and if I had to actually deal with too much more than about 20% of my total customer database I would be overworked. So, the main reason I'm posting this here is to find out if my situation is unique or rather common. What percentage of your customer database is actually active?

Sorry Geoff, I tried to reply to this yesterday but apparently it got lost in cyberspace. Since moving, I've lost my California client database so can't provide accurate numbers, and my Alabama business is still too young to do so. But, here's what I remember about my CA business. 

It was very similar to what you report. I think my active clients made up 25-30% of my total clients. My inactive clients were about the same break down as you wrote, I think. 

As much as I hate inactivating a client, I try to remind myself that it's for the best. It allows me to focus on my good clients and ultimately provide a much better service because I have a much narrower focus in my business. I believe someone once told me that's part of working on the business, not just in the business. 

As I was setting up to send out reminder emails recently, out of curiosity I took a look at my customer database see how many active vs inactive customers I actually have. I was shocked to discover that only about 20% of the customers in my database are currently listed as active. I keep pretty good notes on everyone so I took a look at about 20% of the inactive customers to find out why they are listed as inactive. In other words, I wanted to find out what, if anything, I might be doing wrong to no longer have those customers. After several hours going through about 20% of the inactive customers I saw a pretty consistent pattern showing up, so I didn't go further. Here are the results, and some comments about them.

 : 12% - The piano just never gets tuned unless absolutely necessary. It's rarely played and unless they suddenly need it for a party, or their teacher says they're not coming back until it's tuned, they don't care.

: 12% - Customer never responds to reminders. This is frequently the result of new piano 1st free tunings provided for people that already have a tech. Or, they eventually wind up falling in to the previous category. Many times it's simply because the customer is just too busy to respond and they forget, or they never see the reminder in the first place. As a rule I send reminder emails to every customer about twice a year. If I get no reply in two, sometimes three years if I really want the customer, I make them inactive. I don't want to pester them if they've moved on. Then again, sometimes, after four, five or even more years it dawns on them that their piano needs service and they contact me, almost always with apologies.

: 12% - Customer has moved far away. Most of the time they tell me and I am able to help them find a new tech in their new location.

: 11% - I'm no longer willing to make the drive. They are too far away by Los Angeles standards. This is a travel experience issue, mostly. For example, a 20 mile drive to the west side that once upon a time used to take half an hour or so can nowadays frequently mean a 2-1/2 to 3 hour round trip. Charging more, or scheduling multiple tunings in the same area is not the answer. I'm just no longer willing to spend that much time in 5mph traffic. Customers that I have explained this to always understand and are grateful for my referral to a tech closer to them.

: 7% - I don't like the customer and don't want to provide service to them. 

: 5% - I was only substituting for another tech. In other words, it was never my customer.

: 5% - They were renting and the piano was returned.

: 5% - The customer is too difficult to contact. Only access is an assistant that changes out frequently, with a new and now unknown email address and/or phone number, or a management company that isn't able, or willing to coordinate with the customer.

: 4% - The customer is too difficult to schedule. They want hours, or days, that I am not available, or continually cancel and reschedule due to forgotten plans or emergencies.

: 3% - I don't like the piano, or the home is just filthy. Customer may be fine but I get shivers at the thought of going back.

: 3% - I'm told I'm too expensive

: 3% - Customer has a spinet. Due to lower back problems that come with age, I am no longer able to service these instruments so I recommend them to a younger tech in their area.

: 2% - Unable to convert the person to a paying customer. Sometimes this was a first time appointment that got cancelled at the last minute and the customer would not respond to reschedule. Sometimes this was a potential customer that wound up only wanting advice or, ultimately, was just price shopping.

: 2% - Customer sold the piano.

: 2% - Customer requested that I do not send reminders. Promised they would call when tuning was wanted. And most of them actually do. But because they do not get reminders they are categorically inactive customers.

: 2% - Piano is no longer serviceable without many problems and customer won't invest in repairs or replace.

: 2% - Customer died.

: 2% - Customer wants my services but due to health, family emergencies, divorce etc., can no longer afford it.

: 1% - Warranty service call. Usually the customer already has a tech and I was brought in because that tech could not take care of the problem. This 1% is the number of warranty calls I take where I was unable to take advantage of the previous techs failure and convert them into an active customer.

: 1% - Business closed.

: 1% - Customer told me they found another tech.

: 1% - Not their piano. Paid for tuning for a friend, or relative. That person then usually winds up in the It's Never Tuned category.

: 1% - Referred to another tech as I was not qualified to do required repairs.

: 1% - Believe it or not, there are parts of Los Angeles that I just feel unsafe going to.

 Seeing how this information fell together I'd like to believe that I'm basically doing OK in the customer relations department, so please try to refrain from offering suggestions. Yes, there are likely customers in several of those categories that I have failed. I can't please everyone. And that's OK because all of us are always on the lookout for new customers for all the reasons stated above, and more. There will always be customer turnover. Customers disappear and new customers take their place. That's the nature of what we're doing. Still, statistically I found it a little disconcerting that only 20% of my customer database is comprised of active customers. On the other hand, I've been doing this for a bit over 20 years so my total customer database is a decent size, and if I had to actually deal with too much more than about 20% of my total customer database I would be overworked. So, the main reason I'm posting this here is to find out if my situation is unique or rather common. What percentage of your customer database is actually active?

Sorry Geoff, I tried to reply to this yesterday but apparently it got lost in cyberspace. Since moving, I've lost my California client database so can't provide accurate numbers, and my Alabama business is still too young to do so. But, here's what I remember about my CA business. 

It was very similar to what you report. I think my active clients made up 25-30% of my total clients. My inactive clients were about the same break down as you wrote, I think. 

As much as I hate inactivating a client, I try to remind myself that it's for the best. It allows me to focus on my good clients and ultimately provide a much better service because I have a much narrower focus in my business. I believe someone once told me that's part of working on the business, not just in the business. 

As I was setting up to send out reminder emails recently, out of curiosity I took a look at my customer database see how many active vs inactive customers I actually have. I was shocked to discover that only about 20% of the customers in my database are currently listed as active. I keep pretty good notes on everyone so I took a look at about 20% of the inactive customers to find out why they are listed as inactive. In other words, I wanted to find out what, if anything, I might be doing wrong to no longer have those customers. After several hours going through about 20% of the inactive customers I saw a pretty consistent pattern showing up, so I didn't go further. Here are the results, and some comments about them.

 : 12% - The piano just never gets tuned unless absolutely necessary. It's rarely played and unless they suddenly need it for a party, or their teacher says they're not coming back until it's tuned, they don't care.

: 12% - Customer never responds to reminders. This is frequently the result of new piano 1st free tunings provided for people that already have a tech. Or, they eventually wind up falling in to the previous category. Many times it's simply because the customer is just too busy to respond and they forget, or they never see the reminder in the first place. As a rule I send reminder emails to every customer about twice a year. If I get no reply in two, sometimes three years if I really want the customer, I make them inactive. I don't want to pester them if they've moved on. Then again, sometimes, after four, five or even more years it dawns on them that their piano needs service and they contact me, almost always with apologies.

: 12% - Customer has moved far away. Most of the time they tell me and I am able to help them find a new tech in their new location.

: 11% - I'm no longer willing to make the drive. They are too far away by Los Angeles standards. This is a travel experience issue, mostly. For example, a 20 mile drive to the west side that once upon a time used to take half an hour or so can nowadays frequently mean a 2-1/2 to 3 hour round trip. Charging more, or scheduling multiple tunings in the same area is not the answer. I'm just no longer willing to spend that much time in 5mph traffic. Customers that I have explained this to always understand and are grateful for my referral to a tech closer to them.

: 7% - I don't like the customer and don't want to provide service to them. 

: 5% - I was only substituting for another tech. In other words, it was never my customer.

: 5% - They were renting and the piano was returned.

: 5% - The customer is too difficult to contact. Only access is an assistant that changes out frequently, with a new and now unknown email address and/or phone number, or a management company that isn't able, or willing to coordinate with the customer.

: 4% - The customer is too difficult to schedule. They want hours, or days, that I am not available, or continually cancel and reschedule due to forgotten plans or emergencies.

: 3% - I don't like the piano, or the home is just filthy. Customer may be fine but I get shivers at the thought of going back.

: 3% - I'm told I'm too expensive

: 3% - Customer has a spinet. Due to lower back problems that come with age, I am no longer able to service these instruments so I recommend them to a younger tech in their area.

: 2% - Unable to convert the person to a paying customer. Sometimes this was a first time appointment that got cancelled at the last minute and the customer would not respond to reschedule. Sometimes this was a potential customer that wound up only wanting advice or, ultimately, was just price shopping.

: 2% - Customer sold the piano.

: 2% - Customer requested that I do not send reminders. Promised they would call when tuning was wanted. And most of them actually do. But because they do not get reminders they are categorically inactive customers.

: 2% - Piano is no longer serviceable without many problems and customer won't invest in repairs or replace.

: 2% - Customer died.

: 2% - Customer wants my services but due to health, family emergencies, divorce etc., can no longer afford it.

: 1% - Warranty service call. Usually the customer already has a tech and I was brought in because that tech could not take care of the problem. This 1% is the number of warranty calls I take where I was unable to take advantage of the previous techs failure and convert them into an active customer.

: 1% - Business closed.

: 1% - Customer told me they found another tech.

: 1% - Not their piano. Paid for tuning for a friend, or relative. That person then usually winds up in the It's Never Tuned category.

: 1% - Referred to another tech as I was not qualified to do required repairs.

: 1% - Believe it or not, there are parts of Los Angeles that I just feel unsafe going to.

 Seeing how this information fell together I'd like to believe that I'm basically doing OK in the customer relations department, so please try to refrain from offering suggestions. Yes, there are likely customers in several of those categories that I have failed. I can't please everyone. And that's OK because all of us are always on the lookout for new customers for all the reasons stated above, and more. There will always be customer turnover. Customers disappear and new customers take their place. That's the nature of what we're doing. Still, statistically I found it a little disconcerting that only 20% of my customer database is comprised of active customers. On the other hand, I've been doing this for a bit over 20 years so my total customer database is a decent size, and if I had to actually deal with too much more than about 20% of my total customer database I would be overworked. So, the main reason I'm posting this here is to find out if my situation is unique or rather common. What percentage of your customer database is actually active?

Sorry Geoff, I tried to reply to this yesterday but apparently it got lost in cyberspace. Since moving, I've lost my California client database so can't provide accurate numbers, and my Alabama business is still too young to do so. But, here's what I remember about my CA business. 

It was very similar to what you report. I think my active clients made up 25-30% of my total clients. My inactive clients were about the same break down as you wrote, I think. 

As much as I hate inactivating a client, I try to remind myself that it's for the best. It allows me to focus on my good clients and ultimately provide a much better service because I have a much narrower focus in my business. I believe someone once told me that's part of working on the business, not just in the business. 

As I was setting up to send out reminder emails recently, out of curiosity I took a look at my customer database see how many active vs inactive customers I actually have. I was shocked to discover that only about 20% of the customers in my database are currently listed as active. I keep pretty good notes on everyone so I took a look at about 20% of the inactive customers to find out why they are listed as inactive. In other words, I wanted to find out what, if anything, I might be doing wrong to no longer have those customers. After several hours going through about 20% of the inactive customers I saw a pretty consistent pattern showing up, so I didn't go further. Here are the results, and some comments about them.

 : 12% - The piano just never gets tuned unless absolutely necessary. It's rarely played and unless they suddenly need it for a party, or their teacher says they're not coming back until it's tuned, they don't care.

: 12% - Customer never responds to reminders. This is frequently the result of new piano 1st free tunings provided for people that already have a tech. Or, they eventually wind up falling in to the previous category. Many times it's simply because the customer is just too busy to respond and they forget, or they never see the reminder in the first place. As a rule I send reminder emails to every customer about twice a year. If I get no reply in two, sometimes three years if I really want the customer, I make them inactive. I don't want to pester them if they've moved on. Then again, sometimes, after four, five or even more years it dawns on them that their piano needs service and they contact me, almost always with apologies.

: 12% - Customer has moved far away. Most of the time they tell me and I am able to help them find a new tech in their new location.

: 11% - I'm no longer willing to make the drive. They are too far away by Los Angeles standards. This is a travel experience issue, mostly. For example, a 20 mile drive to the west side that once upon a time used to take half an hour or so can nowadays frequently mean a 2-1/2 to 3 hour round trip. Charging more, or scheduling multiple tunings in the same area is not the answer. I'm just no longer willing to spend that much time in 5mph traffic. Customers that I have explained this to always understand and are grateful for my referral to a tech closer to them.

: 7% - I don't like the customer and don't want to provide service to them. 

: 5% - I was only substituting for another tech. In other words, it was never my customer.

: 5% - They were renting and the piano was returned.

: 5% - The customer is too difficult to contact. Only access is an assistant that changes out frequently, with a new and now unknown email address and/or phone number, or a management company that isn't able, or willing to coordinate with the customer.

: 4% - The customer is too difficult to schedule. They want hours, or days, that I am not available, or continually cancel and reschedule due to forgotten plans or emergencies.

: 3% - I don't like the piano, or the home is just filthy. Customer may be fine but I get shivers at the thought of going back.

: 3% - I'm told I'm too expensive

: 3% - Customer has a spinet. Due to lower back problems that come with age, I am no longer able to service these instruments so I recommend them to a younger tech in their area.

: 2% - Unable to convert the person to a paying customer. Sometimes this was a first time appointment that got cancelled at the last minute and the customer would not respond to reschedule. Sometimes this was a potential customer that wound up only wanting advice or, ultimately, was just price shopping.

: 2% - Customer sold the piano.

: 2% - Customer requested that I do not send reminders. Promised they would call when tuning was wanted. And most of them actually do. But because they do not get reminders they are categorically inactive customers.

: 2% - Piano is no longer serviceable without many problems and customer won't invest in repairs or replace.

: 2% - Customer died.

: 2% - Customer wants my services but due to health, family emergencies, divorce etc., can no longer afford it.

: 1% - Warranty service call. Usually the customer already has a tech and I was brought in because that tech could not take care of the problem. This 1% is the number of warranty calls I take where I was unable to take advantage of the previous techs failure and convert them into an active customer.

: 1% - Business closed.

: 1% - Customer told me they found another tech.

: 1% - Not their piano. Paid for tuning for a friend, or relative. That person then usually winds up in the It's Never Tuned category.

: 1% - Referred to another tech as I was not qualified to do required repairs.

: 1% - Believe it or not, there are parts of Los Angeles that I just feel unsafe going to.

 Seeing how this information fell together I'd like to believe that I'm basically doing OK in the customer relations department, so please try to refrain from offering suggestions. Yes, there are likely customers in several of those categories that I have failed. I can't please everyone. And that's OK because all of us are always on the lookout for new customers for all the reasons stated above, and more. There will always be customer turnover. Customers disappear and new customers take their place. That's the nature of what we're doing. Still, statistically I found it a little disconcerting that only 20% of my customer database is comprised of active customers. On the other hand, I've been doing this for a bit over 20 years so my total customer database is a decent size, and if I had to actually deal with too much more than about 20% of my total customer database I would be overworked. So, the main reason I'm posting this here is to find out if my situation is unique or rather common. What percentage of your customer database is actually active?

Sorry Geoff, I tried to reply to this yesterday but apparently it got lost in cyberspace. Since moving, I've lost my California client database so can't provide accurate numbers, and my Alabama business is still too young to do so. But, here's what I remember about my CA business. 

It was very similar to what you report. I think my active clients made up 25-30% of my total clients. My inactive clients were about the same break down as you wrote, I think. 

As much as I hate inactivating a client, I try to remind myself that it's for the best. It allows me to focus on my good clients and ultimately provide a much better service because I have a much narrower focus in my business. I believe someone once told me that's part of working on the business, not just in the business. 

As I was setting up to send out reminder emails recently, out of curiosity I took a look at my customer database see how many active vs inactive customers I actually have. I was shocked to discover that only about 20% of the customers in my database are currently listed as active. I keep pretty good notes on everyone so I took a look at about 20% of the inactive customers to find out why they are listed as inactive. In other words, I wanted to find out what, if anything, I might be doing wrong to no longer have those customers. After several hours going through about 20% of the inactive customers I saw a pretty consistent pattern showing up, so I didn't go further. Here are the results, and some comments about them.

 : 12% - The piano just never gets tuned unless absolutely necessary. It's rarely played and unless they suddenly need it for a party, or their teacher says they're not coming back until it's tuned, they don't care.

: 12% - Customer never responds to reminders. This is frequently the result of new piano 1st free tunings provided for people that already have a tech. Or, they eventually wind up falling in to the previous category. Many times it's simply because the customer is just too busy to respond and they forget, or they never see the reminder in the first place. As a rule I send reminder emails to every customer about twice a year. If I get no reply in two, sometimes three years if I really want the customer, I make them inactive. I don't want to pester them if they've moved on. Then again, sometimes, after four, five or even more years it dawns on them that their piano needs service and they contact me, almost always with apologies.

: 12% - Customer has moved far away. Most of the time they tell me and I am able to help them find a new tech in their new location.

: 11% - I'm no longer willing to make the drive. They are too far away by Los Angeles standards. This is a travel experience issue, mostly. For example, a 20 mile drive to the west side that once upon a time used to take half an hour or so can nowadays frequently mean a 2-1/2 to 3 hour round trip. Charging more, or scheduling multiple tunings in the same area is not the answer. I'm just no longer willing to spend that much time in 5mph traffic. Customers that I have explained this to always understand and are grateful for my referral to a tech closer to them.

: 7% - I don't like the customer and don't want to provide service to them. 

: 5% - I was only substituting for another tech. In other words, it was never my customer.

: 5% - They were renting and the piano was returned.

: 5% - The customer is too difficult to contact. Only access is an assistant that changes out frequently, with a new and now unknown email address and/or phone number, or a management company that isn't able, or willing to coordinate with the customer.

: 4% - The customer is too difficult to schedule. They want hours, or days, that I am not available, or continually cancel and reschedule due to forgotten plans or emergencies.

: 3% - I don't like the piano, or the home is just filthy. Customer may be fine but I get shivers at the thought of going back.

: 3% - I'm told I'm too expensive

: 3% - Customer has a spinet. Due to lower back problems that come with age, I am no longer able to service these instruments so I recommend them to a younger tech in their area.

: 2% - Unable to convert the person to a paying customer. Sometimes this was a first time appointment that got cancelled at the last minute and the customer would not respond to reschedule. Sometimes this was a potential customer that wound up only wanting advice or, ultimately, was just price shopping.

: 2% - Customer sold the piano.

: 2% - Customer requested that I do not send reminders. Promised they would call when tuning was wanted. And most of them actually do. But because they do not get reminders they are categorically inactive customers.

: 2% - Piano is no longer serviceable without many problems and customer won't invest in repairs or replace.

: 2% - Customer died.

: 2% - Customer wants my services but due to health, family emergencies, divorce etc., can no longer afford it.

: 1% - Warranty service call. Usually the customer already has a tech and I was brought in because that tech could not take care of the problem. This 1% is the number of warranty calls I take where I was unable to take advantage of the previous techs failure and convert them into an active customer.

: 1% - Business closed.

: 1% - Customer told me they found another tech.

: 1% - Not their piano. Paid for tuning for a friend, or relative. That person then usually winds up in the It's Never Tuned category.

: 1% - Referred to another tech as I was not qualified to do required repairs.

: 1% - Believe it or not, there are parts of Los Angeles that I just feel unsafe going to.

 Seeing how this information fell together I'd like to believe that I'm basically doing OK in the customer relations department, so please try to refrain from offering suggestions. Yes, there are likely customers in several of those categories that I have failed. I can't please everyone. And that's OK because all of us are always on the lookout for new customers for all the reasons stated above, and more. There will always be customer turnover. Customers disappear and new customers take their place. That's the nature of what we're doing. Still, statistically I found it a little disconcerting that only 20% of my customer database is comprised of active customers. On the other hand, I've been doing this for a bit over 20 years so my total customer database is a decent size, and if I had to actually deal with too much more than about 20% of my total customer database I would be overworked. So, the main reason I'm posting this here is to find out if my situation is unique or rather common. What percentage of your customer database is actually active?

Sorry Geoff, I tried to reply to this yesterday but apparently it got lost in cyberspace. Since moving, I've lost my California client database so can't provide accurate numbers, and my Alabama business is still too young to do so. But, here's what I remember about my CA business. 

It was very similar to what you report. I think my active clients made up 25-30% of my total clients. My inactive clients were about the same break down as you wrote, I think. 

As much as I hate inactivating a client, I try to remind myself that it's for the best. It allows me to focus on my good clients and ultimately provide a much better service because I have a much narrower focus in my business. I believe someone once told me that's part of working on the business, not just in the business. 

As I was setting up to send out reminder emails recently, out of curiosity I took a look at my customer database see how many active vs inactive customers I actually have. I was shocked to discover that only about 20% of the customers in my database are currently listed as active. I keep pretty good notes on everyone so I took a look at about 20% of the inactive customers to find out why they are listed as inactive. In other words, I wanted to find out what, if anything, I might be doing wrong to no longer have those customers. After several hours going through about 20% of the inactive customers I saw a pretty consistent pattern showing up, so I didn't go further. Here are the results, and some comments about them.

 : 12% - The piano just never gets tuned unless absolutely necessary. It's rarely played and unless they suddenly need it for a party, or their teacher says they're not coming back until it's tuned, they don't care.

: 12% - Customer never responds to reminders. This is frequently the result of new piano 1st free tunings provided for people that already have a tech. Or, they eventually wind up falling in to the previous category. Many times it's simply because the customer is just too busy to respond and they forget, or they never see the reminder in the first place. As a rule I send reminder emails to every customer about twice a year. If I get no reply in two, sometimes three years if I really want the customer, I make them inactive. I don't want to pester them if they've moved on. Then again, sometimes, after four, five or even more years it dawns on them that their piano needs service and they contact me, almost always with apologies.

: 12% - Customer has moved far away. Most of the time they tell me and I am able to help them find a new tech in their new location.

: 11% - I'm no longer willing to make the drive. They are too far away by Los Angeles standards. This is a travel experience issue, mostly. For example, a 20 mile drive to the west side that once upon a time used to take half an hour or so can nowadays frequently mean a 2-1/2 to 3 hour round trip. Charging more, or scheduling multiple tunings in the same area is not the answer. I'm just no longer willing to spend that much time in 5mph traffic. Customers that I have explained this to always understand and are grateful for my referral to a tech closer to them.

: 7% - I don't like the customer and don't want to provide service to them. 

: 5% - I was only substituting for another tech. In other words, it was never my customer.

: 5% - They were renting and the piano was returned.

: 5% - The customer is too difficult to contact. Only access is an assistant that changes out frequently, with a new and now unknown email address and/or phone number, or a management company that isn't able, or willing to coordinate with the customer.

: 4% - The customer is too difficult to schedule. They want hours, or days, that I am not available, or continually cancel and reschedule due to forgotten plans or emergencies.

: 3% - I don't like the piano, or the home is just filthy. Customer may be fine but I get shivers at the thought of going back.

: 3% - I'm told I'm too expensive

: 3% - Customer has a spinet. Due to lower back problems that come with age, I am no longer able to service these instruments so I recommend them to a younger tech in their area.

: 2% - Unable to convert the person to a paying customer. Sometimes this was a first time appointment that got cancelled at the last minute and the customer would not respond to reschedule. Sometimes this was a potential customer that wound up only wanting advice or, ultimately, was just price shopping.

: 2% - Customer sold the piano.

: 2% - Customer requested that I do not send reminders. Promised they would call when tuning was wanted. And most of them actually do. But because they do not get reminders they are categorically inactive customers.

: 2% - Piano is no longer serviceable without many problems and customer won't invest in repairs or replace.

: 2% - Customer died.

: 2% - Customer wants my services but due to health, family emergencies, divorce etc., can no longer afford it.

: 1% - Warranty service call. Usually the customer already has a tech and I was brought in because that tech could not take care of the problem. This 1% is the number of warranty calls I take where I was unable to take advantage of the previous techs failure and convert them into an active customer.

: 1% - Business closed.

: 1% - Customer told me they found another tech.

: 1% - Not their piano. Paid for tuning for a friend, or relative. That person then usually winds up in the It's Never Tuned category.

: 1% - Referred to another tech as I was not qualified to do required repairs.

: 1% - Believe it or not, there are parts of Los Angeles that I just feel unsafe going to.

 Seeing how this information fell together I'd like to believe that I'm basically doing OK in the customer relations department, so please try to refrain from offering suggestions. Yes, there are likely customers in several of those categories that I have failed. I can't please everyone. And that's OK because all of us are always on the lookout for new customers for all the reasons stated above, and more. There will always be customer turnover. Customers disappear and new customers take their place. That's the nature of what we're doing. Still, statistically I found it a little disconcerting that only 20% of my customer database is comprised of active customers. On the other hand, I've been doing this for a bit over 20 years so my total customer database is a decent size, and if I had to actually deal with too much more than about 20% of my total customer database I would be overworked. So, the main reason I'm posting this here is to find out if my situation is unique or rather common. What percentage of your customer database is actually active?