Pianotech

I tend to charge the same price these days for home and institutional service because the service is about the same, whether spinet or grand.  Churches often need to run my bill through accounting, but that has seldom been a problem.

Recently I have taken on several school districts (someone local retired) and I have a few other institutions that are now requiring not just a W-9 but proof of liability insurance, proof of car insurance, proof of health coverage as well as elaborate contracts that must be printed, signed, scanned and sent in.

I would like to have an institutional price to account for all the hassels these institutions cause me, but them I become non-competitive on the market, and then some other schmuck gets hit with the hassels.

I have one local hospital that has an out-standing bill from Christmas, but the paperwork is endless!  They are used to dealing with corporations with accounting departments and I am a one-man operation.

------------------------------
Blaine Hebert RPT
Duarte CA
(626) 390-0512
------------------------------

I gave up on institutional work decades ago.  Not worth the hassle (except in a few rare cases). My income went up as a direct result exiting these venues. I prefer to answer to one owner with one set of ears and the sole decision-maker rather than committees and office people who basically know little about pianos. 

Peter Grey Piano Doctor 

I tend to charge the same price these days for home and institutional service because the service is about the same, whether spinet or grand.  Churches often need to run my bill through accounting, but that has seldom been a problem.

Recently I have taken on several school districts (someone local retired) and I have a few other institutions that are now requiring not just a W-9 but proof of liability insurance, proof of car insurance, proof of health coverage as well as elaborate contracts that must be printed, signed, scanned and sent in.

I would like to have an institutional price to account for all the hassels these institutions cause me, but them I become non-competitive on the market, and then some other schmuck gets hit with the hassels.

I have one local hospital that has an out-standing bill from Christmas, but the paperwork is endless!  They are used to dealing with corporations with accounting departments and I am a one-man operation.

------------------------------
Blaine Hebert RPT
Duarte CA
(626) 390-0512
------------------------------

I work for a few small school districts and my rate varies. My cheapest one I've been doing for 20 years and I do creep it up a bit. I give them about a 40% discount off my retail rate - this is partially because my retail rate jumped substantially the past few years but I haven't jumped my institutions at the same rate. 

Luckily the schools that I deal with have been wonderful to work with so perhaps I've just been lucky. 

I can do 5 of these services in the same time I can do 3 retail jobs, so it's fairly competitive. I like the change of pace, and the ability to basically do whatever I want with these pianos. It's been one of the best environments to hone my troubleshooting skills and gain efficiency with tuning, voicing, and regulating. I am very generous in floating pitch with these situations since I know the pianos so well, and this is essential for maintenance. The previous technicians before me only seemed to tune the pianos, so they were all filthy and very undermaintained. 

Quick story: When I first took on one small district (30-40 pianos) I decided to write up a report card on all the pianos and gave them a grade in regards to hammer condition, regulation, cleaning, and keybushings. There were many Cs and Ds. I thought if I did this the district could come up with a little extra money to pick away and some of the maintenance. To our surprise the first year they came up with about 12,000 to catch up maintenance over the summer and about another 10,000 the next year. I had to buy extra keybushing cauls! I'm still enjoying the fruits of that endeavor because the pianos have not been too difficult to maintain. 

Perhaps these smaller districts are easier to work with? One of the reasons I keep at it is for the contact with the music teachers in the community. At this point most of the public school music teachers know who I am and many of them are great clients. Building up trust and doing more than "just tuning" has been an essential part of our model. 

Of course, I'm leaving out the most essential thing of all: My wife handles all the paperwork and scheduling! If I had to do it all myself, I probably walk away!

------------------------------
Ryan Sowers RPT
Olympia WA
(360) 480-5648

Original Message:
Sent: 08-07-2024 07:56
From: Peter Grey
Subject: Institutional rate?

I gave up on institutional work decades ago.  Not worth the hassle (except in a few rare cases). My income went up as a direct result exiting these venues. I prefer to answer to one owner with one set of ears and the sole decision-maker rather than committees and office people who basically know little about pianos. 

Peter Grey Piano Doctor 

------------------------------
Peter Grey
Stratham NH
(603) 686-2395
pianodoctor57@gmail.com

Original Message:
Sent: 08-07-2024 01:18
From: Blaine Hebert
Subject: Institutional rate?

I tend to charge the same price these days for home and institutional service because the service is about the same, whether spinet or grand.  Churches often need to run my bill through accounting, but that has seldom been a problem.

Recently I have taken on several school districts (someone local retired) and I have a few other institutions that are now requiring not just a W-9 but proof of liability insurance, proof of car insurance, proof of health coverage as well as elaborate contracts that must be printed, signed, scanned and sent in.

I would like to have an institutional price to account for all the hassels these institutions cause me, but them I become non-competitive on the market, and then some other schmuck gets hit with the hassels.

I have one local hospital that has an out-standing bill from Christmas, but the paperwork is endless!  They are used to dealing with corporations with accounting departments and I am a one-man operation.

------------------------------
Blaine Hebert RPT
Duarte CA
(626) 390-0512
------------------------------

Yeah I think that may be the key bit -- having somebody who specializes in handling the paperwork.  I don't, and school districts can be rather challenging in this regard...  For ex., the one I service requires an estimate be sent and approved before each set of tunings.  That means if a teacher needs one done quick because they have a recital next week (as you'd guess this happens somewhat regularly), I have an extra manual hoop I've gotta jump through to get that scheduled.  It doesn't necessarily take that long, but it's additional mental load and can interrupt whatever else I'm trying to do...  Whereas normal clients can just book automatically with me having to do very little -- I use Gazelle but I don't claim that's the only way to accomplish this.

Don't get me wrong, I actually like doing this work a lot of time (most music teachers are awesome people and I'm happy to support them)... but there's no question in my mind that it's MORE extra effort per job, not less, as the people approving the prices always seem to think it should be.

------------------------------
Nathan Monteleone RPT
Fort Worth TX
(817) 675-9494
nbmont@gmail.com

Original Message:
Sent: 08-07-2024 14:31
From: Ryan Sowers
Subject: Institutional rate?

I work for a few small school districts and my rate varies. My cheapest one I've been doing for 20 years and I do creep it up a bit. I give them about a 40% discount off my retail rate - this is partially because my retail rate jumped substantially the past few years but I haven't jumped my institutions at the same rate. 

Luckily the schools that I deal with have been wonderful to work with so perhaps I've just been lucky. 

I can do 5 of these services in the same time I can do 3 retail jobs, so it's fairly competitive. I like the change of pace, and the ability to basically do whatever I want with these pianos. It's been one of the best environments to hone my troubleshooting skills and gain efficiency with tuning, voicing, and regulating. I am very generous in floating pitch with these situations since I know the pianos so well, and this is essential for maintenance. The previous technicians before me only seemed to tune the pianos, so they were all filthy and very undermaintained. 

Quick story: When I first took on one small district (30-40 pianos) I decided to write up a report card on all the pianos and gave them a grade in regards to hammer condition, regulation, cleaning, and keybushings. There were many Cs and Ds. I thought if I did this the district could come up with a little extra money to pick away and some of the maintenance. To our surprise the first year they came up with about 12,000 to catch up maintenance over the summer and about another 10,000 the next year. I had to buy extra keybushing cauls! I'm still enjoying the fruits of that endeavor because the pianos have not been too difficult to maintain. 

Perhaps these smaller districts are easier to work with? One of the reasons I keep at it is for the contact with the music teachers in the community. At this point most of the public school music teachers know who I am and many of them are great clients. Building up trust and doing more than "just tuning" has been an essential part of our model. 

Of course, I'm leaving out the most essential thing of all: My wife handles all the paperwork and scheduling! If I had to do it all myself, I probably walk away!

------------------------------
Ryan Sowers RPT
Olympia WA
(360) 480-5648

Original Message:
Sent: 08-07-2024 07:56
From: Peter Grey
Subject: Institutional rate?

I gave up on institutional work decades ago.  Not worth the hassle (except in a few rare cases). My income went up as a direct result exiting these venues. I prefer to answer to one owner with one set of ears and the sole decision-maker rather than committees and office people who basically know little about pianos. 

Peter Grey Piano Doctor 

------------------------------
Peter Grey
Stratham NH
(603) 686-2395
pianodoctor57@gmail.com

Original Message:
Sent: 08-07-2024 01:18
From: Blaine Hebert
Subject: Institutional rate?

I tend to charge the same price these days for home and institutional service because the service is about the same, whether spinet or grand.  Churches often need to run my bill through accounting, but that has seldom been a problem.

Recently I have taken on several school districts (someone local retired) and I have a few other institutions that are now requiring not just a W-9 but proof of liability insurance, proof of car insurance, proof of health coverage as well as elaborate contracts that must be printed, signed, scanned and sent in.

I would like to have an institutional price to account for all the hassels these institutions cause me, but them I become non-competitive on the market, and then some other schmuck gets hit with the hassels.

I have one local hospital that has an out-standing bill from Christmas, but the paperwork is endless!  They are used to dealing with corporations with accounting departments and I am a one-man operation.

------------------------------
Blaine Hebert RPT
Duarte CA
(626) 390-0512
------------------------------

Some institutions can act more quickly if you accept credit cards. The military for one pretty much requires it. Also some corporations such as Four Seasons or Marriott hotels are much easier to work with if you accept credit cards; credit cards, ACH transfers, checks, is the order of their preference. 

You might ask the school districts if that would help. I don't take them so I just refer military work to a friend. Lately I've been running into corporate policies in which they want your banking information even if they are going to pay you by check, I'll do ACH if it's going to be a long term relationship but if it's a one off, I don't want to give out that kind of information for security reasons. The accountants at HQ do not like my attitude.

Yeah I think that may be the key bit -- having somebody who specializes in handling the paperwork.  I don't, and school districts can be rather challenging in this regard...  For ex., the one I service requires an estimate be sent and approved before each set of tunings.  That means if a teacher needs one done quick because they have a recital next week (as you'd guess this happens somewhat regularly), I have an extra manual hoop I've gotta jump through to get that scheduled.  It doesn't necessarily take that long, but it's additional mental load and can interrupt whatever else I'm trying to do...  Whereas normal clients can just book automatically with me having to do very little -- I use Gazelle but I don't claim that's the only way to accomplish this.

Don't get me wrong, I actually like doing this work a lot of time (most music teachers are awesome people and I'm happy to support them)... but there's no question in my mind that it's MORE extra effort per job, not less, as the people approving the prices always seem to think it should be.

------------------------------
Nathan Monteleone RPT
Fort Worth TX
(817) 675-9494
nbmont@gmail.com

Original Message:
Sent: 08-07-2024 14:31
From: Ryan Sowers
Subject: Institutional rate?

I work for a few small school districts and my rate varies. My cheapest one I've been doing for 20 years and I do creep it up a bit. I give them about a 40% discount off my retail rate - this is partially because my retail rate jumped substantially the past few years but I haven't jumped my institutions at the same rate. 

Luckily the schools that I deal with have been wonderful to work with so perhaps I've just been lucky. 

I can do 5 of these services in the same time I can do 3 retail jobs, so it's fairly competitive. I like the change of pace, and the ability to basically do whatever I want with these pianos. It's been one of the best environments to hone my troubleshooting skills and gain efficiency with tuning, voicing, and regulating. I am very generous in floating pitch with these situations since I know the pianos so well, and this is essential for maintenance. The previous technicians before me only seemed to tune the pianos, so they were all filthy and very undermaintained. 

Quick story: When I first took on one small district (30-40 pianos) I decided to write up a report card on all the pianos and gave them a grade in regards to hammer condition, regulation, cleaning, and keybushings. There were many Cs and Ds. I thought if I did this the district could come up with a little extra money to pick away and some of the maintenance. To our surprise the first year they came up with about 12,000 to catch up maintenance over the summer and about another 10,000 the next year. I had to buy extra keybushing cauls! I'm still enjoying the fruits of that endeavor because the pianos have not been too difficult to maintain. 

Perhaps these smaller districts are easier to work with? One of the reasons I keep at it is for the contact with the music teachers in the community. At this point most of the public school music teachers know who I am and many of them are great clients. Building up trust and doing more than "just tuning" has been an essential part of our model. 

Of course, I'm leaving out the most essential thing of all: My wife handles all the paperwork and scheduling! If I had to do it all myself, I probably walk away!

------------------------------
Ryan Sowers RPT
Olympia WA
(360) 480-5648

Original Message:
Sent: 08-07-2024 07:56
From: Peter Grey
Subject: Institutional rate?

I gave up on institutional work decades ago.  Not worth the hassle (except in a few rare cases). My income went up as a direct result exiting these venues. I prefer to answer to one owner with one set of ears and the sole decision-maker rather than committees and office people who basically know little about pianos. 

Peter Grey Piano Doctor 

------------------------------
Peter Grey
Stratham NH
(603) 686-2395
pianodoctor57@gmail.com

Original Message:
Sent: 08-07-2024 01:18
From: Blaine Hebert
Subject: Institutional rate?

I tend to charge the same price these days for home and institutional service because the service is about the same, whether spinet or grand.  Churches often need to run my bill through accounting, but that has seldom been a problem.

Recently I have taken on several school districts (someone local retired) and I have a few other institutions that are now requiring not just a W-9 but proof of liability insurance, proof of car insurance, proof of health coverage as well as elaborate contracts that must be printed, signed, scanned and sent in.

I would like to have an institutional price to account for all the hassels these institutions cause me, but them I become non-competitive on the market, and then some other schmuck gets hit with the hassels.

I have one local hospital that has an out-standing bill from Christmas, but the paperwork is endless!  They are used to dealing with corporations with accounting departments and I am a one-man operation.

------------------------------
Blaine Hebert RPT
Duarte CA
(626) 390-0512
------------------------------

Steven, 

I have run across the same issues - I dislike handing out my banking information to random institutions that I'm unlikely to ever see again, too.  It's just the reality anymore that the more people that have that information, the more likely it is that I'm one institutional hacking fiasco away from a horrible personal situation that isn't my fault.  Nobody will protect my information better than me, and so I don't make a habit of giving it out.  

The worst experience I ever had was last summer, with a nursing home who purposefully didn't inform me of their horrible payment options prior to service.  Of course the piano was a 65 year old console in dire shape. 
Spent four hours on it trying to get it playable and tuned.  Undercharged them as it was. 
Then, (after a month, I politely reached out to inquire on payment status…they claimed they never got my invoice.  Thank goodness I was able to verify via Gazelle that they did, in fact, get it and open it) they come around and tell me I have to register as a vendor through a complicated process, and then their preference is to pay me via an online gift card?!  
They would, secondarily, provide payment via ACH transfer.  

At this point I just said forget it.  I don't have time for that.  And I think they know it - I think when nursing homes hire people like us, they sometimes do it on purpose because they know we don't have the time, resources, or energy to follow through with their 52 steps to get paid.  So they get work for free.  
I have crossed that entire network of nursing homes off my list and will never work for them again.  
Like many of you, I'm a one person operation and do all my own admin work, so I just don't have time to deal with that kind of runaround.  

I work for several smaller nursing homes that are great about things.  May take a month to pay me, but very reasonable, and will still write me a check or pay via card.  

i don't bother with college or school district work.  Churches, nursing homes, and the occasional event or community center are all I do anymore.  Churches can be a pain, but most of the ones I work with are pretty consistent, and living here in the Bible Belt, turning them down would lose me a lot of income!😄  They do pay the same rate as everyone else - of course I have a discount for multiple pianos if they are tuned regularly.  But that's it.  Keeps it simple. 

Interesting convo - thank you Blaine!  Always nice to remember we're not alone in these hassles.  

Some institutions can act more quickly if you accept credit cards. The military for one pretty much requires it. Also some corporations such as Four Seasons or Marriott hotels are much easier to work with if you accept credit cards; credit cards, ACH transfers, checks, is the order of their preference. 

You might ask the school districts if that would help. I don't take them so I just refer military work to a friend. Lately I've been running into corporate policies in which they want your banking information even if they are going to pay you by check, I'll do ACH if it's going to be a long term relationship but if it's a one off, I don't want to give out that kind of information for security reasons. The accountants at HQ do not like my attitude.

Yeah I think that may be the key bit -- having somebody who specializes in handling the paperwork.  I don't, and school districts can be rather challenging in this regard...  For ex., the one I service requires an estimate be sent and approved before each set of tunings.  That means if a teacher needs one done quick because they have a recital next week (as you'd guess this happens somewhat regularly), I have an extra manual hoop I've gotta jump through to get that scheduled.  It doesn't necessarily take that long, but it's additional mental load and can interrupt whatever else I'm trying to do...  Whereas normal clients can just book automatically with me having to do very little -- I use Gazelle but I don't claim that's the only way to accomplish this.

Don't get me wrong, I actually like doing this work a lot of time (most music teachers are awesome people and I'm happy to support them)... but there's no question in my mind that it's MORE extra effort per job, not less, as the people approving the prices always seem to think it should be.

------------------------------
Nathan Monteleone RPT
Fort Worth TX
(817) 675-9494
nbmont@gmail.com

Original Message:
Sent: 08-07-2024 14:31
From: Ryan Sowers
Subject: Institutional rate?

I work for a few small school districts and my rate varies. My cheapest one I've been doing for 20 years and I do creep it up a bit. I give them about a 40% discount off my retail rate - this is partially because my retail rate jumped substantially the past few years but I haven't jumped my institutions at the same rate. 

Luckily the schools that I deal with have been wonderful to work with so perhaps I've just been lucky. 

I can do 5 of these services in the same time I can do 3 retail jobs, so it's fairly competitive. I like the change of pace, and the ability to basically do whatever I want with these pianos. It's been one of the best environments to hone my troubleshooting skills and gain efficiency with tuning, voicing, and regulating. I am very generous in floating pitch with these situations since I know the pianos so well, and this is essential for maintenance. The previous technicians before me only seemed to tune the pianos, so they were all filthy and very undermaintained. 

Quick story: When I first took on one small district (30-40 pianos) I decided to write up a report card on all the pianos and gave them a grade in regards to hammer condition, regulation, cleaning, and keybushings. There were many Cs and Ds. I thought if I did this the district could come up with a little extra money to pick away and some of the maintenance. To our surprise the first year they came up with about 12,000 to catch up maintenance over the summer and about another 10,000 the next year. I had to buy extra keybushing cauls! I'm still enjoying the fruits of that endeavor because the pianos have not been too difficult to maintain. 

Perhaps these smaller districts are easier to work with? One of the reasons I keep at it is for the contact with the music teachers in the community. At this point most of the public school music teachers know who I am and many of them are great clients. Building up trust and doing more than "just tuning" has been an essential part of our model. 

Of course, I'm leaving out the most essential thing of all: My wife handles all the paperwork and scheduling! If I had to do it all myself, I probably walk away!

------------------------------
Ryan Sowers RPT
Olympia WA
(360) 480-5648

Original Message:
Sent: 08-07-2024 07:56
From: Peter Grey
Subject: Institutional rate?

I gave up on institutional work decades ago.  Not worth the hassle (except in a few rare cases). My income went up as a direct result exiting these venues. I prefer to answer to one owner with one set of ears and the sole decision-maker rather than committees and office people who basically know little about pianos. 

Peter Grey Piano Doctor 

------------------------------
Peter Grey
Stratham NH
(603) 686-2395
pianodoctor57@gmail.com

Original Message:
Sent: 08-07-2024 01:18
From: Blaine Hebert
Subject: Institutional rate?

I tend to charge the same price these days for home and institutional service because the service is about the same, whether spinet or grand.  Churches often need to run my bill through accounting, but that has seldom been a problem.

Recently I have taken on several school districts (someone local retired) and I have a few other institutions that are now requiring not just a W-9 but proof of liability insurance, proof of car insurance, proof of health coverage as well as elaborate contracts that must be printed, signed, scanned and sent in.

I would like to have an institutional price to account for all the hassels these institutions cause me, but them I become non-competitive on the market, and then some other schmuck gets hit with the hassels.

I have one local hospital that has an out-standing bill from Christmas, but the paperwork is endless!  They are used to dealing with corporations with accounting departments and I am a one-man operation.

------------------------------
Blaine Hebert RPT
Duarte CA
(626) 390-0512
------------------------------

Yeah I think that may be the key bit -- having somebody who specializes in handling the paperwork.  I don't, and school districts can be rather challenging in this regard...  For ex., the one I service requires an estimate be sent and approved before each set of tunings.  That means if a teacher needs one done quick because they have a recital next week (as you'd guess this happens somewhat regularly), I have an extra manual hoop I've gotta jump through to get that scheduled.  It doesn't necessarily take that long, but it's additional mental load and can interrupt whatever else I'm trying to do...  Whereas normal clients can just book automatically with me having to do very little -- I use Gazelle but I don't claim that's the only way to accomplish this.

Don't get me wrong, I actually like doing this work a lot of time (most music teachers are awesome people and I'm happy to support them)... but there's no question in my mind that it's MORE extra effort per job, not less, as the people approving the prices always seem to think it should be.

------------------------------
Nathan Monteleone RPT
Fort Worth TX
(817) 675-9494
nbmont@gmail.com

Original Message:
Sent: 08-07-2024 14:31
From: Ryan Sowers
Subject: Institutional rate?

I work for a few small school districts and my rate varies. My cheapest one I've been doing for 20 years and I do creep it up a bit. I give them about a 40% discount off my retail rate - this is partially because my retail rate jumped substantially the past few years but I haven't jumped my institutions at the same rate. 

Luckily the schools that I deal with have been wonderful to work with so perhaps I've just been lucky. 

I can do 5 of these services in the same time I can do 3 retail jobs, so it's fairly competitive. I like the change of pace, and the ability to basically do whatever I want with these pianos. It's been one of the best environments to hone my troubleshooting skills and gain efficiency with tuning, voicing, and regulating. I am very generous in floating pitch with these situations since I know the pianos so well, and this is essential for maintenance. The previous technicians before me only seemed to tune the pianos, so they were all filthy and very undermaintained. 

Quick story: When I first took on one small district (30-40 pianos) I decided to write up a report card on all the pianos and gave them a grade in regards to hammer condition, regulation, cleaning, and keybushings. There were many Cs and Ds. I thought if I did this the district could come up with a little extra money to pick away and some of the maintenance. To our surprise the first year they came up with about 12,000 to catch up maintenance over the summer and about another 10,000 the next year. I had to buy extra keybushing cauls! I'm still enjoying the fruits of that endeavor because the pianos have not been too difficult to maintain. 

Perhaps these smaller districts are easier to work with? One of the reasons I keep at it is for the contact with the music teachers in the community. At this point most of the public school music teachers know who I am and many of them are great clients. Building up trust and doing more than "just tuning" has been an essential part of our model. 

Of course, I'm leaving out the most essential thing of all: My wife handles all the paperwork and scheduling! If I had to do it all myself, I probably walk away!

------------------------------
Ryan Sowers RPT
Olympia WA
(360) 480-5648

Original Message:
Sent: 08-07-2024 07:56
From: Peter Grey
Subject: Institutional rate?

I gave up on institutional work decades ago.  Not worth the hassle (except in a few rare cases). My income went up as a direct result exiting these venues. I prefer to answer to one owner with one set of ears and the sole decision-maker rather than committees and office people who basically know little about pianos. 

Peter Grey Piano Doctor 

------------------------------
Peter Grey
Stratham NH
(603) 686-2395
pianodoctor57@gmail.com

Original Message:
Sent: 08-07-2024 01:18
From: Blaine Hebert
Subject: Institutional rate?

I tend to charge the same price these days for home and institutional service because the service is about the same, whether spinet or grand.  Churches often need to run my bill through accounting, but that has seldom been a problem.

Recently I have taken on several school districts (someone local retired) and I have a few other institutions that are now requiring not just a W-9 but proof of liability insurance, proof of car insurance, proof of health coverage as well as elaborate contracts that must be printed, signed, scanned and sent in.

I would like to have an institutional price to account for all the hassels these institutions cause me, but them I become non-competitive on the market, and then some other schmuck gets hit with the hassels.

I have one local hospital that has an out-standing bill from Christmas, but the paperwork is endless!  They are used to dealing with corporations with accounting departments and I am a one-man operation.

------------------------------
Blaine Hebert RPT
Duarte CA
(626) 390-0512
------------------------------

This is where I am at, districts want a quote for the entire year with all maintenence in it so they can budget... understandable.  Nice when you get all the paperwork out of the way, but a hassel until then.  I suspect that this issue has grown in recent years as I have  tuned for many schools over the years and  these issues have only come up recently.  I give multiple piano discounts as I can schedule several instruments in one location on one day and it saves driving and hauling tools out (though trips to the car for parts are inevitable).

Still, its nice to see that I'm not alone in this struggle.

------------------------------
Blaine Hebert RPT
Duarte CA
(626) 390-0512

Original Message:
Sent: 08-07-2024 14:55
From: Nathan Monteleone
Subject: Institutional rate?

Yeah I think that may be the key bit -- having somebody who specializes in handling the paperwork.  I don't, and school districts can be rather challenging in this regard...  For ex., the one I service requires an estimate be sent and approved before each set of tunings.  That means if a teacher needs one done quick because they have a recital next week (as you'd guess this happens somewhat regularly), I have an extra manual hoop I've gotta jump through to get that scheduled.  It doesn't necessarily take that long, but it's additional mental load and can interrupt whatever else I'm trying to do...  Whereas normal clients can just book automatically with me having to do very little -- I use Gazelle but I don't claim that's the only way to accomplish this.

Don't get me wrong, I actually like doing this work a lot of time (most music teachers are awesome people and I'm happy to support them)... but there's no question in my mind that it's MORE extra effort per job, not less, as the people approving the prices always seem to think it should be.

------------------------------
Nathan Monteleone RPT
Fort Worth TX
(817) 675-9494
nbmont@gmail.com

Original Message:
Sent: 08-07-2024 14:31
From: Ryan Sowers
Subject: Institutional rate?

I work for a few small school districts and my rate varies. My cheapest one I've been doing for 20 years and I do creep it up a bit. I give them about a 40% discount off my retail rate - this is partially because my retail rate jumped substantially the past few years but I haven't jumped my institutions at the same rate. 

Luckily the schools that I deal with have been wonderful to work with so perhaps I've just been lucky. 

I can do 5 of these services in the same time I can do 3 retail jobs, so it's fairly competitive. I like the change of pace, and the ability to basically do whatever I want with these pianos. It's been one of the best environments to hone my troubleshooting skills and gain efficiency with tuning, voicing, and regulating. I am very generous in floating pitch with these situations since I know the pianos so well, and this is essential for maintenance. The previous technicians before me only seemed to tune the pianos, so they were all filthy and very undermaintained. 

Quick story: When I first took on one small district (30-40 pianos) I decided to write up a report card on all the pianos and gave them a grade in regards to hammer condition, regulation, cleaning, and keybushings. There were many Cs and Ds. I thought if I did this the district could come up with a little extra money to pick away and some of the maintenance. To our surprise the first year they came up with about 12,000 to catch up maintenance over the summer and about another 10,000 the next year. I had to buy extra keybushing cauls! I'm still enjoying the fruits of that endeavor because the pianos have not been too difficult to maintain. 

Perhaps these smaller districts are easier to work with? One of the reasons I keep at it is for the contact with the music teachers in the community. At this point most of the public school music teachers know who I am and many of them are great clients. Building up trust and doing more than "just tuning" has been an essential part of our model. 

Of course, I'm leaving out the most essential thing of all: My wife handles all the paperwork and scheduling! If I had to do it all myself, I probably walk away!

------------------------------
Ryan Sowers RPT
Olympia WA
(360) 480-5648

Original Message:
Sent: 08-07-2024 07:56
From: Peter Grey
Subject: Institutional rate?

I gave up on institutional work decades ago.  Not worth the hassle (except in a few rare cases). My income went up as a direct result exiting these venues. I prefer to answer to one owner with one set of ears and the sole decision-maker rather than committees and office people who basically know little about pianos. 

Peter Grey Piano Doctor 

------------------------------
Peter Grey
Stratham NH
(603) 686-2395
pianodoctor57@gmail.com

Original Message:
Sent: 08-07-2024 01:18
From: Blaine Hebert
Subject: Institutional rate?

I tend to charge the same price these days for home and institutional service because the service is about the same, whether spinet or grand.  Churches often need to run my bill through accounting, but that has seldom been a problem.

Recently I have taken on several school districts (someone local retired) and I have a few other institutions that are now requiring not just a W-9 but proof of liability insurance, proof of car insurance, proof of health coverage as well as elaborate contracts that must be printed, signed, scanned and sent in.

I would like to have an institutional price to account for all the hassels these institutions cause me, but them I become non-competitive on the market, and then some other schmuck gets hit with the hassels.

I have one local hospital that has an out-standing bill from Christmas, but the paperwork is endless!  They are used to dealing with corporations with accounting departments and I am a one-man operation.

------------------------------
Blaine Hebert RPT
Duarte CA
(626) 390-0512
------------------------------

I work for a few small school districts and my rate varies. My cheapest one I've been doing for 20 years and I do creep it up a bit. I give them about a 40% discount off my retail rate - this is partially because my retail rate jumped substantially the past few years but I haven't jumped my institutions at the same rate. 

Luckily the schools that I deal with have been wonderful to work with so perhaps I've just been lucky. 

I can do 5 of these services in the same time I can do 3 retail jobs, so it's fairly competitive. I like the change of pace, and the ability to basically do whatever I want with these pianos. It's been one of the best environments to hone my troubleshooting skills and gain efficiency with tuning, voicing, and regulating. I am very generous in floating pitch with these situations since I know the pianos so well, and this is essential for maintenance. The previous technicians before me only seemed to tune the pianos, so they were all filthy and very undermaintained. 

Quick story: When I first took on one small district (30-40 pianos) I decided to write up a report card on all the pianos and gave them a grade in regards to hammer condition, regulation, cleaning, and keybushings. There were many Cs and Ds. I thought if I did this the district could come up with a little extra money to pick away and some of the maintenance. To our surprise the first year they came up with about 12,000 to catch up maintenance over the summer and about another 10,000 the next year. I had to buy extra keybushing cauls! I'm still enjoying the fruits of that endeavor because the pianos have not been too difficult to maintain. 

Perhaps these smaller districts are easier to work with? One of the reasons I keep at it is for the contact with the music teachers in the community. At this point most of the public school music teachers know who I am and many of them are great clients. Building up trust and doing more than "just tuning" has been an essential part of our model. 

Of course, I'm leaving out the most essential thing of all: My wife handles all the paperwork and scheduling! If I had to do it all myself, I probably walk away!

I gave up on institutional work decades ago.  Not worth the hassle (except in a few rare cases). My income went up as a direct result exiting these venues. I prefer to answer to one owner with one set of ears and the sole decision-maker rather than committees and office people who basically know little about pianos. 

Peter Grey Piano Doctor 

I tend to charge the same price these days for home and institutional service because the service is about the same, whether spinet or grand.  Churches often need to run my bill through accounting, but that has seldom been a problem.

Recently I have taken on several school districts (someone local retired) and I have a few other institutions that are now requiring not just a W-9 but proof of liability insurance, proof of car insurance, proof of health coverage as well as elaborate contracts that must be printed, signed, scanned and sent in.

I would like to have an institutional price to account for all the hassels these institutions cause me, but them I become non-competitive on the market, and then some other schmuck gets hit with the hassels.

I have one local hospital that has an out-standing bill from Christmas, but the paperwork is endless!  They are used to dealing with corporations with accounting departments and I am a one-man operation.

------------------------------
Blaine Hebert RPT
Duarte CA
(626) 390-0512
------------------------------

I tend to charge the same price these days for home and institutional service because the service is about the same, whether spinet or grand.  Churches often need to run my bill through accounting, but that has seldom been a problem.

Recently I have taken on several school districts (someone local retired) and I have a few other institutions that are now requiring not just a W-9 but proof of liability insurance, proof of car insurance, proof of health coverage as well as elaborate contracts that must be printed, signed, scanned and sent in.

I would like to have an institutional price to account for all the hassels these institutions cause me, but them I become non-competitive on the market, and then some other schmuck gets hit with the hassels.

I have one local hospital that has an out-standing bill from Christmas, but the paperwork is endless!  They are used to dealing with corporations with accounting departments and I am a one-man operation.

------------------------------
Blaine Hebert RPT
Duarte CA
(626) 390-0512
------------------------------

The universities and schools around here take between 1 and 3 months to pay their bills. I don't discount anyway for a variety of reasons, but when asked (by another technician) about offering a discount to them, I replied that when they start paying me on the day of, we can talk about it then. (By the way, this has happened before, they just don't like to do that.) Until then, they pay market rate, just like everyone else.

So far, that hasn't been a problem. Aside from having to wait for those checks to come in, I feel like I'm getting paid a fair amount, even with the extra paperwork. But it is really nice when an institution pays by card on the day of.  

------------------------------
Benjamin Sanchez, RPT
Piano Technician / Artisan
(256) 947-9999
www.professional-piano-services.com
www.FromZeroToSixFiguresBook.com

Original Message:
Sent: 08-07-2024 01:18
From: Blaine Hebert
Subject: Institutional rate?

I tend to charge the same price these days for home and institutional service because the service is about the same, whether spinet or grand.  Churches often need to run my bill through accounting, but that has seldom been a problem.

Recently I have taken on several school districts (someone local retired) and I have a few other institutions that are now requiring not just a W-9 but proof of liability insurance, proof of car insurance, proof of health coverage as well as elaborate contracts that must be printed, signed, scanned and sent in.

I would like to have an institutional price to account for all the hassels these institutions cause me, but them I become non-competitive on the market, and then some other schmuck gets hit with the hassels.

I have one local hospital that has an out-standing bill from Christmas, but the paperwork is endless!  They are used to dealing with corporations with accounting departments and I am a one-man operation.

------------------------------
Blaine Hebert RPT
Duarte CA
(626) 390-0512
------------------------------

Nonetheless, they internally believe they are doing you a big favor, and therefore you owe them. With only a few exceptions you are just another tooth in the gears that run the system. Rest assured that someone hungrier than you will cater to their demands. So be it.

Peter Grey Piano Doctor 

------------------------------
Peter Grey
Stratham NH
(603) 686-2395
pianodoctor57@gmail.com

Original Message:
Sent: 08-08-2024 08:44
From: Benjamin Sanchez
Subject: Institutional rate?

The universities and schools around here take between 1 and 3 months to pay their bills. I don't discount anyway for a variety of reasons, but when asked (by another technician) about offering a discount to them, I replied that when they start paying me on the day of, we can talk about it then. (By the way, this has happened before, they just don't like to do that.) Until then, they pay market rate, just like everyone else.

So far, that hasn't been a problem. Aside from having to wait for those checks to come in, I feel like I'm getting paid a fair amount, even with the extra paperwork. But it is really nice when an institution pays by card on the day of.  

------------------------------
Benjamin Sanchez, RPT
Piano Technician / Artisan
(256) 947-9999
www.professional-piano-services.com
www.FromZeroToSixFiguresBook.com

Original Message:
Sent: 08-07-2024 01:18
From: Blaine Hebert
Subject: Institutional rate?

I tend to charge the same price these days for home and institutional service because the service is about the same, whether spinet or grand.  Churches often need to run my bill through accounting, but that has seldom been a problem.

Recently I have taken on several school districts (someone local retired) and I have a few other institutions that are now requiring not just a W-9 but proof of liability insurance, proof of car insurance, proof of health coverage as well as elaborate contracts that must be printed, signed, scanned and sent in.

I would like to have an institutional price to account for all the hassels these institutions cause me, but them I become non-competitive on the market, and then some other schmuck gets hit with the hassels.

I have one local hospital that has an out-standing bill from Christmas, but the paperwork is endless!  They are used to dealing with corporations with accounting departments and I am a one-man operation.

------------------------------
Blaine Hebert RPT
Duarte CA
(626) 390-0512
------------------------------