How To Keep Clients Happy

There’s a semi famous story about an apprentice piano tuner doing his first show and being responsible for the tuning of the instrument. Famous piano player comes in after rehearsal and says: ‘this thing is horrible. You need to tune it right here, right now, this is an outrage’

Kid goes into the piano, checks everything out, sees that it is tuned to absolute perfection. There is zero wrong with the piano.

Comes out. Tells this to the player. Player goes into an absolute meltdown. Demanding he tune it. 

Senior piano tuning dude walks in, says: ‘excuse me sir, our apologies, I’m the senior member, let me handle this right away’.

Meltdown pauses. Man goes into the piano. Does some pling pling ting ting stuff. Comes out. Says: ‘please try again, you were absolutely right, there was something off but I think we got it now’

Player tries, is happy, disaster averted.

Kid asks the senior guy, behind the scenes, ‘listen, there was nothing off when I looked and the sound when he played after you did some stuff was exactly the same. What’s going on here?’

Senior tuning dude says: ‘I did absolutely fuck-all. Because there was nothing wrong.’

Kid is confused. Senior dude explains: ‘sometimes you just have to do pling pling ting ting, and say ‘wow, you were so right’ even though it makes no sense at all’.

Do with is informational what you will.

-Jason