About Jim Schmitt, RPT, Technician for 21+ years

I left a singing career because I could not be the husband and father I wanted to be. Piano service allowed me to make a good living and still sing and teach.

With our current economy, I was concerned people would not be very open to having a piano tuned, but I was wrong. The customers I interact with on a daily basis are dedicated to their art and passionate about the quality their pianos are in.

I am very thankful I was encouraged by Ray McCall to get the best education I could afford and had time for. Between The Randy Potter School of Piano Technology and some of the best piano technicians I know, who happen to be in the Portland Oregon Chapter of PTG, I began the path I am still on after 21 years; working to become the best piano technician I can be.

My business got started in the late 80s, when I began by applying some wise council. I let word of mouth and a progressive approach become the backbone of my marketing strategy. I didn't wait for my phone to ring; I worked at making my phone ring. I still give 1000 business cards away every year.

I seemed to have a good start on the piano service side of my business, but was less then happy with my skills in people service. I am learning that both are equally important. There are real problems if you have either one without the other.

Disaster can happen when a person is a very good piano technician but lacks people skill and the same disaster occurs when a person has good people skill but poor technical skill. I saw and experienced both these disasters first-hand. It is important to remember, a good marketing strategy only makes a bad business fall apart faster. After all, we don’t just service pianos we serve people. You really need competence for both.

My pursuit of a solution for this unbalanced problem began when one my clients told me that I was not serving her well because I was trying to do too much. I was trying to service her piano and be timely available for scheduling at the same time. Her suggested solution was to find someone to handle the phone and emails, something I thought was a bit extreme at first, but soon discovered that was exactly what I needed.

I found myself in a battle with technology that went on for years. I tried numerous scheduling and database systems, but consistently had a problem with getting then to work for my needs and the needs of my scheduler at the same time. After spending almost 2 decades fighting with systems, I decided it was time to win the fight by creating my own system, which is what you are looking at.

PianoScheduler was created based on everything I have needed and wanted in a scheduling system, and we have a commitment to continue to improve it so that it will meet the needs of other Service Professionals as well. Welcome to my solution.