BassTractor

Nah. 95% of customers are OK, and they will get their answers either in the shop, by phone or by e-mail, and everything is fine and dandy. The last 5% though can ruin your whole business unless you're careful. I'm still talking about everyday consumers - not B2B or similar. In a local hi-fi shop the percentage of tyre kickers was so high (my estimate is roughly 25%) that the shop owner had to wisely wade; in my own line of work (mostly high-end sea kayaks, but locally we also catered for beginners), the percentage of loss-generating customers was felt to be well below 5%. Sfunny you should mention this about an initial enquiry possibly leading to them one day being your biggest and most important customer, as your words are nearly verbatim what I said to my wife before starting our last firm. I wanted to also cater for people who only asked for information, cater for undecisive types who use literally 40 of your hours before maybe buying ... the works. BUT: not cater to everyone all of the time. Some examples then from the kayaking firm: - a boarding school harshly demands we set up an offer for 15 cheap kayaks as well as a maintenance plan and budget. It's obvious to me the school wants to use my firm and my time so the school is better prepared when talking to the next firm, who sell enormous amounts of cheap kayaks cheaply. No go. - a customer living close to my brand colleague in Sweden (who can deliver the same kayak well under my Norwegian cost price) phoning me in the early hours on a Sunday and demands I spend several hours on giving her all the info she wants in Norwegian before she heads off to Sweden where that shop is open on Sundays. No go. (Or rather: Go that once, but I never repeated it.) - an anonymous, quite entitled, e-mail of which the full text literally (but in Norwegian) is: "<Competitor's boat> vs. <your boat>. Advantages and disadvantages. Discuss." No go. Pick up the phone and call me, and we'll analyse your needs, and after that, if I think you're best off with the competitor's boat (if I can without having seen you paddle), then I'll send you to that competitor. - most regular enquiries, including time consumers and people just after info: Go. It's not as if we hated customers. I only wish to express that the coin has different sides, not just the side of the customer-to-be, who can also sometimes act quite entitledly. In general, these things are not black and white, and your previous post seemed. to me. to describe that they are. In case: they may indeed be that way in your line of work, but then I don't get the impression everyday consumers are your main customer base.

Slightly playing the devil's advocate here, maybe the supplier is working hard taking care of their existing customers, and prioritizes that work above answering one of the gazillions of e-mail questions they receive - often of a quite entitled and/or frivolous character or the result of drugs or alcohol, and most of the time not leading to a contract. In several lines of business, typically selling goods to end-users, you can't do without e-mail, but a certain percentage of "customers" will shoot off mails that shouldn't be answered, or not answered in full. The business will have to wade and decide, and will unavoidably make mistakes when doing so. That's not to take BD's side. While Mark has been good with me on every occasion, I read the negative reports with growing sadness-not-anger. BD has a problem, and it stems not only from choices Mark has made, but also from stuff that was mentioned in earlier threads, but that I'm not willing to repeat. People in need of finding out could use BC's search function. Sorry for being cryptic.

Aye, from all of the examples of his communication, it's quite obvious our man Mick derives a warped sense of self-esteem from his destructive actions. He may be a sad little loser, but still a sad little loser who must accept responsibility for his actions, and one who must be stopped. Hm. Now why am I suddenly having thoughts about famous politicians?

Back then we were told that the band changed their name from Stranglers IV to The Stranglers, but this probably is untrue. The WP entry for RN now says it was more of a joke of sorts, as if RN was their fourth album.

IMS, the gambling was mentioned in the article about the court case after his rental caravan fraud, so: yes indeed. Edit: Yup! https://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/news/local-news/single-mum-pensioners-ingoldmells-caravan-3743529

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You haven't done the maths, have you? From Mark's pics it should be evident they go to -34.6Hz. 😉

Apparently we're slow to forget. Must be something about the excruciating, ball-grabbing absurdity of it all - - one that just won't leave ya.

Wot? @ambient is called Mark? ... 😱 I always thought he's called Kevin! 😐 😁

Ah, oui, mais en France nous avons "Le Zeppelin".

In the 80s, an English rock musician "had his own style" (or summat), as reported in the media. He responded along the lines of: "What they seem to not realise is that I just repeat my limitations". IMHO that deserves respect.

... as I said to Einstein once. 😁

I've just done it 170 times - once for each address on my road. BC robbers will have to break into many a house before finally finding my dwellings with the inconspicuous orange Aygo outside. Oh, and I've had to sell all my gear, so am already laughing when thinking of their faces. Sfun being poor! 😊

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Yeah, it would've been.

Gentle Giant: The Power and The Glory" as in: the original album, without the ghastly bonus track that was the single "The Power and The Glory".

Great guitar player indeed. Sad to read he's had to call it a day.

The Dixie Dregs (later Dregs) aren't mentioned that often. Here's their "Cruise Control" - originally on "Free Fall" but here in its shorter version on "Unsung Heroes". Listen to Andy West kicking some behind on that bass!

No, using the same written notes, you make it sound exactly like Errol Gardner. That's the very point: it's individual expression! it certainly doesn't sound like Erroll Garner though (and as indicated, that's a good thing). 😐 😉

Why would you want to know, Dave? It's rubbish and needs replacing!

Can't talk for others, and especially not for concert pianists, but IME the reading during performance maybe is as much a habit as it is a need. Of course it depends massively: sight reading during depping is not the same as preparing a concert for three to six months. In the latter case, I'd say the reading possibly mainly is about the aid that's in handwritten text and symbols in the score, and the whole score giving one's memory some help as to where in the piece one is (and where one wants to go). An orchestra musician would write down specific instructions previously given by the director, for example. Me, I'd write: "Don't slow down here. Remember the audience wants to go home and watch the evening news!" I think there seems to be a certain moving away from reading whilst performing. I've seen more and more directors asking orchestras to play by heart and become more free - in several cases the whole orchestra standing and moving about somewhat. However, what I've seen of this myself often felt a bit sheepish; these classical musicians do not always tend to be virtual Mick Jaggers.

Same here. I'd have to check but it might even be my only exception. A special mentioning of Tatiana Troyanos from me here. Great choice for the part. Powerful voice used effectively. Great musical understanding. IMHO she outshines the others by far. I wish I knew more of her work.

LOL. Yeah, feels like home. Forgot to say that for @tom1946, such a transport firm probably is very expensive. You'd probably need to be a regular to get a good deal. OTOH, IME personal contact is everything when dealing with these firms, so who knows.

...but as a serious remark, I routinely sent six yard kayaks by lorry or boat. A bit more expensive than a 20 gram letter you take to the post office, but still. IOW, maybe it's best to not find "small parcels" carriers but transport firms catering for businesses.