We were lucky to catch up with Thomas Woods recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Thomas, thanks for joining us today. To kick things off, we’d love to hear about things you or your brand do that diverge from the industry standard

I started to get curious about the engineering of a piano, and I recall discussing the topic in my senior year in college as an exit paper I wrote. After school, I started to dive into the workings of the instrument, tuning temperaments, why things don’t always work correctly. I recalled taking woodwind repair classes as a requirement with the band program I was with, but I soon realized that the piano was an instrument that most pianists hadn’t been educated on how to fix common issues. I soon after decided to start DFW Piano Tuning with the mission being to provide concert hall quality tunings at affordable prices.

There is a relative shortage in qualified technicians in this field, and moreso since the onset of the recent pandemic. The company maintains our original mission statement, and provides the highest possible level of service at each and every appointment. Every nuance is addressed, each note thoughtfully corrected, no upcharges during the visit. Just fair and quality service time and time again.

Thomas, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Like so many families with children, I had a balanced upbringing with my extra-curriculars. I grew up playing almost all sports, but around age 8, I started piano lessons. The piano made sense to me, for whatever reason, and I did pretty well. Music theory, competitions, etc…

I ended up playing trumpet in middle school, but still stuck with piano in addition to my band commitments. By my senior year in high school, I was playing with my future university’s jazz ensemble, in addition to having a pretty steady professional work schedule as a pianist in the DFW area.

Eventually the piano performance side and the piano servicing side intersected, and DFW Piano Tuning was born, officially. Since then, it’s been my goal to establish a reliable company in the area that you know will provide quality service. If I take my car to the mechanic, they could tell me I need a new fan belt, battery, and 4 new tires. Maybe I do, maybe I don’t. However, with us, you don’t have to worry about the “maybe I do, maybe I don’t”. If any of our services would benefit your piano, we let you know at the end of the appointment and allow you time to budget and decide if you want the service. I think that’s one of the biggest differences in what we offer. From firsthand experience, I know for a fact that there are other service providers in town that will not even work on the piano unless you let them haul it to the shop for repairs that aren’t necessary. I get several calls a month for those situations, and it’s usually an easy fix that takes only a few minutes.

The unfortunate side to some of these practices is that our calendar fills up quickly, and often times there is a delay in getting out to visit our clients. I’ve made some efforts to streamline our service calendar, and it is much improved. Additionally, many of our clientele take advantage of our online booking system, and pre-book their 6 or 12 month regular service visit. It’s not always easy to initially get in, not unlike a dentist or doctor’s office, but once you are, we can get you scheduled accordingly going forward.

What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?

Our client base is very diverse. Back in the pre-automobile days, the piano technician would arrive in regional areas on horse and carriage and work on pianos on specific weeks of the year. Everyone in those towns knew that the piano tuner would be there, say, the 2nd week of June. And towns were small enough, and technicians were scarce enough, that this system worked. After this, the next biggest shift in obtaining clients was word of mouth, and publications like the Yellowpages. Fast forward several decades, we now have the internet – and with that comes countless social media platforms that can be advertised on, or discussed upon. But, a kind word online is essentially a word of mouth referral, and each and every one of those is appreciated in any business operation.

Have any books or other resources had a big impact on you?

The book, if you’d even call it that, that stands out to me the most is called “Who Moved My Cheese” by Spencer Johnson. It’s a book about change, adapting to change, and modifying for change. It’s also about finding your own way in the world. It’s a short read, but impactful.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.dfwpianotuning.com
• Instagram: @dfwpianotuning
• Facebook: @dfwpianotuning
• Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/thomas-woods-3a13254b
• Twitter: @dfwpianotuning
• Youtube: www.youtube.com/channel/UCsAg7aR97riUO34wqSYrRtw
• Yelp: m.yelp.com/biz/dfw-piano-tuning-colleyville?

Image Credits
Matt Westmoreland