Waiting Lists and Orders

[heatride]

I stopped taking orders in 07, the list too long and the stress too high.

I much prefer to have a list of names, folks who want to be contacted when I have one available. This has been working very good lately. I am flexable though and will except an occasional order, as long as it's not too detailed and is something I want to make.

Big, long waiting lists are not always good for the maker or customer...

I think this is about as good as you can do.

 

[Kevin Jones]

The process of makers informing collectors when they have knives available (instead of taking orders) probably works well for the most popular makers who instantly sell everything they make. However many collectors like to be involved in the selection/creative process too much for this to fly with most makers.

 

[Keith Montgomery]

As long as makers keep accurate records of orders, that is all I expect. One thing though, the records should be backed up and kept in a seperate area, just in case something like a fire destroys the originals.

 

[Hmathews]

Charlie and I work with three lists in the Twin Blades shop. First is the list of current orders. The second is a list of great customers that can get pretty much what they want (work after hours and weekends, not in place of current customers) and the third list is customers that couldn't possibly get on either of the other two lists. It is not easy to get on the second list and the third list is really hard to get on, not but a couple of people have made it so far. They just tried harder than others I guess.

The first list is the one we struggle with. The other two take care of themselves. If you take orders, you have a list of some kind. We wish it were otherwise, but it is not. We have thought about just making the knives we want to make and put them on our website for sale. That would take the customer (collector) input out of the equation and we have had some very good ideas come from that direction. But that option is still out there and it is very attractive. We are currently trying to slow down some because our delivery time has gotten longer than we want. We saw makers that had delivery times that were several years long and decided early on that we would not get caught in that trap.
While the list will likely always be there dictating what we are going to be making in the future, we will always have to find the time to make knives for shows as well as to expand and challenge our abilities. When we can’t find that time, additions to the first list will likely stop completely.

A deposit can become an extortion, or a tool for blackmail, and gives the potential customer too much leverage, which some will use to make your life miserable or damage your reputation. It's a little different when you are a merchant, as I am, but as a craftsman it can be a slippery slope.

I'm not really sure what this means other than it is ok for a merchant to take a deposit, but not a knifemaker? We are merchants as well as knifemakers. We charge sales tax and remit it to the gov't. We take inventories and pay property taxes, have a business location and do all the things a "real" business does. I spent 30 years in a business where deposits were an accepted daily practice. It is just not that difficult, but it is one more thing to keep up with. To me there are a lot of good reasons to accept deposits, but there are also good reasons not to. We don't accept deposits because we choose not to, even though we have people offer to pay them all the time. So far the additional security would not be worth the additional hassle.

 

[sidecutter]

i'm 55 y.o.. and now that i can afford to buy anything i want, why wait? theres too many GOOD production knives out there. busse, rat, falkniven, al mar,a.g. russel,SOG,emerson........but , hope to pick up a custom at BLADE.

 

[Gossman Knives]

I've followed exactly what Roger posted and it has been working very well for the last 5 years. The longest wait I've gotten to was 18 months. I've got it down to 6 months since going fulltime a year and a half ago.
Scott

 

[Kohai999]

i'm 55 y.o.. and now that i can afford to buy anything i want, why wait? theres too many GOOD production knives out there. busse, rat, falkniven, al mar,a.g. russel,SOG,emerson........but , hope to pick up a custom at BLADE.

Maybe you should stick to production knives until you can get educated as to what separates good from great.

Then, and only then, imo, will you see why waiting for what you want is "better".

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson

 

[Lorien]

I'm not really sure what this means other than it is ok for a merchant to take a deposit, but not a knifemaker? We are merchants as well as knifemakers. We charge sales tax and remit it to the gov't. We take inventories and pay property taxes, have a business location and do all the things a "real" business does. I spent 30 years in a business where deposits were an accepted daily practice. It is just not that difficult, but it is one more thing to keep up with. To me there are a lot of good reasons to accept deposits, but there are also good reasons not to. We don't accept deposits because we choose not to, even though we have people offer to pay them all the time. So far the additional security would not be worth the additional hassle.

Hey, Harry, my point wasn't to diminish the business of a knifemaker, especially in comparison to my own livelihood as a merchant. I am also a bicycle repairman, which is a little more akin to doing handwork in that it is not a simple turnover of product supplied by a third party, (wholesaler). I actually value the work of a craftsman, over that of a middle man, generally and philosophically speaking.

I used those strong words, because sometimes things can go down that are serious business. I've seen lots of that kind of gnarl on this site, that's for sure.

I have A LOT of respect for those who can make a successful business of knifemaking. As you and your brother have done:thumbup:.

 

[Hmathews]

Lorien I've been watching your thread on the "handmade" knife and I think it is about time you upgraded yourself from merchant to craftsman.

I see the problems that show up around the forums too. Just like the one that started the other thread that spun off this one. It is serious to the people involved and should be taken care of. What you don't hear about is all the thousands of transactions that take place every year and don't have a problem. There are a bunch of good people on both sides of the table in this business, but it is the bad deals that create the threads with the most responses.
In any business I have ever dealt with it has always been cheaper to keep a good customer than to find a new one. We all make mistakes or have problems with something we made or sold sooner or later, and we end up with a customer that is dissatisfied. It is how a business man deals with these problems that separate the good ones from the bad ones. Many times you can take a situation with a customer that is dissatisfied and win him over by being honest, backing what you made or sold and accepting responsibility for the problems. You can't do this by ducking the issue or by avoiding contact. If a customer has a problem with a knife, what you have, as the maker, is the chance to demonstrate how good your guarantee is to that customer. Hopefully you don't get this opportunity very often, so you want to make the best of it. The goal here is not to just satisfy the customer, but to make him glad he did business with you to start with and comfortable with the idea of doing business with you in the future. Depending on how you handle the situation, it can pay dividends for years to come, or cost you dearly in the long run.

Sorry if I got off the topic a little. To me there are many different ways of handling a business, but having a clear focus on the customer relationship is important to them all.

 

[jdm61]

I have turned down at least one deposit offer. In the end, the customer ended up wanting a more expensive knife anyway, so good for me and for him. I probably wouldn't ask for up front money for handle material unless it was something that I knew that I couldn't get my money out of, like a stupid expensive piece of ivory or a large hidden tang sized block of musk ox horn on a plain carbon steel knife. The only "up front" money that i want sometimes is the money for the sheath before I ship the knife to Paul Long. In those cases, I would just have Paul ship the knife directly to the customer unless I want pics of it.

 

[SharpByCoop]

I see the problems that show up around the forums too. Just like the one that started the other thread that spun off this one. It is serious to the people involved and should be taken care of. What you don't hear about is all the thousands of transactions that take place every year and don't have a problem. There are a bunch of good people on both sides of the table in this business, but it is the bad deals that create the threads with the most responses.

In any business I have ever dealt with it has always been cheaper to keep a good customer than to find a new one. We all make mistakes or have problems with something we made or sold sooner or later, and we end up with a customer that is dissatisfied. It is how a business man deals with these problems that separate the good ones from the bad ones. Many times you can take a situation with a customer that is dissatisfied and win him over by being honest, backing what you made or sold and accepting responsibility for the problems. You can't do this by ducking the issue or by avoiding contact. If a customer has a problem with a knife, what you have, as the maker, is the chance to demonstrate how good your guarantee is to that customer. Hopefully you don't get this opportunity very often, so you want to make the best of it. The goal here is not to just satisfy the customer, but to make him glad he did business with you to start with and comfortable with the idea of doing business with you in the future. Depending on how you handle the situation, it can pay dividends for years to come, or cost you dearly in the long run.

It's a long paragraph, but chock full of Wisdom on being successful.

Thanks, Harry!

Coop