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  #1  
Old 04-23-2008, 03:23 PM
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Jroettger Jroettger is offline
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Default The storm before the calm

The last six months my custom jewelry and engraving business has been on a sprinting marathon just to keep up with the demand. The old, "When it rains it pours." syndrome. Throughout my career these peak periods have often caused as much harm as good in terms of lost clients and people who come to think I just don't care about them. With jewelry people don't normally want to wait a super long time for an estimate and design. The problem actually is getting them an estimate and some design work to close the sale. Usually when your jammed the last thing you want to work on is another sale. Finishing the orders on hand seems to be the most compelling thing. Any advice about how to queue
people up and keep them waiting would be helpful for damage control during the jam times. Thanks, Jim
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  #2  
Old 04-28-2008, 05:27 PM
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Danny C Danny C is offline
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Default Re: The storm before the calm

Nope - no idea at all. Its a constant problem, from what I've read. All you can do is explain to them the time it takes and the backlog you have. They really want it "next day" and don't care what it takes to do that (hand or machine). Jewelry, especially is a "sudden impulse" buy and it usually has a date stamp to it (birthday, special event, etc) and the got you something special is great for the person but it takes 2 months to get it to the giver, so that is not going to work.

Soo............... Nope - No idea.
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  #3  
Old 04-28-2008, 06:21 PM
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Lightbulb Re: The storm before the calm

Depends if your doing work for other jewellers as I do. Or just your own
retail clients.

What I've been doing lately for the other jewellers is letting go of the troubled
accounts. Those that seem to take forever to pay. It doesn't stop them
from bringing work, but if you classify them as casual accounts, or COD accounts.
It cuts down on the time drain. This leave more time to concentrate on high
end custom order accounts that pay on time. The only other cure for the
problem is to hire help or farm out part of the job that can be done by
some other company at a reasonable rate. Casting, Molds, or rough finishing.

If your doing just your own clients. Again Help is the answere. This I have
with my wife who know personally the private retail clients.
She dates everything and gives subtle hints about what's due.

Getting into a definite routine, also helps. Like I will take off Saturday and have
fun. To many seven day weeks will kill your creative spirit.

Talk to ya later,
Jim
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  #4  
Old 04-28-2008, 10:05 PM
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Default Re: The storm before the calm

Thanks for the reply guys. I work totally alone without my wife's help. It's all mine. I've tried hiring people but in my experience the people who succeed at hiring people always have to let go of the quality and settle for medium level craftsmanship. In order to hire someone great one would have to charge the highest prices in the city (at great peril and stress level) and sacrifice time to being a business manager. They say in every business you can only offer two of the following: quality, price, service. Right now I have great quality and reasonable price (still very expensive though because of the extra labor factor in engraved work) with lousy service. To hire someone great would mean out this world prices leaving me to only work for the very wealthy and not the middle class which I trust better and who are less scarce. The hardest part is when old customers come in and you could used to get them an estimate in a day, a design in a week and a finished piece in 3 to 4 more weeks. It's hard for them to accept that now you need several months to get your best work done. One of the problems too is that with my ever growing engraving business people come in and drop stuff off that doesn't need any complex estimating or upfront design work. All of that stuff goes to the front of the line because it's less complicated, mostly lettering or pattern engraving on rings and I just pull the prices off my established cost sheet.
Yeah jewelry does run on a fast schedule.
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Old 04-29-2008, 06:23 AM
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Lightbulb Re: The storm before the calm

Scheduling is what you need. Not only scheduling a day off. You have to
portion the week, and set aside a time to do estimates on larger items.

My prime working time when I do my best work is from first thing in the
morning to about 5:30. I only have my wife helping me on book work and
that's not all the time, she also has her own career. So I'm a one man show.
I opted to do work for other jewellers because they can do the selling for me
all day. I don't have to waste my prime working time chatting with customers
as much.

Working in a small town, I have only a few private customers. I don't push
it to much. Two reason for this, security and I hate being interrupted.

So, between 7am and 5pm I try to sit at the bench and push jobs forward.
After six I do estimate and computer work on designs.
If there is any time left and I feel like it, I'll do simple work, Stuff that doesn't.
require much thought. I like not to work past 11pm.:willy_nilly:
After that I watch TV with the wife.

Monday nights at 9pm is Rome and I like to watch that. It's sort of a treat.

Hope this helps.
Jim
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  #6  
Old 04-29-2008, 11:19 AM
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Default Re: The storm before the calm

Hi Jim,

Did you ever think about using a subcontractor or two for the backlog? You could farm out some of the overflow until you get caught up. If you are selling retail, you should be able to still make money on the sub work also.

let me know if i can help.

take care,

Tom
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Old 04-29-2008, 11:09 PM
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Default Re: The storm before the calm

Thanks Tom and Jim. I run a little one man skyway store and it can be a zoo at times in terms of interruptions. However it's usually busy around lunch and then quiet most of the day. I charge well for jewelry repairs to discourage them. Can't delegate because if something serious is gonna get wrecked I want to do it myself which has never yet happened in over twenty five years (a rarity in the jewelry world where expensive stuff is commonly destroyed.) My wife is student with an aversion to family businesses so I think my only hope is to wait till my daughter who's 9 gets old enough to help me. There are too many times though when I have a file over stuffed with notes taken from people wanting estimates and designs. I do the metal work and engraving exclusively at the store and the wax work, engraving layouts and designs and estimates at home in the evening. "Squeaky wheel gets the grease" theory on customer service. I never do any job related work on Sundays. Some customers have adapted others just get miffed and take their stones back and go. I spent about 15 years being a subcontractor for other jewelers and then 9 years years ago I was able to open my own store with an eminent domain settlement received from the city when they destroyed the building I had my former studio in. I'll probably stay retail the rest of my career as it affords me the greatest opportunity to advance my own designs as an independent artist to the community. I got tired of always making other peoples designs and being anonymous.
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Old 05-02-2008, 02:51 PM
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Default Re: The storm before the calm

Not sure how well they transfer over, but the standard tips from the computer consulting world for someone in your situation would be:

1) Raise your prices. If you're getting overwhelmed with work then your price is too low. You might just be the cheapest in the area or you might be the best, working at the price of the 'average'. Either way your services are obviously valuable. Raise your rates every six months until the work starts to fall off. Announce the upcoming price increase well in advance and give your existing customers a 'grace period' at the current price.

2) To avoid boom & bust cycles the time to market is when you're too busy to do it. The best ways to market are the ones that happen automatically, all the time, and without too much effort on your part. Things like sending / including a 'thank you for using our services' note on completion; 'come-backer' coupons - the ones where you get a discount on future work; if you're the right sort a column / regular article is a great way to keep your name out there.

3) Fire your bad customers. If you look at your records you'll find that you have two groups of customers that stand out. One group you love to work for. They pay on time and they're easy to work with. The other group is a pain to work for - and they probably pay late too. Get rid of those clients and your life will improve. Those bad clients are probably eating up a big chunk of your time without providing a matching chunk of your income. If they are paying for all that time tack on an 'aggravation tax' to their fee until they either find someone else or are paying you enough you like having them as customers. One of the best ways I've heard of to 'fire' a bad customer is to explain to them that, unfortunately, you just aren't going to have the time to give them the attention they deserve but you do know a guy... Give them the card of the competitor you like the least. Tell the soon-to-be-ex-client that they should not mention you because you don't want the guy to know you couldn't handle the job (or whatever story you think will keep them from finding out where all these 'wonderful' customers are coming from for the longest time.)

4) Charge a non-refundable fee for estimates / designs. Charge your full rate on the basis that you're doing your best work. While the fee is non-refundable make it applicable - if you end up with the job then the fee is applied to the final bill. If they take your work on the estimate / design to someone else, well, that's why you got paid for doing it.

Hope these can be some help!
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  #9  
Old 05-05-2008, 10:02 PM
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Default Re: The storm before the calm

Thanks SVD. I've always been afraid to charge for estimates and designs. I usually start by qualifying the customer. I don't give any estimate at the first meeting, even is they ask for a rough ballpark estimate. I then think it over for about a week and give them an exact cost. If they still want to go ahead I do the design and close over 90% of the time. I build the design cost into it and no drawing ever leaves the studio. Letting them think about it for a week means they are serious and will most likely commission the design. I think maybe raising the price has to be my only option. Working in a vacuum though it can be hard to know what the right price is in the market place. I know of only one other store in town that can match my work. They do the big ads in the newspaper and charge out the roof. Only the most wealthy people with more money than time could begin to afford the work there. Because they charge a fortune they can also afford to hire the best talent in the area. I have my little skyway store in downtown. It's just me the store is clean and artful but it doesn't look like Tiffany's loaded up with heavy rocks. I started my business on a shoestring and it shows a bit. I don't think I'm pulling off the high end yet. Thing is with engraving too is that everyone is used to knowing some old guy who did crooked sloppy work for waaaaay cheap and set the community standard. Even wealthy people seem to be floored by the cost of doing nice quality work that no one can find fault with. In this day and age everyone expects it to look perfect as a machine but wants the old sloppy guys price. If the letter leans one way or is off center they can hold you against the wall for it and probably will. Custom metal work seems to be a little easier to charge for because your doing something in 3D. It seems that young people who are first time engraving customers are the most appreciative and are more receptive to the high cost of doing it. I'll have to work on raising my prices, just hope I don't find myself priced into a high corner!
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  #10  
Old 05-06-2008, 10:35 AM
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Default Re: The storm before the calm

I'd give the off-hand ballpark estimates to some folks, but more in the form of "probably more than you want to spend" and "not cheap, but worth it" just to save their time and yours. But you probably do that with the folks where it's obvious.

I wonder if you can make up a plaque with some 'examples':

'old sloppy guy work' = $X
'machine engraved' = $Y
'Custom work' = $XX

and use it to help direct people (and their expectations). Find someone just starting out in your area to do the 'entry level' example, hit a 'Things Remembered' for the machine example, and do the top end sample yourself.

It'd be a quick way to show the different levels available - and an easy way for you to send the folks who really only want kiosk level machine cut lettering to the appropriate places so they don't waste their money and wind up unhappy.

Sometimes you get more work from turning down work then from taking it. I know that if someone tells me that they're overkill for what I'm looking for and steers me toward a someone who'll do a good job of what I want I make sure to go back to them when I want something at their level - and I recommend them to others.

As to pricing, one thing I learned from photography (yeah, I do a lot of things) that it's better to be too high than too low. If someone has a budget of $2,000 for something and you say you can do it for $500 then they tend to think (even if they don't say) "We were looking for a professional." If you say $5,000 then they'll usually tell you their budget isn't that high and you can negotiate down to what they can afford - which is really nice if you had privately estimated you could do it for $500.

But only you know your situtation and it's your livelyhood we're talking about so go with your gut, make small changes, and be prepared to re-adjust as needed.
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  #11  
Old 05-07-2008, 09:56 AM
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Default Re: The storm before the calm

When reading all the comment replies from you, and that you have a small shop that isn't overly furnished, I might make a suggestion about the walls that "might" help.

Put up some good pictures of your work, and some of you actually working on a piece - not a shop scene, a close up of your hands doing the work, with the background very neatly arranged, but not bare, neatly arranged tools need to be there.

The cost of this could be expensive (professional) or cheap (photography students). I'd pick the students myself. You get several things here.

1) The "class project" would be to take professional pics of your shop and work.

2) The students whose work is voted best by the class (maybe 2) gets an engraved something or other.

3) The pics are posted with a sign saying how they came about. Each pic is "carefully" signed by the taker and properly mounted (borderless) or framed (more expensive).

4) Signs can be posted outside to bring people in to see the pics

5) An anonymous call to the local paper would bring out the news to showcase the pics of the students work (who like to tell their friends and family about where their pic is)

I realize you have too much work as it is - but this is for the notorius slow time when you have very little.

Just an idea to add to the shops decor, not to drum up business. You could just stop at the student pics and be done with it - I kinda got carried away with the rest cut and paste as needed.
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Old 05-07-2008, 10:22 AM
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Default Re: The storm before the calm

Good ideas Danny!

I can even think of one addition (if you've got the time). Write up / find a short (about 500 words) article on Hand Engraving. Offer it to the local paper as a 'sidebar' item for the story on the class project. Give a reporter the choice between a) going out and doing research and original word and b) running something handed to them, well, most tend to go for option B if they can.

The idea on the sidebar is to explain the basic difference between hand and machine engraving and why it's worth the extra cost.

I've done a lot of 500 word articles and I always tell people "A 500 word article is just enough space to tell people what you would tell them about if you had the room."
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Old 05-09-2008, 01:36 AM
truk truk is offline
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Wink Re: The storm before the calm

its good to see all this advice, i might chime in with, dont let that backlog get you depressed. after all, it is job security. then again it is a relief to be caught up with nothing to do but make yourself an expresso with ice cream. my average backlog can be anywhere from 2 weeks to 45 days, with some back-burner jobs pushing several months. some people push which ussually results in a longer day and full price, it took some experience to give real estimates, in the early days i was a bit more critical, but now has become second nature and i am not afraid to be honest with the customer, i figure if you give them enough info, they will realize they are dealing with a proffessional. if they don't realize it then , i ask them how much they want to spend, kinda brash, but effective, ,,, after all, that is the bottom line. repeat customers are the best, they know how you work and i enjoy dealing with them, they are appreciative and i give them preference when possible,
on scheduling, i give the standard answer of 2 weeks, this lets me shuffle what i actually do,or don't do, includes interuptions, other people's "emergencies",
quick and simple jobs get priority,and keep your customers calling, its kinda fun to see their jaws drop when you tell them to wait while you do it, some times an unforseen hour, but worth it when they don't have to make the trip again,
good weather, good health are factors also,,,,
there are times too when i am suprised at how well things are going .
and then there are hiccups ,snags,and snafu's which are always costly.
all in all, work is still, ,,work,,
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  #14  
Old 05-09-2008, 07:45 AM
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Default Re: The storm before the calm

Quote:
Originally Posted by truk
its good to see all this advice, i might chime in with, dont let that backlog get you depressed. after all, it is job security. then again it is a relief to be caught up with nothing to do but make yourself an expresso with ice cream. my average backlog can be anywhere from 2 weeks to 45 days, with some back-burner jobs pushing several months.
At the moment, I getting completely caught up. I sure it won't last, but I'm
changing gears and going into model making and learning new programs
on the computer. Corel graphic Suite X4 upgrade just came out.

I'm continuing to work on the Catalogue and doing ring to make ring to
put in the jewellers cases on consignment.

I will have to put these fun thing aside late in September. For the summer
I will be doing new designs and really giving the New Plamcontrol a dynamic
work out. We'll see what's she's really got. I think is going to one my favorite
summers.

Talk to ya later,
Jim
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