Inspiring Quality and Buyer Confidence
Knocking their socks off with value and service.
You alone are the regulator of what you produce. You decide the quality of your product and the image you want to promote to the world. I have found that in these days of mass production and gimmicks, products of dubious quality have created a buying audience with lowered expectations. The common trend of “get-em-once-and-get-em-good” is a short sighted business model and is self-consuming.
Yours is the opportunity to knock the socks off clients with customer service, attention to details and fine products at a reasonable price. My work regularly becomes cherished mementos in the hands of satisfied clients around the world. Quality and value throughout the process, go hand in hand.
Reputation is more important online than if you have a brick-and-mortar store. It takes about 100 positive “5 Star” reviews to amend 1 bad review. If you cannot meet a deadline or provide service exactly as promised, you must contact the client as soon as you realize it and either get their permission to continue or refund and cancel their order. Most customers are perfectly reasonable and will be happy that they are being kept in the loop. Those that aren’t (maybe 5%) will not be happy whatever you do. Refund, cancel and move on!
That said, a negative review is not the end of the world and customers who do their “due diligence” when researching your work will recognize a “Karen” review over all of the raves. Online shoppers are savvy.
Quality Production
Even if your work is primarily custom, personalized and unique, organizing your workflow can save a great deal of time in production and can lead to inspiration for new products. The challenge to consistently produce quality products, equal to or better than your listing pictures and descriptions, involves:
Choosing the best raw materials available. Selection of materials and hardware are crucial to how your products will excel in appearance and performance. Speaking for my products, I search for wood with a beautiful color but straight grain and strength to hold up to their intended use. Carving names as I do, I want the maximum amount of “long grain”, connecting each letter to ensure strength. While wood from burls has wildly dramatic and gorgeous figure and can be very hard, they are also very weak as the grain runs every which-a-way, making them more suitable for veneering to stronger substrates.
“Slow and steady wins the race”. Each production session should begin with an organized and methodical plan of action. Take your time during the production process. Repetition is key. If you concentrate on making accurate cuts or assemblies (however slowly) your digits will learn what is expected of them and will naturally speed up. This not only improves the final outcome but helps avoid time consuming mistakes. Items that require steps, like glue-ups and/or painting, need dry times and should be started first, allowing you to create the simpler orders while you wait for them to cure. Also, tackling the most difficult or time consuming orders first gets them out of the way while you are of fresh mind and body.
Using the same techniques and timing to ensure uniformity. Creating multiple items for an order should start with stock selection. An order of two or more custom items should come from the same batch of raw materials and rough-sized the same. If possible, you should also create them all within the same work session to keep them uniform. Even a lunch break during an order can break your “groove” in producing a consistent run of products.
Avoid “corner cutting”. There are better ways of speeding up production than eliminating steps. As an example from my workbench; when I sand, shape and polish a pair of chopsticks, I shape at 80 grit, then sand to 120, then 220, then 320, then 400, then finish with 600. I do not skip a grit, as it tends to leave scratches that will show up when the oil is applied and polished. Each step is crucial to a quality product.
Complete each step of similar products before moving on to the next. In order, I will rough cut the stock I will need for all current orders, do any “glue-ups”, carve the names, sand through all grits, add any coloring, final hand sanding, snicking and poking*, finish and polish.
* ”Snick & Poke” is what I call the process of removing dust and small debris left in between my lettering kerfs. Snick is the sound the folded 600 grit paper makes when pulled through the kerf. Poking is clearing any debris in drilled holes.
Confidence and Trust
Your ultimate objective is to provide your best efforts and to keep clients coming back for more. This quality relationship begins with offering a professional listing on whichever venue you choose to sell on. This includes good, original photos and accurate descriptions to pique their interest and investigate further. Learning SEO (Search Engine Optimization) for each product is imperative. There are already hundreds of good tutorial videos and blogs to help you with this, so I will let you do your own research.
Prompt replies to messages and emails are essential. Reply to questions as soon as possible, even if you don’t have an answer. Many times, I will receive a request and will have to work out the particulars and ponder whether I can do it, and at what cost. So, I reply immediately, telling them that I will work it out in the workshop and get back to them (within 24 hours) with a yay and a quote, or a nay. This timely attention to the customer’s needs shows that you are on top of things. It will help gain confidence that you are an active and trustworthy vendor. Honest, open dialog is critical in building your business.
Informed customers do research. They take into account your reviews, your number of sales, how long you have been selling and where you ship from. They read your descriptions and compare yours to other similar items. I do the same when I search for a product, using the website’s filter to narrow down my search criteria. (ie. “handmade”, “location of seller”, “free shipping”, etc.). It is good to keep this in mind as you create your listings.
Building online trust organically does not happen overnight. It took me five years to get my Etsy shop to the point where I could go full time with it. In my opinion, this results in an audience that is more interested in your work and likely to return in the future. I do not recommend gaming the system by buying “followers” or mailing lists from so-called “expert marketers” just to inflate your following with hollow numbers. I believe it is a waste of hard earned cash.
I have found that customers love “Sneak Peeks”. Since day one, I have photographed everything I create and sent a snapshot to the buyer when their order is completed and ready to ship. It only adds a couple minutes to each order, and it is comforting for them to see the end result, especially if they are shipping a gift to an address other than their own.
However, I do “Sneak Peeks” as a courtesy only, NOT for approval. Asking for their approval or input is just asking for delays and headaches. I do not give refunds on custom orders, but if they spot a mistake on my part in materials or spelling, I will correct it or redo it. This still occasionally occurs (once or a dozen times a year) despite conscientious attention to details, hence the “Ready-Made” section of my Etsy shop where I sell these misfits at a discount.
Quality Shipping
When received in the mail, your items alone should elate the customer and inspire them to want to order more for gifting to others. I believe this is best accomplished with the product itself, rather than frilly packaging.
Your craft should “wow” them, regardless of the shipping materials used to get them there. However, your particular item may warrant packaging extras such as color schemed tissue paper, fancy “care” instructions and specialized promotional items. It is for you to decide how to ship. Just remember to add the cost of these materials and time preparing it to your item’s bottom line.
That said, I use clean and secure boxes, mailing tubes and bubble mailers. I use new wax paper to wrap, new recycled (and recyclable) kraft paper as filler to avoid shifting within the package and to give support against crushing. Reusing styrofoam peanuts and bubble wrap from received packages is perfectly fine, but in my opinion buying these new is counter to the “green” trend to protect our environment.
Above all, keep your packaging and work surfaces neat and clean. As much as they want to, DO NOT let your cats and dogs help you! Beware of pet hairs that cling and are attracted to tape and label adhesives. Lint rollers are a big help.
After the Sale
To avoid seeming “Spammy”, contacts after a sale should be kept to a respectful minimum. After I send the “Sneak Peek” with an invitation to visit this blog, I will reply to the customer’s reaction if they send one, and thank them if they leave a review. I will never blast them with sales pitches.
I do not keep a running email list of all my Etsy clients. So, if you have purchased from my DustyNewt shop on Etsy you are not going to be automatically targeted by me with unwanted emails. I will not hound you for positive reviews or sales gimmicks.
The same is true of this blog. You are free to browse and read some of my posts without signing up with your email address. But if you enjoy my writings and wish to be notified of new posts, I encourage you to sign up with your first name and email. I will try not to bore you.
In all things, I strive to follow the Golden Rule, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” I ask myself if I would be happy to receive the product I am mailing out and if I was treated well throughout the purchase process. If the honest answer is not yes, changes must be made.
I’ll be interested to know how you have “WOW”ed your customers. Please share below in the comments your favorite method of making clients happy and returning to your shop.
If you are enjoying what you see… I like it hot and black. 😉
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