jim_p
SGF, Supreme Grumble Framer
I had two incidents this week with very good, very lucrative, and very busy customers. In both cases the customers breezed in and out of the shop placing their orders quickly, and we ended up not nailing down some critical detail or other.
Customer "Z": He's decorating a large space in town and has repeatedly brought us items to print and frame. Sometimes he has us do the framing, other times he brings us antique frames he got elsewhere. He's a really nice person, but very busy. Most recently he brought us some large items to print, dry mount, and insert into frames that he supplied. The question of glass came up; did he or did he not want to do these with glass? I wasn't there, but apparently my staff went round a couple times with him on this, and he finally decided he didn't need glass.
We rush to do the job so we can deliver it before he disappears out of town for a month. We deliver it and he says "Where's the glass?" He was in such a hurry when he placed the order that we couldn't sit him down at the end and go over every order in detail. Since these were not high-value pieces we ended up comping him regular glass and he was fine with that.
Customer "Y": He doesn't come in very often, but when he does it's to print ENORMOUS giclee prints (we're talking 40x60 and up here). The most recent time he breezed in, ordered a reprint of a piece we'd done earlier, and breezed out. My staff took the order; I wasn't there. When I went to do the job I noticed it said "Watercolor paper". That set off an alarm; this guy typically has us print on canvas. I rang him up and confirmed that it was indeed canvas that he wanted. Turns out my staff showed him the watercolor paper and asked "Is this what you wanted?" He felt it and said "Yeah, yeah" and then breezed out. Apparently he was in too much of a hurry to notice the difference.
So: do you have any strategies for putting the breaks on and ensuring all the details are correct when placing an order?
Customer "Z": He's decorating a large space in town and has repeatedly brought us items to print and frame. Sometimes he has us do the framing, other times he brings us antique frames he got elsewhere. He's a really nice person, but very busy. Most recently he brought us some large items to print, dry mount, and insert into frames that he supplied. The question of glass came up; did he or did he not want to do these with glass? I wasn't there, but apparently my staff went round a couple times with him on this, and he finally decided he didn't need glass.
We rush to do the job so we can deliver it before he disappears out of town for a month. We deliver it and he says "Where's the glass?" He was in such a hurry when he placed the order that we couldn't sit him down at the end and go over every order in detail. Since these were not high-value pieces we ended up comping him regular glass and he was fine with that.
Customer "Y": He doesn't come in very often, but when he does it's to print ENORMOUS giclee prints (we're talking 40x60 and up here). The most recent time he breezed in, ordered a reprint of a piece we'd done earlier, and breezed out. My staff took the order; I wasn't there. When I went to do the job I noticed it said "Watercolor paper". That set off an alarm; this guy typically has us print on canvas. I rang him up and confirmed that it was indeed canvas that he wanted. Turns out my staff showed him the watercolor paper and asked "Is this what you wanted?" He felt it and said "Yeah, yeah" and then breezed out. Apparently he was in too much of a hurry to notice the difference.
So: do you have any strategies for putting the breaks on and ensuring all the details are correct when placing an order?
He is an artist of some repute and sells quite a few limited ed canvas prints of his work. I've made him frames for a few years now and are used to doing his stuff quickly. Between us we have developed a sort-off private language for his frames which works fine most of the time but it has to be said can be slightly ambiguous. He also tends to order frames at the last minute and I have to do some fancy footwork sometimes to get the frames done. They are all hand-finished. So he will breeze in with a truckload of canvases and reel off what he wants - "can you do those three as usual and and extra one all gold? And two drawings frames like the one you did last year but not dusty......". Get the picture? Sometimes I get a few dimensions on a little bit of paper. It's all perfectly clear to me while he's in the shop. Soon as he has gone I wonder what the heck he just ordered.
