The Care and Feeding of Customers

Any service provided for paying customers requires thoughtful handling of their needs and concerns. Being good at the provided service—gunsmithing for us—must be a given. Good customer service goes beyond our skills and knowledge at the bench. Here are strategies for some of these concerns. Buyer Remorse A customer comes in, goes over his problem with you, and you provide an estimate of the requested work.

Always emphasize that this is an estimate for there is always the possibility for every job to run over your estimate and become a more substantial job due to yet unknown issues. He goes out and you set the gun aside in queue behind current projects because, as a good gunsmith with a good business, you are busy. Shortly thereafter before you’ve had a reasonable chance to get to the task, the customer is back in and picks up the gun. He has a bad case of buyer remorse and you’ve lost a job.

What preventative course can you take to ensure that this will not happen? This is handling customer service before you’ve even had a chance to provide your service. Well, I suppose you could loan your Teddy Bear and advise the customer to go home, warm up some milk, and hold Teddy real close while he drinks his milk until he feels better. Eh, probably not. The likely truth is the wife found out how much money he was going to spend and issued him his marching orders so there he is wanting his gun back.

I’ve found a great way to prevent this sort of buyer remorse is to start with a written order for the job requested. Then, make it shop policy to start on the job within minutes after he leaves, or at least that same day. One good reason for this, gunsmiths are notorious for being slow to return work.

This demonstrates to your customers, with buyer remorse or not, that you’re the rare gem with great efficiency; when you say you’ll return the job "no later than next month" they’re confident you don’t mean next month next year. "I’d return your gun but I already have it disassembled and have started on the job we agreed on" is both a good way to show your efficiency and to put insurance on the job. It also forces you to stay on top of your work load.

Also, the gun now qualifies for your minimum shop charge, which you included in the formal write up provided, if he insists you put it together anyway. More likely, he’ll reaffirm the reason he wanted the job done in the first place, tell you to go ahead with what you’ve already started, and can now tell his wife you have done just that instead of wasting the shop charge that accomplished nothing. In the end, you’ll both be happier for it.

This is a situation that will happen and you alone have to make up your mind as to how you want to handle it. My attitude is I can’t afford to have my time wasted for nothing. If a customer doesn’t want something looked at and fixed, don’t bring it in. Explain and ensure your minimums. They count up. After all, the customer has a problem and should have the gun fixed. In the case where he might take it somewhere else where he can get it cheaper, you have locked onto the job. Buyers remorse is not unusual.

You have probably suffered from it at one time or another. The point that I keep bring up are ways that gunsmiths lose money and how you can avoid it. You only have so many hours in a day and to manage a successful business requires managing every minute. Have shop policy in place and explain this to your customer up front. "Can I Watch?" This question is often asked by both curious and would be do-it-yourselfers and can be as detrimental to you as you watching a post mortem.

The only sensible answer is a firm but polite, "No." First reason, related to the above, is this is certain to have the job to take more time than it should. Bad for business. Worse, it gives away your "secrets." Well, your hard-won knowledge and experience at least. It would make sense if you have good business reasons for mentoring an apprentice, otherwise you’re just inadvertently providing someone a free education. This can also have a negative impact on your reputation.

If the job has problems, no matter how slight (not that you’ve ever experienced any problems at your bench…) the

watcher might think you are not so smart. Watching a craftsman work is like the story of the kid who wanted a watch for Christmas—so they let him. Not much mystery left. Gunsmiths area bit like the alchemist of old. You are in the gunsmith business, not the "how to" business. I use a simple answer to those wanting to watch. In fact I use several. Short of "Hell no! You think I want you looking over my shoulder?" I do use the following, some good and what I think is best tailored to the customer.

One is to gently(?) tell them that I don’t have a license to teach. Another is that I might not get to the real work right away. Depending on work load, I might not be able to do more than the initial disassembly and inspection and won’t be working on the gun immediately. This is especially true if any parts or supplies for the job need to be ordered in.

Probably the best one I’ve used is, "I wouldn’t mind if you watch, however, my insurance was once almost canceled because I let someone in my work area during a job and a small spring flew out, catching him just below the eye. I paid the clinic visit through my insurance but they raised hell with me for having a customer in my work area because this needlessly increases my liability. You understand, don’t you?" That usually does it with great finality and he moves on.

Of course, you will always have the dreamer who wants to be a gunsmith and be able to take grandpa’s H&R break open apart who really would like to watch. Be gentle, but be firm. Warding off the "can I watch" customers does two important things: it keeps the "mystery" for without it they wouldn’t need you and keeps your personal injury possibilities to a minimum. Both reasons are enough to say no! The old standard of "Does Macy’s tell Gimbels?" applies as well.

One other situation that I get in to once in awhile is the would-be future gunsmith asking if I want an apprentice. My typical answer is, "Sure! You work for free for two years and pay me tuition to teach you." After all, that is the arrangement for attending a gunsmith trade school. That usually ends the conversation. Otherwise, I’d be paying someone to learn the trade and within a few years be able to start their own shop in my area trading on the fact that I taught them.

At best, I wouldn’t be able to keep this apprentice on for more than a few years because no matter the odds or economic reality, he’ll follow the American Dream and open a shop of his own based on what I taught. No thanks. If I were to hire anyone it would be someone who has worked for a gunsmith long enough and has qualifications that can add profitability to the shop for both of us but can’t run his own shop for whatever reason. I find such a person unlikely to remain in my shop for more than a few years anyway.

I learned along time ago that it is best to work alone. I farm out to commercial barrel makers and stock makers, do my own pistol barrel work, and leave certain "critical heavy work" as I call it to others. I know what I’m good at, acknowledge what I’m not, and keep the money I make. Customer Pickup "Your gun is done!" You’d like to think a phone call, voice mail, or email with that message would bring your customer rushing back to your shop eager to retrieve (and pay for!) their newly-finished firearm.

Your gun is done, but not picked up happens often. Among any number of things that is a problem for gunsmiths doing business in a locale where your customers live—an issue that is certainly different from mail order work—is the guns that are done but not collected for. This is your onshelf inventory of completed work that often times sits far too long and takes up your space, particularly in poorer economic times. Work that is done but not picked up does neither you nor you customer any good.

Let’s look at this problem and examine the different and various ways to keep this "receivable" to a minimum. To begin with, the faster you turn your work out and collect for it is your cash flow. Slow it down and you are back to beans and rice, perhaps some coffee and bacon if you’ve saved your money right. Work not picked up does not pay the bills or build your profit. The bank won’t lend you a dime on your receivables. What to do?

Let’s assume you are well organized—not that all gunsmiths are— they just think they are, and if you really want to know if they are, just ask their wives. If you are truly organized then you are reviewing all the of completed tickets at the end of the day. Each of these jobs has all needed customer contact information with it that you carefully collected when getting the job particulars down in writing in agreement with the customer’s service request.

If you’re reviewing this before the typical end of the business day, sort out the office or work numbers, and start calling. If your customer is not there or is tied up, just leave a message to call you back. Never leave a "Your gun is ready" message because at this point he won’t know what you want and it may make it easier to get a return call. Make a note on the ticket when you called. When receiving a call back, be friendly, say the gun is finished, and ask for an appointed pick up time.

Jot this information down on the ticket as well to keep a complete record. Now you have called all the new ones and have a record of it. This helps later on if the customer does not show. Once you start this you will step up your cash flow. However, not every customer will show up. Some customers might be short of money, others have other plans, such as a vacation, and still others

are simply not in a hurry. Seemingly in every case like this, none of them are up front about it. Make it a point to review your completed inventory regularly. Follow up with any still there after a week from your initial contact and call again to refresh their memory. People such as us that work on mechanical things like to be paid when the work is done. This does not always happen so we have to carefully go after it. Friendliness in calling is very important. "Hey, Charlie!

I know you are interested in getting your gun back so I thought I would make you happy and let you know it is done and you can pick it up." For the first calls, if 50% show up we have cash flow moving. The second 50% may take longer but it could be several thousand dollars so we better pay attention. After all, this "not picked up" inventory is not paying any bills. What do we do? Well, depending on how you feel about a certain customer (at this point) dictates the way you go.

A call with, "Hey Charlie did I call you and tell you your gun is ready?" sometimes works. Charlie might think you area little unorganized or forgetful but at least he knows he has been called twice and may get off his duff and come in. These second calls may get the short-of-cash to tell you they are short of cash and need a couple of weeks.

You naturally agree but continue to keep notes—you may need them later when Charlie goes over that "couple of weeks" and you need to talk a little harder to him for he didn’t keep his word. I take this position and the older I get, the better I like it. First, you offer a fine service and did not ask the person to come into your shop. Second, you did the work you were contracted to do and now you simply want to be paid for it. Third, you’re not a bank and not in a position to loan money.

Keep in mind that your sweat, tears, and money are tied up in his gun—what the hell, I sure am loaning money if I don’t get paid for 60-90-120-ever for the work I did. I would rather not have done the job in these cases. Work that is done and not picked up becomes sour rather quickly.

When you stop and think about it, the customer who leaves his gun 60 days after you call him probably asked you at the time of dropping it off, "How long will it take?" Every shop should have, in full view, a sign clearly outlining your policy. This avoids arguments if there are to be any. A sign stating, "Customers will be advised when work is done. Payment and pickup is expected within seven business days of notice. Any gun not picked up within 30 days of notice will be charged $2.00 per day storage.

Unclaimed guns after 60 days will be considered abandoned and sold without further notice for the existing charges for repair and storage. Arrangements for delayed payment may be made subject to the acceptance of the management." Inform customers of this policy when work is initially contracted. This might seem severe, however, having such a policy and formally informing customers of it protects you legally.

I have thought for some time that Brownells should redo their work tickets or come up with anew one that contained such information on the receipt section along with a place for a signature authorizing the work covered on the ticket. I don’t run Brownells and have my own tickets printed with this policy. This covers me both ways. However, it would be considerably cheaper to be able to buy such tickets from someone like Brownells as the mass printing would bring the price of these tickets down.

So we have advised everyone of our policy upon taking in a job, notify all customers that their gun is ready to be picked up as soon as it is complete, and follow up as needed. Now, let’s consider the customer who is possibly a regular and that we want to continue to keep. He is short of money.

After I have called them twice, I let it go by for a full 30 days and then send them an email restating my policy and suggesting that if they have a financial problem that I am willing to work with them as their business is appreciated. However, unless they show the courtesy of contacting to make specific arrangements, it leaves no choice but to invoke the unclaimed policy. Leave the door open.

If there still is no response or action, I follow up with a certified letter explaining that I’ve invoked the written policy and have taken possession of their unclaimed firearm to be sold for gunsmith work fees and storage charges. Using legitimate pressure as I have outlined will increase your cash flow. After all, you are not a loaning institution and you don’t need the experience of working on his gun for nothing.

Most important, you are being up front from day one, communicative, fair, and invoking a legal right to be compensated for your time and expense that they contracted you for. Nobody can ask for more than that. The rare sorehead that you might lose as a customer you are better off without. He can’t legitimately bad mouth you because your policy is immediately knowable and you have in writing that he agreed to it.

A good business person knows economic situations rise and fall so we have to be patient, flexible, and thankful for business. However, being thankful for business implies there is business to be had and that includes being fairly paid for our work. Know when enough is enough and that everyone appreciates being paid promptly. Just add up the done work that has sat for up to 30 days—it is not uncommon for me to have several thousand dollars of work waiting at any given time. That’s fine if it moves within 30 days.

If not, then I get grumpy, drink too much coffee, and get my cash flow going again. AG