C.O.M. designers

[sofadoc]

I've told this one before.
A lady called me saying that she was an interior designer. She had been using another shop, and wanted me to start doing her work.

I asked "What about references?" She replied "Yes, I'll need a list of references".

I said "No, I'm afraid you don't understand. I mean that YOU must provide ME with references.".
She was dumbfounded. I explained that if she had been using another shop, and was now calling me, there must be a reason.

As for the loyalty thing. I have an ID who will call around to various shops for quotes. And if one shop is 5 bucks cheaper, they get the job.

And of course, there's always the ID who expects a discount based on the promise of future work. I had one that kept promising big jobs, but all I ever ended up doing was little piddly stuff. I found out that she was sending all the plumb jobs to another shop, and sending me all the culls.

[Darren Henry]

there's always the ID who expects a discount based on the promise of future work.

I wonder what they would say if one of their customers said " Let me screw you over this time and I will promise to do it every chance I get."

[kodydog]

As for the loyalty thing. I have an ID who will call around to various shops for quotes. And if one shop is 5 bucks cheaper, they get the job.

Don't they realize their reputation depends on the the job being done right?

We do work for a designer who is always nickle and dimming us trying to figure out how to get the job done cheaper. She buys chairs at Rooms To Go then has us recover them. She gets giddy at all the money she saves. Shes a nice lady but man is she cheap. She had a rush job but our schedule was tight so she brought it to the shop down the road. She came crying back complaining the upholsterer works on her back porch, The job wasn't finished on time and when she went to pick it up the upholsterer was eating fried chicken and got a grease spot on the piece. When the designer pointed out the spot  the upholsterer shrugged and suggested using spot remover when she got home. Sometimes you can't help but laugh.  

[sofadoc]

The fried chicken story reminds me of my grandmother. She was always chomping on food while talking to customers. She never used plates of silverware. She usually just ate black eye peas straight out of the pot. She used a slice of bread to sop with. She would ream out the sides of the pot until she got every last pea.

She often sat the pot on the sewing machine while sewing, getting grease on the fabric.

Any time she called a customer on the phone, she would dial the number, and then cram food in her mouth while waiting for them to answer.

When I think of her now, I really can't remember ever hearing her speak without a mouthful of food.

[gene]

In my previous life in sales in the paper packaging industry, any time an existing company called wanting to buy our products that was always a BIG red flag. There had to be some reason they were shopping around and often times it was because they were not paying their bills with their current supplier.

With upholsterers dying or retiring and no new upholsterers coming into the trade, getting a call from an existing ID is not necessarily a red flag. I'm like SOFaD though. I want to know why they are motivated to grace me with their business.

gene

[gene]

I wonder what they would say if one of their customers said " Let me screw you over this time and I will promise to do it every chance I get."

Darren, I think I mentioned this years ago. A guy was wanting me to reupholster a club chair at a ridiculously low price. He said he could bring me at least one chair or sofa every week. He was a bit too aggressive for my liking, so I said something like, "So, you're saying if I take this money loosing job today you will promise me that you will give me a future steady flow of money losing jobs?" I remember he got mad, then got un mad, apologized for getting mad, shook my hand, and left.

gene

[sofadoc]

I guess people are the same all over.

Seems like we all get those dealers that want to make a nice living flipping used furniture. All they have to do is find an upholsterer and a refinisher to work for minimum wage. And they think they can accomplish this by promising you a never ending supply of minimum wage work.

I get 'em 2-3 times a year. Every time a new junk store opens up. They leave scratching their head. Just can't understand why I didn't jump on their offer. They close a month or two later, whining that nobody would cooperate with their master plan.

[baileyuph]

The consumer out of touch with the technicals of the furniture market are those with
something made, for example in Asia, that they bought new and now needs recovered ----
they hear what the cost here and just can't understand why it cost more to redo than they paid for when new.

Where is all this type of thinking/understanding going to lead to down the road?  They probably won't ever reupholster much. 

Maybe Asia will come to the US and work for $0.30 an hour?

Lot's to gather about all this; maybe reupholstering is just not affordable?

Stay tuned as they say,

Doyle

[65Buick]

Good responses.

Doyle: i think there is a huge crowd who want everything the cheapest. I hope there is another crowd that sees the value in a craftsperson making quality.