Brian.Evans
Registered Member
- Joined
- Aug 20, 2011
- Messages
- 3,267
The first run of Companions was 34 knives and sold out in 10 days. The next run was 42 knives and sold out in 14 days. The third run was 80 knives and sold out in about 60 hours. The fourth run is going to be 48 knives and is in preorder right now and over half sold so far! I remain humbled and honored that I have such great customers.
Evans Knife and Tool is dedicated to providing outstanding service by producing superior knives made from top tier materials covered by the world's best warranty.
I feel like I have let some of you down. There were a couple orders that shipped late because I didn't have them written down in the proper place, or because they fell out of the shipping basket. There have been scale sets that haven't went out because I got busy and forgot to post a note up on the bulletin board. I still have a knife sold on the last run that hasn't been paid for and that I don't have contact info for the person who bought it! I really messed up.
So, what can I do to step up my game? It matters not that I shipped almost all of the orders perfectly. It matters not that I remembered to do almost everything. I don't live my life almost. I want to do things right.
The reality of the situation is that I am a one man business right now. I replied to over 100 emails between Saturday at noon and Sunday evening. FYI, I was on a 24 hour ambulance shift on Sunday and we didn't sleep. I slept around 4 hours between Saturday at 0600 and Monday at 1400. I am currently fighting some sort of allergic reaction thing that has been ongoing for the past 6 days that I think is brought on by stress. In addition, there is still all the divorce crap going on.
I'm not saying that for sympathy or to excuse my failings. Just to pass along information.
Here's some upcoming changes that I think will allow me to lean down and really streamline my process.
1. Starting with this preorder, I MUST have a name, address, and good contact email for everyone that orders a knife. Along with that, if you buy off BF, I will require you to include your BF handle as well.
2. I bought a very nice "small office" class printer. I will be printing shipping labels directly from PayPal onto sticky labels. PayPal will automatically send an email to the buyer notifying them that the package has shipped and also providing them with a tracking number.
3. I have been having computer issues related to the age of my machine. I had an iPad and traded with my father for his old Windows XP class Dell laptop. It is incredibly slow and sometimes takes many resets to get things to act right. Maybe in another 6 months I will be able to afford something nicer. Until then, I will be slowed slightly by technology.
4. It is incredibly hard to keep an accurate count of knives left when a run comes in and the orders hit as fast as they did on this last run. To that end, I will be starting an online store that everyone will be directed to for purchasing. This will allow me to manage inventory much, much more efficiently and should completely eliminate the dropped orders and over ordering of scales and such.
I think that's it for now. If anyone has any suggestions, please let me know. Feel free to voice them and don't be afraid to speak up. I basically have no idea what I'm doing, but I do know how to provide outstanding customer service and you guys deserve the best!!
I have the best customers in the world. Thank you for understanding as EK&T grows. 2016 is going to be a great year for knives!
Evans Knife and Tool is dedicated to providing outstanding service by producing superior knives made from top tier materials covered by the world's best warranty.
I feel like I have let some of you down. There were a couple orders that shipped late because I didn't have them written down in the proper place, or because they fell out of the shipping basket. There have been scale sets that haven't went out because I got busy and forgot to post a note up on the bulletin board. I still have a knife sold on the last run that hasn't been paid for and that I don't have contact info for the person who bought it! I really messed up.
So, what can I do to step up my game? It matters not that I shipped almost all of the orders perfectly. It matters not that I remembered to do almost everything. I don't live my life almost. I want to do things right.
The reality of the situation is that I am a one man business right now. I replied to over 100 emails between Saturday at noon and Sunday evening. FYI, I was on a 24 hour ambulance shift on Sunday and we didn't sleep. I slept around 4 hours between Saturday at 0600 and Monday at 1400. I am currently fighting some sort of allergic reaction thing that has been ongoing for the past 6 days that I think is brought on by stress. In addition, there is still all the divorce crap going on.
I'm not saying that for sympathy or to excuse my failings. Just to pass along information.
Here's some upcoming changes that I think will allow me to lean down and really streamline my process.
1. Starting with this preorder, I MUST have a name, address, and good contact email for everyone that orders a knife. Along with that, if you buy off BF, I will require you to include your BF handle as well.
2. I bought a very nice "small office" class printer. I will be printing shipping labels directly from PayPal onto sticky labels. PayPal will automatically send an email to the buyer notifying them that the package has shipped and also providing them with a tracking number.
3. I have been having computer issues related to the age of my machine. I had an iPad and traded with my father for his old Windows XP class Dell laptop. It is incredibly slow and sometimes takes many resets to get things to act right. Maybe in another 6 months I will be able to afford something nicer. Until then, I will be slowed slightly by technology.
4. It is incredibly hard to keep an accurate count of knives left when a run comes in and the orders hit as fast as they did on this last run. To that end, I will be starting an online store that everyone will be directed to for purchasing. This will allow me to manage inventory much, much more efficiently and should completely eliminate the dropped orders and over ordering of scales and such.
I think that's it for now. If anyone has any suggestions, please let me know. Feel free to voice them and don't be afraid to speak up. I basically have no idea what I'm doing, but I do know how to provide outstanding customer service and you guys deserve the best!!
I have the best customers in the world. Thank you for understanding as EK&T grows. 2016 is going to be a great year for knives!
