The best I've figured out is to keep everything on email. If a customer calls and we work out the deal on the phone, I get an email address before we're done and send them the finalized specifications. Alot of my orders initiate through email, via my website or forums. My system is to flag order messages in my inbox. I can then click the "starred messages" category and get a filtered list of order emails. The only place it falls apart is if I forget to flag an email. If you have a customer without an email, you can email yourself and flag it that way.

I have both electronic copies, as well as a hard copy. Like Jason I rely on email alot, but also have a "order log" I had the folks at Staples make up for me.....its just a pile of my "order forms" printed front and back, and then bound with a spiral binding and laminated covers. It hangs by the phone in the shop, so I can always refer to it when a client calls.

While it's becoming less common, there are many of my clients who don't or just flat won't use a computer.....so for me hard copies of order forms are a necessity.

As time goes by, my established clients have learned that if they let me have a lot of leeway in a knife, they always get the best I can build....more often then not these days, an order for me goes something like.... "I want a Mosaic Bowie, with XXX handle material, and keep it under XXXX." So in many cases I don't have to worry about a bunch of tiny details.

For my "standard" model knives....those I build and then put on the website, I rely almost solely on Gmail....it allows me to "label" each email, which allows for quick reference, and makes things easy to find.

If you're not doing it yet, consider using online shipping methods, such as USPS.com, UPS.com, ect. Every package shipped allows you to save the client's information to your own "address book", making it super easy to keep track of not only your clients, but it also allows you keep track of where each knife went....that way if it pops up later on the secondary market, you can track where it started out.

I use email and include several sketches (sometimes pictures) with details about materials, size, etc. The client returns the email with a "Yes" or details on what they want changed. The final email confirms the final details and is automatically "in writing". I always add two (2) weeks onto my real expected delivery date for issues and "life"...seems like I always use the two weeks <img src=' http://www.americanbladesmith.com/ipboard/public/style_emoticons//huh.gi f' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':huh:' /> Right now I don't have more orders than I can remember, but when that happens, I plan on using GMail with Labels (great idea Ed, thanks!).

Maybe it's something that I shouldn't say in an open forum, but since Ed brought it up..... I used to be one of those Makers who quoted delivery dates closely, and always found myself in "hurry up mode" when a delivery date sneaked up on me.

I now always give myself a "cushion".....sometimes less, sometimes more, depending on the knife. The reality of it is that if a delivery date comes, the client wants to know why the knife isn't waiting on their doorstep.....but if you deliver early, your an instant "hero". <img src=' http://www.americanbladesmith.com/ipboard/public/style_emoticons//smile.gi f' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':)' /> (good advice for "young" makers wanting to build a good reputation) <img src=' http://www.americanbladesmith.com/ipboard/public/style_emoticons//smile.gi f' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':)' />

This is a serious "Achilles Heel" of mine.

And something I really need to get handled.

The majority of us are "one man shows" in our knife making. On top of that, I am a one man show in life, as well.

Being utterly single, I not only have to manage my knife business, but all of the other life-duties as well.

I'm saying this for a reason.

For all you male makers out there who have second incomes and wives to do shopping, cooking, house cleaning, laundry etc., etc., consider having to do all that in addition to your knife work!

My point is that it is doubly necessary for me to have my knife work so amazingly organized the I always know where I'm at on each order.

And I don't.

Steve outlined it well saying how orders can come in many ways - from phone calls to napkins at lunch.

So, I always make sure that if they can, they send me an email with all relevant knife info, as well as personal contact info. I keep this in my email log and then transfer this to a hard copy order form that I place on a clip board in my shop. I try to keep this up-to-date, but then the fish will start biting or something like that and then I get behind.

Then I get behind-er.

Then it turns into a mess.

It's really tough to take care of orders and keep them in line and in some sort of control.

About the time it seems like I have things sorted out, I find myself 6 weeks in front of a knife show and all of the orders get put on hold - unless I can dovetail an order in with show production. (There are ways of doing that, too.)

I can see this topic getting either quite involved - or ignored, because it takes everything we do into consideration.

And we all run our business differently - because we're all different.

As are the knives we make and the clientele who follow us.

For the last three years my knife orders have far outpaced my production. I'm doing knives right now that were ordered two years ago.

Which is another anomaly to this is that customer information can change from year to year, and sometimes they simply quit communicating, have lost interest or changed their minds!

It's difficult to keep the reins on this horse. And difficult to stay in the saddle sometimes.

I know it's hard on me.

I really, really need to streamline my administrative information from customer to customer so it is quickly understandable and easily flexible, as well.

When ever I'm sitting with a pen in my hand, making notes, filing orders in folders, etc., I feel like I should be in the shop working.

And vice versa.

It ain't easy.

Ask yourself:

Are you organized? If you think so, list the reasons why you think that you are organized.

Do this right now before proceeding to read any more.

Come on, list at least three reasons.

Chances are good that you will have items on that list that involve the placement or arrangement of objects. You might have something like "in my shop all the xyz tools are here, and all the abc stuff is over there. You might have some references to pieces of paper and file folders. You may even go so far as one woman did when I asked this same question. She told me that she was "so organized, her clothes closet was arranged by color."

Now ponder this:

Organization is a state of being for things. Your shop is organized, your files are organized, your desk is organized.

Organization is a method of function for people. Do you operate in an organized and methodical manner? Are various tasks consciously broken down into smaller and smaller steps before you begin?

Keeping track of customers' orders takes a seriously well developed system. That does not imply complexity, it can be very simple, as simple as a white board that is dry-erasable in your office. It is the method of function and using that system that matters. Whatever tools you decide to use, write out a step by step procedure for keeping track of the orders. Writing it down is CRITICAL. If the method remains a conceptual method, it is never fully realized. It's like making that business plan you know you should have written....but never did. Decide on how that napkin drawing over lunch makes its way to the full scale drawing (with the price in the upper left corner) that the customer initials his acceptance on, and the due date next to his name on that white board appears. How does that work? You have to break it down into small steps.

I use email and input the information into an Access database that generates a weekly status report. Current and next two knives up info is on the white board. I rarely have more than four custom orders at a time. My available inventory is made as I like them. Normally I have 2 or 3 of my models in inventory for immediate sale.

I use my computer as much as possible for keeping track of my knife orders. Customers who can and will use email for discussing a knife order are the easiest to deal with. In a past life in the business world, I learned the value of creating folders on the computer to organize different types of information. I use Outlook to handle my emails. I have a folder for “Knife Orders”. Inside this folder is a separate folder for each of my customers. All emailed communication with the customer is saved in his own folder. BTW; it’s a good idea to copy your knife order emails to a flash drive once in a while. Don’t risk losing all of them to a computer crash.

Once the details of the knife build are finalized, I type the specs of the knife into a Word document. The delivery date as well as the customer’s contact information is included in this document. This Word document is saved in a separate folder on my computer, where specifications for all of my knife orders are kept. This document is also printed as a hard copy and stored in a file in my filing cabinet. Again, backup in case of a computer crash. The only way that I can lose all of my knife order information is if the house burns down. I figure the knife orders will be the least of my concerns if that happens.

Information on an order that comes by phone or email is typed into a Word document. This document is both saved on my computer and printed for my hard copy file. I also send a copy of the knife order specs to the customer for approval.

I have one customer who has email and will read what I send him, but he does not like to type. So, he calls me to discuss the information in the email. After the phone call, I send him another email to confirm what I understood from the phone conversation.

A customer's knife order information that is written on a piece of scrap paper or napkin, gets scanned and printed on a sheet of tying paper. This saves the information in a durable and easy to file format. This sheet is placed in my hard copy file of knife order specs. The information is also typed into a Word document for electronic and hard copy storage.

I tried using electronic devices to keep my shop build calendar on. This didn’t work so well for me. The biggest issue was at knife shows. A customer walks up to the table and asks to have a knife made for him, then asks for a delivery date. I was always reluctant to pull my laptop out and make the customer wait while I started it up. Standing there poking around on my cell phone to check the calendar didn’t feel right. So, I would just make my best guess at when I could get around to making the knife. Too often, I chose poorly. I finally decided that I just needed a hard copy calendar to track my delivery dates. A hard copy calendar I could use in my shop as well as take it to knife shows to have at my table. An upside to this method, is that the customers actually feel better about watching you pencil in their order on a real calendar.

I use a DayTimer planner for my shop schedule calendar. My planner uses the 5 ½ x 8 ½ sheets. Each calendar sheet is one half of a letter size typing sheet. I use a one month per two sheet layout for my calendar. I do not use the calendar refills from DayTimer. For some reason, they do not supply calendars beyond one year out. I did an internet search for a calendar template. I found one that is based on an Excel spreadsheet. There are lots of them out there. The template already has formulas included to change the calendar by typing a date in a cell. It is easy to add a column in the center of the calendar to space it out and create a two page monthly sheet. This also provides room for the binder rings.

I use matte photo paper to print my calendar on. The photo paper is more durable than typing paper and there is less risk of ink bleed through. I print the calendar on one side of a letter size sheet. Then turn the sheet over and print the other side with lines for writing notes. Cut the sheet into two pieces using a paper cutter and hole punch for the binder rings. It doesn’t take much time to prepare these calendar sheets and it’s also is easy to print new sheets, if you scribble up some of your calendar making changes to your schedule.

None of the specs for my knife builds is written on the calendar. Only the customer’s name and the weeks crossed out that I expect the build to require. The calendar is just to measure time for work in the shop. The build specs are in my other documents. This planner stays on my desk and guides what I am working on in the shop. It also goes with me to knife shows, to manage customer requests.

Steve,

That is organization!

Tell me something, when you were building this process, did you start out with something much smaller and add components/steps to it as you went? I imagine so, because you said something about a "past life in the business world" and that leads me to believe that this particular system grew out of another process that you used in that past life. I have a system that also evolved out of a "past life" as a general contractor. I had to keep track of my proposals, (when they were due to the clients and what status they were in) as well as organizing the different remodeling and new build projects I had. People who do not have an system in place should start with a simple written step format (with 4-6 steps) and add other steps as they go along. Personally, I am very visually and tactile oriented so I need those physical items (white boards, sketch pads, calendars, etc.) in my system. It's like the electronic format is backup for the hard copy, and not the other way around.

If I had to sit down and develop a system from scratch again, I would definitely ask a couple of other knife makers and "borrow" components from each of them to build a system that fit me and my working style as well as what tools I had available. (not everyone has Outlook or George's Access Database skills)

For instance, almost everyone should have a word processor on their computer for creating documents and MS Excel for creating spreadsheets (can also be used for accounting). Whether their printer can scan a document to a file or not is questionable, but most word processors give you the option to save a document as an Adobe .pdf file that you can attach to an email and lots of print shops (FedEx, UPS, etc.) have the option to scan documents and you can save them to a thumb drive. Those drawings we all do should always get saved in a scanned image. Both for record keeping and for later use (creating templates, smaller versions, etc.)

I love your Day-timer use. I used to have everything I needed in the same format (only larger) and you are quite correct, many customers love to see you write their info down in a formal calendar, it gives them a sense of identity.

Very informative post! Lots of stuff in that to "borrow" for those of us just starting out.

Joshua,

I spent 25 years working in a pet food production plant. The factory that I worked for was, and still is a major player in the pet food industry. At the time that I worked there, this plant had over 450 product codes for food and treats for dogs and cats. Products that you definitely know of. The last eight years I worked at the plant, I was a procurement agent for packaging material. I worked with 6 packaging suppliers to order the printing and shipping to our plant of 250 packaging items. If you were in a pet food aisle between 1997 and 2005, you saw packaging that I was directly involved in procuring. Extreme organization was necessary to keep up with this job. Downtime in the plant cost $10k per hour. There was no forgiveness for shutting the plant down because of a lack of packaging.

Yes, I started off using a simpler process for keeping track of knife order information. I quickly found a lack of simple organization took more time to deal with than did spending the time up front to put the information in a logical system.

Sorting knife order emails into separate folders makes it easier to find specific emails when I want them. I started off just putting knife order emails into a folder called "knife orders". The problem with that, was that all of the customers wrote Knife, or Knife Order, or Bowie in the email subject line. I could sort the emails by name, but most of the time I was looking for my email reply to the customer. All of the emails with my name as the sender, sorted into a big group with the same subject lines. It took too long to open all of these emails to find the one that I was looking for. Making a separate folder for each customer solves that problem.

Typing order specifics into a Word document, began with telephone orders. I had to get it written down somewhere. This also served well for verbal orders that were written on notes and napkins. I started by writing all of these orders into one document, in chronological date order. It didn't take too many orders before this document was many pages long. It required constant editing to remove completed orders and it was too cumbersome to use for tracking time usage in my shop. I also didn't like just deleting the information about a customer's order from the document. I would have a customer contact me later and ask to have another knife made like the one from his previous order. It doesn't make the customer feel very special when you can't remember what he had you make for him earlier. I decided that it was just as easy to make a separate Word document for each customer's order and save that document in his own file. When I was done with the knife build, the order information remained for future reference.

So, I had phone and verbal orders in Word documents and emailed orders sorted in emails. I get ready to build a customer's knife and wonder; Where's that guys information? Did he call me, did he write, did he order at a knife show? Is the information in an email, or a Word document? I decided that it was just better to handle all order information the same. All orders specs are typed into a Word document; no matter how the customer provided them to me. All are saved to my computer and also printed as a hard copy. Where's that guy's information? It's in the same places as all the other orders.

Bottom line; no matter how the customer places the order, organize all order information the same way. Keep each customer's information in a separate file or folder. Hard copies in a filing cabinet work just fine. Retain every bit of communication that you have with a customer, in case there is a dispute about what you and the customer agreed upon. Save the customer's information for future reference.

Track shop time and calculate when you can deliver orders on a calendar of some type. I like using a planner for this purpose. It is quick and easy for me to reference and I can take it to knife shows. I only write on the calendar the customer's name and then cross out the days/weeks that I expect the knife to take to build. When I get to a customer's build on the calendar, I go pull his file and get the specs for the knife to be made.

Hi,

This Television program can help you in the business area....bits and pieces.

I watch it every Sunday and always pick up something I can use.

It is "Your Business" on MSNBC...once a week...30 min.

Your Business Link

Ernie

|quoted:

There was a recent thread on a knife collector's forum, where a collector posted complaints about knife makers who have failed to build his knife orders on the timeline that they promised.

Our business isn't like having a storefront, where customers come in and tell you what they want. Knife orders come in by email, phone call, hand written letter, across the table at a knife show, etc. Information about an order gets written down on a notepad, a scrap of paper, or even a napkin at a lunch table. I've had a customer talk to me about ordering a knife at a show, then send me a dozen emails about what he wants, and then call me on the phone several times. Each time, more information is given about what he wants. How can all of this randomly supplied information be assimilated and put into a organized system to build orders from?

We all need to be able to keep track of the specifics of how the customer wants his knife built and also the promised delivery date. Some discussion on this topic may be helpful to makers who are trying to get an order tracking system built for themselves. And/or for us more experienced makers, who could stand to improve our order tracking system.

There is to be no comments regarding "sales" in your posts to this topic! Only information about your system of keeping track of knife orders. That failing to meet knife order delivery dates will affect our business is a given.

Hi everyone and happy Holidays,

I actually use quick books online(QBO, to keep up with orders and to organize customers and finance's. The great thing about quick-books is all the apps that are available that will integrate with the actual finance piece of the program. Just one low monthly fee and I can enter the customer order from my small Samsung tablet right there in the shop over the phone or by email and hit print and it will generate a invoice and a purchase order in black and white showing exactly what they ordered and it will also send the customer a copy to there email for there records. Now there is allot of configuring in the initial setup of everything but once you get finished the process is just streamline and very organized. If you are not very computer saavy the money it takes to have an accountant to set this up is peanuts compared to the piece of mind you will have once this is all setup. This also makes the tax side of the business very easy and I found once I could see everything in reports my profit increased tremendous because I could see what to cut back on, what to order more of , how much iventory I have on hand and all the way down to how many hours and minutes I have into a particular knife or batch of knives.

Thanks,

Jonathan S. Johnston