If a 6-8 mo. leadtime is given and for unseen reasons that cannot be met, has anyone offered a standard compensation for the delay? For example a % discount or a $ figure off the next piece of work. Do you think this is a gesture that would be appreciated?
Thanks to all
ks
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Do you make them pay extra if you finish it sooner than you quoted? If I miss an estimated completion date, I apologize, but thats it.. No discounts, etc.
I think it helps me as much as my customer. It forces me to schedule my days. I know what I will be working on and when.
I don't promise for the very day I schedule it to be done. Things happen so I pad it by a month. I can't say how much business it brings but like I said it helps me stay on track.
Also the clock doesn't start until the customer has givin me evrything they have to - deposit, picked out a pose, etc.
It all depends on the customer and how important meeting that delivery date is. The only time I do offer a bit off is when I blow the estimate big time. A few weeks does not constitute being behind. I agree with JEM. One of the hardest things to do in this business (in my opinion) is motivation and keeping on top of the workload. I always throw a fair amount of contingency in my estimates so I rarely get behind. That 10% or whatever I occasionally knock off makes the customer feel appreciated. And it's my penalty for bad planning. Don't advertise it though. Probably 90% of the customers will understand w/o much whining...
Does this only happen to me or do others show up EXACTLY to the day 6 months later wanting to pick up their mount. The words "about, around, estimate" don't compute with some and they act as though they booked a flight 6 months in advance and the mount is leaving the shop at 14:26 hrs.
My contract states "estimated completion". I'm with Breck.
I love this one....I try and put a conservative estimate on the time and usually finish up pretty close. But sometimes I go over due to a huge increase in business, or working on mounts for competition and miss it. I am upfront with my customers and give them the reasons, most accept it. I also say that I will not rush through their project just to get it done. Its more important to me that its done right, than done to meet a deadline.
Ive also been early on getting work done and had the customer complain that they didn''t have the money at that time, cause "you told me it wouldn't be ready till June".
Another one that gets me is the guy that drops off the piece in November, I give them 30 days to get me a 50% deposit. 30 days, 60 days, 90 days go by before he finally gets by to pay the deposit. Then I tell him its 9 months till its completed and he blows a gasket cause when he dropped it off three months ago, I told him 9 months.
Now on my forms I write the estimated finish date is (9-12) months from the date of the deposit.
...IF I know I'm running late, I'll call my customers a little BEFORE their due date and tell them I'm running late. That's always much better letting them know ahead of time.
Also FYI, I keep on top of my backlog and advertise fairly quick turnaround times (which I believe helps me land a fair amount of extra business). Currently, I'm between 4-5 months. Usually I'm 3-4 months when I'm not as busy. Because I only do fish and I don't have any phases of taxidermy where I have to wait, I can offer pretty acurate, quicker turnaround times than most full-service shops...
If you tell a guy that his mount will be ready in a year, but you get it done in 6 months, do you charge him extra because he got it earlier than you'd contracted him to? My answer fits both scenarios, how about yours? LOL
if you would reread my question. If I can get a job finished in 6 mos. after quoting a year, usually the customer is happy and I'm tickled shi$less.I feel that customers would rather have it earlier than later. Even if he is not ready to pay or pick up, I at least have it finished and still have his 50% deposit. BUT, I do feel bad when I can't meet even approx. deadlines and end up missing them by a month or so. I thought that maybe some compensation for being late would pacify the customer and be a plus for future business in case it happens again. Evidently some of you agree. Thanks to those who did understand my question and took the time to reply.
ks
This is a tough business. Most Taxidermist are in it to support themselves. Why in heavens name would you want to give back your hard earned money.
One of the guys who use to work here opened his own shop. It is small but he cannot afford rent on a bigger place. He calls here every now and then, and asks if he can bring some mounts over to store. He can only get 25 shoulder mounts on his walls that basically means at the end of a week 5 are ready for delivery. 5 are ready to be detailed 10 are partially dry. And 5 were just mounted the previous week. It is his hope that those ready for delivery are picked up before he begins to mount the next one. As lone as the pick ups are ahead of the mounting. he is Okay. If only 4 get picked up. he will squeeze in a fish or bird or two.
Now, with each individual that procrastinates picking up there mount. His walls stay full. Imagine if he has no place to take the mounts. His customers could actually cause him to have to not work.
So for those who feel bad about not meeting a projected completion date. And want to compensate their customers. How would you suggest the customers compensate taxidermist for taking their time in collecting their mounts?
Think of how this effects his cash flow. it must be like working, and not getting paid for the weeks work for months to come.
I'm just getting into taxidermy so my opinion might not count, but I guess it would just depend on how late you are getting the mount done. Just a couple of months and I would have to agree with everyone else...just apologize, give an explanation if needed and let it go at that. I think padding your estimated delivery time by a month or two is a great idea.
Now, on the other hand, I had a well known Colorado taxidermist mount a turkey that I killed out there for me. He told me that it would be about six months. After about eight months, I called (patiently I might add) to check on it. Not done yet, no big deal. I checked on it about every three months after that. Finally, a year and nine months after I dropped it off, he calls to say it's finished. He was kind enough to apologize and then didn't charge me extra to build the crate for shipping. Not much of a discount, but still a little something. While the bird did take almost two years and I did pay a premium price, it looks awesome and I swear it's smiling at me as I type this! LOL!
-Jameson