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  • #1

    Pop quiz

    1. Say you run a business. Or are self-employed. Or manage a business. Or something like that. When a customer, who does not work in your line of work at all, comes along with a suggestion for how you should "improve" the way you do things, do you:

    a.) Jump for joy and set about implementing their suggestion right away.
    b.) Ignore them and go on doing things how you've been doing things.

    2. Have you ever seen a business doing a large variety of custom, made-to-order items that has a complete list of every possible option available, with prices for all said options?

    a.) Yes.
    b.) No.

    I have a guy telling me that I should somehow (I'm not sure how) set up my price page so that all possible price options are covered and he can see examples of each. I CANNOT DO THIS. There is no way in HELL I can do this. I mean come on! Just on the subject of tails, which is what he's specifically not pleased about, I have prices in $5 increments from $20 to $250! (And the only reason they're in $5 increments is because I prefer to just round things off!) I'm going to go along and list examples of ALL THAT?! I have infinite combinations of shapes and sizes and colors! I have 100+ types of fabric and I'm constantly creating new patterns for designs I've never made before! How the hell am I supposed to price that out so that people don't have to ask me about it? He is also displeased that my plush prices do not mention that $50 Loonakits exist. Guess what? The phrase "starts at" is on there, quite clearly, so of COURSE more expensive options exist. That is what "starts at/and up" is for! (Why do people not GET "starts at/and up"? Seriously, I run into so much idiocy on that front! It's a VERY simple concept, people!!!!)

    So no. No I'm not going to implement his wonderful, useful, frigging VAGUE AS HELL idea. I'm going to leave it exactly as it is, telling people to TELL ME WHAT THEY WANT and I will GIVE THEM A QUOTE, which is how every SINGLE business doing custom items, from one-person operations like me all the way up to megacorporations, does things! You tell them what you want, you get a quote, that is HOW IT WORKS.

    The guy is not really being sucky, so I am being polite to him, but this is SUCH a pet peeve for me, so I just had to blow off some steam about it somewhere. I really, really, really, really, really, really, really wish that people who don't run costume/plush businesses would quit telling me how to run mine!
    Last edited by spark; 06-28-2011, 10:26 AM.
    The best advice is this: Don't take advice and don't give advice. ~Author Unknown

    Nobody can give you wiser advice than yourself. ~Cicero

    See the fuzzy - http://bladespark.livejournal.com/
    Tags: None
  • #2
    Chuckles, "I'm an efficiency nut that's prone to dumping suggestions on people, but even i wouldn't suggest this, its rather obvious that it'd be impractical in the extreme."
    Seph
    Taur10
    "You're supposed to be the head of covert intelligence. Right now, I'm not seeing a hell of a lot of intelligence. Covert, overt, or otherwise!"-Lochley, B5, A View from the Gallery

    Comment

    • #3
      tell him to fuck off and sew his own costume if he "knows" so much about it.

      Comment

      • #4
        The worst part is when they get really angry when you DON'T jump for joy and profusely kiss their ass for telling you how to do your job!
        "There are 10 types of people in this world: those who understand binary and those who don't."

        Comment

        • #5
          "Thank you for your advice. I will certainly think about it."

          I've found that useful when dealing with people who know how to manage my assorted illnesses better than I (and my medical team) do.
          Seshat's self-help guide:
          1. Would you rather be right, or get the result you want?
          2. If you're consistently getting results you don't want, change what you do.
          3. Deal with the situation you have now, however it occurred.
          4. Accept the consequences of your decisions.

          "All I want is a pretty girl, a decent meal, and the right to shoot lightning at fools." - Anders, Dragon Age.

          Comment

          • #6
            Oh, I get these nutters too.

            Apparently I should just know off the top of my head 100+ quilt patterns and be able to easily calculate in my head how much a finished quilt would be based on the question of:

            "You know that quilt you made that one time? It was on your website but it sold? Yeah I want one just like that except a different pattern and different fabric. How much would that be? Oh and I need it next week for a wedding."

            Yeah that drives me to drink. While I do have a few patterns memorized, most I still need to look up in one of my 15+ quilting books. And then I'd need to find the fabrics, and no way do I have the inventory and prices memorized of seven different stores. *sigh* Which is why I have a price list of 'starting at' prices based on solid colors.

            I'm beginning to think that people don't understand the difference between 'one person small business' and 'giant factory sweatshop'.

            *offers beverage of choice to Spark*
            https://purplefish-quilting.square.site/

            Comment

            • #7
              Quoth Laund-o-rama Mama View Post
              The worst part is when they get really angry when you DON'T jump for joy and profusely kiss their ass for telling you how to do your job!
              Like the infamous David T perhaps?

              Comment

              • #8
                Quoth Seshat View Post
                "Thank you for your advice. I will certainly think about it."

                I've found that useful when dealing with people who know how to manage my assorted illnesses better than I (and my medical team) do.
                This. It makes them all happy that they think we listened to them and shuts them up. Usually. This guy just sounded weird.
                "You are beginning to damage my calm."

                Comment

                • #9
                  On the hotdog cart:
                  Been there, done that, told them exactly why it would not work and if they would like to change NM/TX/NC/GA Food Laws, that'd be fabulous but there would be no way on Howard's green Earth that I'd eat at any hotdog cart after that.

                  At the Retail Shoppe:
                  There are certain rules and such that I ignore out of the good for everyone present, yes. But I can't help that the building isn't set up for better wheel chair access. I do not speak Spanish as of yet (I'm learning against my will, that bugs me but I'll get over it) but will happily converse in German (poorly), Canadian French (also poorly), Japanese (just to dick with ya), and Sign Language (of which I'm RElearning) and Southernese (complete with TN Mountain Accent).

                  So, uh, B? Yeah, B.
                  (Whew, good thing this is multiple choice!)

                  What was the second question? Oh, right.

                  Uhm, I'm gonna go with B again. Because... no. Just no.
                  Now a member of that alien race called Management.

                  Yeah, you see that right. Pink. Harness.

                  Comment

                  • #10
                    Lucky for us, we have a 1-800 number for our HQ that prints on the bottom of the customer's receipt.

                    Much simpler to circle the number and suggest they call and that way, the suggestion can be passed on to the appropriate person .

                    Besides, they get paid more at HQ than I do in the store.
                    Human Resources - the adult version of "I'm telling Mom." - Agent Anthony "Tony" DiNozzo (NCIS)

                    Comment

                    • #11
                      I was going to point out option C, but Seshat beat me to it. Makes them feel good and gets them off your back; and they aren't likely to come back in a month and ask why you haven't implemented their new earth-shattering idea that you thought of and discarded several years ago.

                      Regarding options, I do remember a book from years ago called "Trucks Of The World Highways", wherein it was talking from the UK viewpoint about the (to them) insane number of options available on US-made road tractors. Relevant quote (from memory): "When purchasing a British-made truck, you have a choice of two axle ratios, and maybe a choice of engine size or single or tandem axle. A Mack truck dealer's data book, by contrast, can be a huge volume weighing 15 pounds, covering a myriad of options concerning every aspect of the vehicle, right down to the fuel tank (round or square? steel or aluminium? with step or without?)"

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                      • #12
                        Quoth DGoddessChardonnay View Post
                        Besides, they get paid more at HQ than I do in the store.
                        plus every once in a while the suits deserve a chuckle....
                        Honestly.... the image of that in my head made me go "AWESOME!"..... and then I remembered I am terribly strange.-Red dazes

                        Comment

                        • #13
                          Shoot the hostage. Oops, sorry, wrong pop quiz.

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