A NEW Product? (1 Viewer)

perterra said:

Integrity and $4 will buy you a cup of coffee at Starbucks, try to get a cup of coffee on integrity alone.

People just dont care, if they did, they wouldnt do it. The only complaints I have heard are right here.

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I guess it's good I don't drink coffee. I guess that's another thing that lets me sleep well.

WJC said:

And, before the economy collapsed in 2008, it had sold almost $1,000,000, mostly by word of mouth, from Tokyo to Helsinki. It can be done.
:cat:

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I will only say Bill, I have seen the world of sales and finance go 180º since the mid 2000's.

I dont doubt it can be done, I doubt it can be done economically enough for todays consumer.

perterra said:

I will only say Bill, I have seen the world of sales and finance go 180º since the mid 2000's.

I dont doubt it can be done, I doubt it can be done economically enough for todays consumer.

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Now, you have grabbed the brass ring, pard! That's where knowing your trade and caring about your customers can set you apart from the pack of also rans.

There are two kinds of oats: the Prime, and those that have already been through the horse. Although slow to catch on, most customers will eventually rely on their nose. :cat:

The above reflections are precisely why I quickly left the retail trade and only dealt with professional buyers from small, medium and large retailers, mainly in varied household goods.

I had almost no problems with professional buyers who know their trades.

Being in retail can be a nightmare, at least for me.

The following is indeed gender related, and not politically correct, but I had the joy of seeing one of my best customers throw a lady out of his shop after an hour of endless changing of mind. He swore at her and told her never to come back. His business certainly did not suffer.

I did deal directly with customers regarding complaints. I would write a report and sometimes refused to take the goods back if they were damaged by the customer, despite their claiming otherwise.
If the complaint was genuine there was an immediate rebate.

But there are hidden dangers when a young fairly innocent man goes alone to inspect goods at customers houses.

WJC said:

Now, you have grabbed the brass ring, pard! That's where knowing your trade and caring about your customers can set you apart from the pack of also rans.

There are two kinds of oats: the Prime, and those that have already been through the horse. Although slow to catch on, most customers will eventually rely on their nose. :cat:

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I dont think you understand that I am not disagreeing with you, just saying people dont care.

Binastro said:

The above reflections are precisely why I quickly left the retail trade and only dealt with professional buyers from small, medium and large retailers, mainly in varied household goods.

I had almost no problems with professional buyers who know their trades.

Being in retail can be a nightmare, at least for me.

The following is indeed gender related, and not politically correct, but I had the joy of seeing one of my best customers throw a lady out of his shop after an hour of endless changing of mind. He swore at her and told her never to come back. His business certainly did not suffer.

I did deal directly with customers regarding complaints. I would write a report and sometimes refused to take the goods back if they were damaged by the customer, despite their claiming otherwise.
If the complaint was genuine there was an immediate rebate.

But there are hidden dangers when a young fairly innocent man goes alone to inspect goods at customers houses.

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I dont deal with retail in any shape form or fashion. The headaches are not worth it, I deal with industrial folks who realize our service has a value above dollars and cents.

Bill,

The 1.000.000,00 dollar thing is that the total volume or the 2008 figure?

Jan

perterra said:

I dont think you understand that I am not disagreeing with you, just saying people dont care.

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I do understand and agree with most of what you said. I just know there is a better and safer—financially—way. If you need to pick at my screwups you should concentrate on how, after 23 years of federal service, they've been able to cheat me out of a pension.

Binastro wrote:

"Being in retail can be a nightmare, at least for me."

Those who think it's not aren't paying attention.

jan van daalen said:

Bill,

The 1.000.000,00 dollar thing is that the total volume or the 2008 figure?

Jan

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Hi Jan,

That was the total. It was just in production a few years and Captain's lacked the resources to do it right and I had many more things on my plate.

WJC said:

Binastro wrote:

"Being in retail can be a nightmare, at least for me."

Those who think it's not aren't paying attention.

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Mmmm, the 1.000.000,00 would suggest otherwise

J

Perterra wrote:

"... our service has a value above dollars and cents."

Isn't that the crux of what I have been saying?

jan van daalen said:

Mmmm, the 1.000.000,00 would suggest otherwise

J

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More often than not, life in retail was good for me. But, every so often I would have to deal with a real winner:

It MUST Be Right ... It Was in A Magazine

A woman came into my shop wanting to purchase a binocular “suitable for bird watching and kayaking.” After showing her several instruments that would satisfy her needs, she began firing off questions and continued to launch into more before I had a chance to answer those already asked. Furthermore, it was evident she misunderstood much of what she had been reading. When she paused for a breath, I pointed out her questions had covered a lot of topics and it might be good to answer those already asked before we moved on.

Considering her previous comments, I tried to correct some of her misgivings. But at that moment I lost her. She wasn’t prepared to accept that she had been mistaken about ... anything.

Halfway through the next sentence, she whipped a Sea Kayaker magazine from under her arm, shook it in my face, and asked if I thought I knew more about binoculars than the person who had written the article. Seeing the title and author, I sheepishly replied I thought I knew at least as much. Becoming incensed she tucked the magazine back under her arm and stormed out of the shop.

The article had been written by a freelance writer I had helped with at least two other optical pieces over as many years and, not only was I the optician interviewed for the article, I provided the last technical edit before it was published. Sadly, my personal attention and interest in helping with her specific needs weren’t good enough. But then, she didn’t need any human help; she had a magazine.

jan van daalen said:

Mmmm, the 1.000.000,00 would suggest otherwise

J

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Depends on the return on investment doesnt it?

perterra said:

Depends on the return on investment doesnt it?

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Bingo!

WJC said:

Bingo!

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Mmm Bill, you didn't answered my first question8-P

Making that amount in all those years, won't have brought you far so I assume it's all those years that have led you to that yearly turnover.
It would place you in the TOP 3 in Holland and they all do well.

J

jan van daalen said:

Mmm Bill, you didn't answered my first question8-P

Making that amount in all those years, won't have brought you far so I assume it's all those years that have led you to that yearly turnover.
It would place you in the TOP 3 in Holland and they all do well.

J

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Jan,

I can’t say I understood your exact meaning, but I will try to respond.

It should be understood that I only made a small return on those sales. Captain’s made the investment in the brass, the tripods, the proprietary Schmidt prisms, the eyepieces, and the crates. Thus, they got the lion’s share of the reward.

The thing that kept Captain’s from doing as well as could be expected was the antiquated thinking behind the effort—usually a failure to seize the moment. When the company’s second owner passed away, and left the business to his son, the damage had been done. I’m just glad I was there to help take it to the peak of its business. The company sold a few years back and the new owner is doing things his way. He, of course, has that right. But, let’s just say that from my standpoint mistakes are being made that will kill the company too slowly to be seen.

I wish them well; they were all salt of the earth people.

WJC said:

Jan,

I can’t say I understood your exact meaning, but I will try to respond.

It should be understood that I only made a small return on those sales. Captain’s made the investment in the brass, the tripods, the proprietary Schmidt prisms, the eyepieces, and the crates. Thus, they got the lion’s share of the reward.

The thing that kept Captain’s from doing as well as could be expected was the antiquated thinking behind the effort—usually a failure to seize the moment. When the company’s second owner passed away, and left the business to his son, the damage had been done. I’m just glad I was there to help take it to the peak of its business. The company sold a few years back and the new owner is doing things his way. He, of course, has that right. But, let’s just say that from my standpoint mistakes are being made that will kill the company too slowly to be seen.

I wish them well; they were all salt of the earth people.

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Hi Bill,

Thanks for the feedback.
I've never heard of Captain's (except from the fact that you've worked there after Service) and assumed it was an Optical shop like others with one exception; The luck to have a skilled repair guy like you as an employee.
The wet dream of every Optics owner
Being in that position it gives that shop a big advantage above other identical shops which would/should reflect on sales in a positive way.
Seeing it in that perspective, the figure you mentioned didn't strike me as unrealistic at all. I just wanted to make sure I understood you right.

Jan

jan van daalen said:

Hi Bill,

Thanks for the feedback.
I've never heard of Captain's (except from the fact that you've worked there after Service) and assumed it was an Optical shop like others with one exception; The luck to have a skilled repair guy like you as an employee.
The wet dream of every Optics owner
Being in that position it gives that shop a big advantage above other identical shops which would/should reflect on sales in a positive way.
Seeing it in that perspective, the figure you mentioned didn't strike me as unrealistic at all. I just wanted to make sure I understood you right.

Jan

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Hi Jan,

Thank you for the kind words.

The people who really did well from the 1897 Alaska Gold Rush was NOT the people who toiled and froze trying to get rich. They were the people smart enough to stay warm in Seattle and cater to the wants and needs of those other greedy fools. One of those was Max Kuner who, in that year, started Max Kuner Nautical Opticians (later Shrock, Compass Adjuster, later still, Captain’s Nautical Supplies) who provided compasses, sextants, telescopes, charts, and wheelhouse tools to the seafarer.

Not only was Seattle the jumping of point for the gold rush, a port for the international trade on the US west coast, but also a major supplier for the newly built Navy Yard Puget Sound—today’s Puget Sound Naval Shipyard.

The Navy lured me 2,500 miles from Atlanta to help them catch up on their optical repair backlog. Then when the work was caught up, I became an expensive liability and needed to go. Somebody remembered I was hired during President Reagan’s “hiring freeze” and, Bingo, they had their excuse. I was in my late 20s, had drained my bank account to get there, was 2,500 miles from familial support, and in a “world of hurt.” For the next 5 years I just did what I had to do to keep food on the table. Optics jobs were scarce to non-existent in the region.

As being recognized as a good thing to an “optics shop” owner? Well, that didn’t happen. I had to create that optics shop. I was hired by the owner’s son. The owner was a former ship’s master and a compass “adjuster” who had taught the craft to officers at the New York Navy Yard during WWII. The Max Kuner Company became “Shrock, Compass Adjuster.” He had no vision of what optics could be in the Seattle Area. And although hired by his son, I had to fight the old guy tooth and nail to do what I did for his company.

Getting his first government contract for repair work, taking in repair work from “professional” repair shops from all over the country, getting restoration work from the Smithsonian, designing the Baywatch Telescope, giving him 50 years of history on a platter, and taking optics to such a large part of the business was largely unnoticed by him. Had my immediate boss (his son) not prevailed, I’m sure he would have kicked me out and he looked for everything he could to needle me about. When I was given the responsibility of Director of Advertising and Marketing he would come around and grouse about how I was spending too much—the next year not enough. So I gave myself a little break and gathered the hard data. In the course of a year I missed HIS budget by a whopping ... $9.54! He shut up but still didn’t like me. I was too aggressive and he obviously didn’t notice the contributions I was making to keep his company alive.

I might have been a “wet dream” to his son but the older gentleman didn’t give a whit about optics, regardless of the bills he was paying because of them. Like the Beatles, it took me some time to become an “overnight success.” :cat:

Thanks for the insight Bill!!

Taking the human side apart, it is a great historical company tale. Something to be proud of.
Just googled shopviewed Captain's Seatlle and the guy on the pic with his hands near his b...s, is that you?

Jan