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how to say "no" ?


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how do you tell a customer 'no' without burning potential business bridges? i'm booked solidly for the next 3 months and i have people wanting quilts done then. i just sent an email saying i couldn't meet a deadline, and i'll tell you, hitting "send" almost turned my stomach.

i know a LAer in the area stopped taking on new customers, and i don't want to do that. with the eonomy i'm counting my blessings, but i also know that i'm pushing fate to meet the deadlines with the log i have now.

i know what i WANT to say, but it wouldn't be very professional. :)

any advice?? what do you do? i never thougth i'd ever be at this point...

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Your skills tell the tale. customers like your work. What do you use to keep track/scheduling out, do you allow a week or so here or there for personal time?

Let them know you are pleased to be doing their beautiful quilts and this is when you can do them.

You may have the luxury of starting to refer the poorer quilters to someone else and keep the good quilters.

Kudos to you for doing such beautiful work.

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I've learned over time to tell customers when I can fit them in instead of telling them no. It is up to them then to choose if they want to wait or not. Most of the time they will wait. If they don't want to wait, I refer them to another quilter or to the local quilt shops to get names of other quilters.

I have enough quilts and customers that I don't mind losing a few here and there. Fortunately, everyone I've referred somewhere else has always returned, but this time around they get on a waiting list well ahead of time and usually before they have even started piecing the quilt. Evidently the lesson was learned!!

I was computerized recently and am changing how I schedule quilts. I now have 1 week of every month devoted only to E2E quilts. Then I can crank out 1 or more a day after work, and spend the rest of the month on custom quilts. While the computer is quilting the E2E quilts, I can work on getting the custom quilts ready to go on the machine, work on designs for them and best of all, work on my own stuff!! I just started doing this, and so far so good!!

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Shannon,

I too have had to tell customers no. I explain that I have a waiting list and if they are willing to wait I will call them when I can fit them in. Most handle it really well. I also make sure they have a few other quilters in my area that might be able to help them out. So far it works. I find honesty is the best policy!

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When your booked your booked, your hands are tied and there isn't anything you can do. Her needs don't fit in your schedule, so stick to your guns....its hard to say how any other quilters have also told her no before she got to you. If she really wants it done right she will give it to him as a gift top and then have it quilted afterwards when it can be fit into a quilters schedule, yours or whomevers.

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I hate it when the customer drops off a quilt and you tell her how booked you are. The next thing they say is, "I'm in no hurry." Then 3 weeks later they are calling to see where you are on their quilt!!

You either have to just say no! Refer them to another local quilter (I'm told they appreciate this and will keep coming back because you are honest to work with - havent really tried it yet), Or say yes, but this is how far I am out, and don't forget to calculate family matters into that schedule.

And way to to...your business seems to be growing!!

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Hi Shannon~

I agree with all the the previous advice. If you're booked, your booked. Just be honest and they will understand.

I use a calendar when I take in quilts. Figure how long it will take me to complete the work and add a day or two. I don't count Sun & Mon (my days off) Even though I do quilt on those days.

It gives me the flexibility to have an "Off" day if I need it and usually I can complete most quilts ahead of my "estimated completion date".

I always have my calendar handy and book my quilts in the order they come in.

If my customers need a "rush" job, I simply let them know how far out I am and that I would be happy to give them the names of other LA'ers in the area.

They normally just decide it's okay to wait and I put them on the calendar.

Hope this helps.

Laura

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Shannon, rather than say "no" (and I personally think that is a bad word to have in a business vocabulary)...

I would try to look at it from the customer's perspective. Instead of saying "no" think of options that include "maybe" and "yes" and these options could say:

"maybe in three months"

"yes in three months"

"if you can't wait that long, maybe (insert referral longarm name here) can do it for you as she is a friend of mine and will do a great job for you"

Always give your customer options or a solution rather respond with nothing to help.

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My Doodlebug,

First I am glad to hear that you are too busy!!!! You are lucky. Because of being sick last year, the few regulars I had have found someone else since I could not do their work for 9 months. ALthough I totaly understand why they moved on, I feel like I am starting all over again. But when I was too busy I would send them an email when the time was right OR I would tell them it would be so many weeks / months.

You are so well known around here, you should not worry!!!! Its show time quilting and these ladies should understand. Your regulars love you!!!;)

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you guys are making me blush. davis says ya'll need to be careful- i'm going to have to go through doors sideways! :) i swear i wasn't fishing for compliments.

i'm just happy to be doing something i ABSOLUTELY love! without my customers i couldn't do it, so it just puts a crimp in things to have to turn one away. it's kindda like strays (davis says i'm worse than ellie may) you just can't keep them all. *giggle* i just think if you can catch it, you should get to keep it.

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Hey, doodlebug.

I am in the same boat you are in. Isn't it wonderful to have enough/too much business. I also don't want to lose customers, but as many others have said, when your scheduls is full, it is full!

I am having to tell customers that I will be late with their quilts as I hadn't yet learned the art of scheduling. I have now learned that or at least I hope I have and am much more careful about how many quilts I schedule in a given period, knowing that things can/do go wrong and a quilt takes longer than you expect.

So, I at this point, I am now telling customers that the earliest they will get their quilt back with be July 30 and they are ok with that! Wow! Was I surprised! Flabbergasted! But they are doing it. In fact, since I don't want to keep quilts here for that long (too much responsibility) I am now asking the customers to keep the quilt until closer to the date, but that I will put them on my calendar and give them a call when my closet where I keep custtomer quilts has room again. ;-) They appreciate the bit of humor and not one of my regulars has opted to go elsewhere and neither have many of the new people. When someone is insistent that theirs needs to be done sooner for a show or whatever, I give them names of other quilters in the area who's work I respect and tell them I just can't put them ahead of anyone in my schedule, because how would they feel if it was them and I put someone ahead of them.

So, jump in there, be honest, give them your waiting period and I am willing to bet that they will wait for you. And if they can't wait, they may or may not be back, but in my area at least, most come back immediately and book a spot for that very same quilt, as most of the quilters in my area have longer waiting times than I do.

Good luck.

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some of us can dream about turning customers away but happily I now have repeat customers so perhaps one day I will be that busy. In the meantime, I have learned a lot from this thread and appreciate all your honesty about the struggles of scheduling, etc.

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Doddlebug -

Sent you U2U..:cool:

You need not worry about having to go through the door sideways. You are a great gal and very talented and don't you forget it!!!!!!! I wish you would post more of your quilt work so people could appreciate it!!!

Your bud in Atlanta....

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I can only hope to be as lucky as you and be so busy I need to worry about setting limits on what I can take in.

Before I purchased my Millie, I had always sent my quilts to a LAer in the Atlanta area. She has done my quilts for 11 years or so and when I moved to Mississippi I just continued to send my quilts her, because she is so good! Even when she is very busy she had never said she could not do a quilt for me, just stated she was real backed up and it would be X number of weeks before she could do it. I appreciate her being honest about the wait and have always just sent my quilts and waited.

Cheri

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