This is our year…or not…but we’re ok with that

Years ago, I was an Atlanta Braves fan. And by years ago, I don’t mean in the glory years of Glavine, Smoltz, Avery and Maddox. I mean Dale Murphy, Bob Horner, Rafael Ramirez, Glenn Hubbard, Gene Garber - those days. Each year as the season started, there was hope and optimism that “this year” was going to be our year. I was a Braves fan when it wasn’t cool. Eventually the Braves got there, and everyone jumped on the bandwagon. Everyone loves a winner, right? So I sort of jumped off. I still route for the Braves, but also the Orioles and Nationals from out time in northern VA, and now more for the Tampa Bay Rays as we’ve been going to that area for some time now in the summer and usually catch a game. As of this writing, TB is currently in first place - let’s hope the bandwagon does get too overloaded.

This year marks our third year of being an approved artisan vendor at the Piedmont Triad Farmer’s Market. In year one, we worked to get our name out there. People visiting the market didn’t “expect” us, so when they saw us, they often were not prepared or “in the market” (pun intended) for our products. As the year went on, we had people move from the surprise of seeing us, to actually shopping with us. We learned a lot, we changed our layout/setup too many times, and we started to learn the habits of our customers. While we are limited as to where we can set up, and it can literally change every week, we moved around to see what worked and what didn’t. We did start to realize consistency seemed to work in our favor. Overall, it was a good first year of face to face selling.

With year two, we had a better plan and became pretty consistent with our booth setup. We also started to recognize more and more faces and started having more and more conversations. Those conversations, where nothing was purchased, at first were very frustrating. You spend time educating your customer, finding their pain points and working on solutions, only to have them leave without a purchase. Sometimes, they just needed to think about it. Sometimes, they were just curious, and sometimes, they would leave a better educated individual yet go buy something cheap at a chain store. We’ll never push someone for a sale - we don’t like a pushy salesperson, so you’re not going to get that with us. We want you to have a positive experience. Then, some time later, a customer we spent time with would come back, because they felt comfortable with us, they now knew where the product came from, and they are consistently seeing us most weeks, so we were an actual, legit business in their eyes. It became part of our goal to educate the customer, teach them about the product, and leaving them a more prepared consumer, even if they chose not to buy from us. We also took a leap, applied to the Craftsmen’s Classic promotion group, and were approved. That was a big moment for us, because it’s a big promotion. With that, we did our first Craftsmen’s Classic show, locally in Greensboro, NC, over Thanksgiving weekend last year. It was hard, we were new, and it was our biggest setup. We build new display items, took way too long to decide on a layout, and brought in WAY too much product. All told, I think we spent like 10-12 hours just getting set up. This wasn’t the market, this was proving we belonged. We made it through year two, worked on developing our brand and reputation, learned how to adapt our setup and sales to a 3 days show, and we started having repeat customers.

This year marks year three as an approved vendor at the market, and we have things pretty dialed in. We started in March (early!) and had better than expected sales for that early in the year. But this year, our strategy has been a bit different. While the market has been our primary focus, we felt comfortable enough that we could make it our secondary and made the decision to tackle six promotional events, most of which were with the Craftsmen’s Classic group. So far, we’ve ventured to Columbia, SC, Roanoke, VA, and Myrtle Beach, SC. In October, we’ll hit Roanoke again. Then in November, we’ll head to Richmond, VA and then close out the year in Greensboro, NC. We also chose to invest in a 7’ x 16’ trailer, which has been a very nice addition. With six big shows and the market in between, we were very optimistic that this year, might be our year…we’ve taken a big swing; we may strike out, we may get on base, or we may hit a home run. It’s all in how you measure up to your goals. We stepped out of our “division” this year, played more road games by venturing into some new markets (and more to come) and are meeting more and more great people. Our fan base at “home” is expanding, and we continue to strive to provide high quality products for a fair price, and are seeing more and more repeat customers. If you’ve stopped by our booth just to chat, we appreciate that. If you’re a Design and Refine Woodworks customer - fantastic, thank you! If you’re a repeat customer, we so happy to have earned your business again. If you don’t know us and just happened onto this blog, check us out - we would love to earn your business. We’ve had a good year - we’ve learned a lot, put some systems in place, met some incredible people, tackled a few custom jobs and continue to show up every inning, giving our best effort. Will this be our year? Who knows…but we are hyped as we enter the “seventh inning” of the year, so to speak. As my former High School Cross Country Coach always said - You gotta love it! And we do. This may be our year, or not, but we’re ok with that. We are so blessed to get to do this, and to God be the glory.