Expanding your engraving clientele

In recent articles, I talked about creating niche markets, adding products, and more. The bottom line, of course, is that we need to be continually expanding our engraving customer base. The bank manager won’t mind if you deposit $1,000 from one customer, or from 50 customers. While big orders from a few customers are very nice of course, our business will be much more sustainable if we have a larger number of customers spending a little, but often.

Knowing your community is, I think, the most important thing when you’re looking to grow clientele. Personally, I was successful in growing my customers by doing a couple of things. First, in general, I never turned a job down at first sight. Take name tags for example. I started off with name tags by approaching my church and presenting an idea to replace our somewhat generic ones. I belong to an old, historic church, and I was fortunate that there are a lot of lovely drawings, sketches, and plans showing the church from all angles. I selected a frontal view and spent a couple of days creating a drawing I could work with.

I engraved the image onto a name tag, added some names, and presented the tags to the church. After an initial order about 15 years ago, I now get a small order from the church each year. Moving on from the church, I now produce name tags for our Chamber of Commerce, our Main Street group, and a couple of other businesses. I also get referrals from friends on the West Coast and get regular small orders from organizations back there. I was also asked to produce name tags for the host committee for a major service organization. Again, a lot of small orders rapidly grow into very useful income.

Engraving awards

I was once approached by a gentleman who is associated with athletic and strongman events. He asked me to do some inexpensive awards and medals, and to try and make them unique. From there, my awards business has grown to encompass several different events and includes a couple of very large (for me) orders. That business also expanded into providing gifts for sponsors and patrons. I incorporated metallic foils and some “conventional” designs and have secured repeat customers. Sometimes a customer won’t want medals and plaques. Never be afraid to suggest different items — glassware, water bottles, or more “ornamental” pieces using glass or acrylic.

If you have a particular specialty or niche, you of course run the risk of saturating your customers. Investigate the use of different materials to produce similar designs.

I mentioned never turning a job down at first sight. Sometimes you’re going to be asked to do something that you may never have otherwise considered. If you’re going to be able to work with your own inventory, there’s a little less stress involved. But very often you’re presented with something that the customer brings to you, and of course, is required in two days! Since you probably won’t have time to replace it if it gets spoiled, you do need to consider if it’s a job you want to take on.

Assuming you are successful with the piece, it’s one more arrow you can add to your quiver of ideas for future customers. Some of the things I’ve been asked to do, which I never thought might turn into repeat orders, have included firearm accessories, memorial pieces, boxes for cremains of beloved pets, ornamental knife sheaths, name plates for paintings, and more. I’ve recently engraved funeral urns directly or prepared name plates for urns. The most unusual one-offs can turn into repeat business almost by accident. I once took on a job of engraving baseballs as awards for a local college baseball team.

Retail vs. wholesale clientele

If you have a specialty product, don’t be afraid to approach other outlets with the notion of becoming a supplier. It doesn’t necessarily have to be another retail outlet either. A few years ago, a local church came up with the idea of creating a memorial garden as a fundraiser, incorporating decorated bricks. The cost for the finished brick to the parishioners was really quite high, and the profit for the church was relatively small.

I took a chance and approached the church with the idea of using a ceramic solution on a commercially available brick. I worked with the church to select what I felt would be a piece that was light enough in color and was as smooth as possible to achieve the best result. I got a sample, used the solution, and engraved it. After applying a commercial water sealant to the brick, I presented it to the church council and the idea was approved. This project has turned into a success for us and, more importantly, the church.

Another venture that has proved successful was an approach I made to a couple of local museums. After initially approaching them about specially engraved glassware for sale in their giftshops and in their online catalogs, the product range has expanded to Christmas ornaments with several custom designs, different pieces of glassware, and custom cutting boards.

No parking

A friend of mine who is a property owner needed to mark assigned parking signs. I produced a couple of samples, he liked them, and now I produce the signs for him on a regular basis. I’ve done similar jobs for a local school and other private property owners.

Christmas ornaments are a great way of adding new customers. I’ve produced ornaments using local school logos, fraternal and service organizations, museums, and individuals. I dated the ornaments and now have some customers coming in each year to buy the latest. I also produce an ornament with the city name on it.

A simple idea I started, which has resulted in referrals from customers, was engraving our store name and contact information on the back of as many of the products we produce as I can. That alone has resulted in numerous referrals.

Ultimately, expanding our clientele is dependent on our being aware of potential business, approaching potential customers, and being prepared to take the chance with possible products. Above all, being lucky enough to catch everything at the right time. I think it was Samuel Goldwyn who said, “The harder I work, the luckier I get.”