Dinosaur Pull Toy and Custom orders

So last weekend a woman came by my booth at the Marmora farmer's Market with her young son. He really liked the standup dinosaur puzzle I had on display, but she thought he was a bit young for it. So she asked if i could make her a pull toy in the same design. 

I could say that I couldn't do it, but from the pic below you've probably figured out the opposite is true. I told her she could pick it up the following weekend if she didn't need it sooner. "Really? You can have it ready that fast?" she asked. Apparently people are used to waiting a long time for custom orders to get done. 

I'd love to say that I'm so far behind in custom orders that I have a 3 week waiting period, but that's not true. Most of my sales come from in stock items, but I always prioritize my custom orders for a few reasons. 

First of all, it's a sale already made. After a bad experience with one customer (upon whom I am still waiting for pickup and collection) I have made it policy to request 1/2 price down payment minimum. If you've already paid for something, you don't want to wait longer than you have to, and I want to fulfill a paid obligation before anything else.

Second, it just seems to be good policy to look after your customers. Since I try to keep my regular items in stock, people just buying those items are almost never put out or waiting. They come looking and leave (I hope) happy. People who are looking for custom made items though, come looking and leave hopeful. I want them to have a pleasant experience and part of that is expedient service.

That's really what it's about for us here at maple Ridge, doing our very best to provide customer delight. Not just customer satisfaction. We like to see someone's eyes light up when they get that item that they ordered but have never before seen. That look that says to us, "Wow...that's even better than I had hoped!"

I get compliments on my work all the time, but the greatest compliments involve things like "Can I have a bunch of your cards to give out to my friends?" That's when i know I've done my job well.

So anyway...
About the dinosaur. The lady picked it up this past Saturday and was pleased with it. It is now among our regularly stocked items. It's made of 1 1/2" spruce with 1" pine wheels and some 3/16 dowel for axles. As with all of our pull toys it can be made into a wheeled toy (without the string pull) or a puzzle, or just a standup toy or scaled down (or up) as a cutout figure.

And for all the kids out there who like dinosaurs...I think  some more might be on the way soon..

*Note: The wood surface in the foreground is from my wormy maple coffee table. I finally took some pics and might even do an extra post tonight showing it off.