The Gold Mine

[Sinifar]

Do you have a local branch you can pick up stuff at the will call desk? If so you have a gold mine.

I know I have been carping about our local, but -- I still go over there at least once a week to pick up what they do have.... WHY?

Waltzing in the door, one can first draw a cup of coffee, free. I know - big deal. It is, it gives you a reason to linger awhile, and not just grab your stuff and go. Next have a look at the will call table. Who is picking up what? The guys over there don't mind if you take a look, just act like you are looking for your stuff.

This will give you an idea of what the other guys are selling. Not to whom, but at least you know what is moving in the area.

Okay, now you got your joe, and are probably sitting there talking with the branch guys, sometimes other smiths are standing / sitting around as well doing the same thing you are, namely exchanging the local scuttlebutt.

One can find out a lot about what is going on out on the road just by talking with others in the trade, Listen for who is talking about what..... If there are not any other smiths in the place, and you have become known for keeping your mouth shut - maybe you can pump the local guys to divulge some information about a competitor. What are they up to lately? Trade moving along or going slow? Big orders? Little orders? Anybody hiring? Seen XXX lately? I haven't. I know this is a controversial subject, but if you ask the right questions you maybe able to get some very interesting information.

If you have some interesting news, share it with the branch -- In my case I usually say - "My bush telegraph is telling me that ....... " AND then see what they say. If you are connected with the trade, you probably have shared interesting information with other smiths in your daily meets. Don't divulge who they are, just say -- "bush telegraph" .... at least if you are wrong, then the locals will know that you are working on rumors and things you heard -- sometimes from clients, and the things they say about about others, and why they called you. If you ask discreetly you can find out a lot from clients. As far as the branch - you are just following up and checking on what you heard.

The local branch can be rumor control if you work it right.

WHY is this important? Because it can affect your long term planning, and the direction you may or may not want to go in the future. It also tells you if somebody in the area is breathing down your back, as if you did not already know that - and maybe you didn't.

I was up there last week, and the cross town smith comes in and SURPRISE! -- He has a new hire with him and is introducing him around. Very interesting information. Do they have enough work to actually hire somebody new? What are they doing that you are not, to be able to afford to put another man on? OR worse, who left them and now where did they go? Time to make a few calls.....

Don't hang around for hours, or keep on bugging the locals for things they don't want to tell you - especially if you can't keep it to yourself. About a half hour, forty five minutes and who all comes in and who does not. AND if somebody waltzes in who you do not know ask the branch who they are... that had proven interesting to say the least a few times.

The local is a news network hub of the trade. Work it right and you might get some insights into the workings of the area. It could make your next decisions more beneficial to you.

This is a small trade - most of us know each other from long years of associating with each other....SO --- get to know what is going on, know who is making what moves, and who is no longer -- apparently -- ordering stuff. It can be a real gold mine to dig into, but do it very carefully.

Sinifar

[jeffmoss26]

I always see someone I know at ADI or Alarmax, nice to get the industry buzz from my salespeople and they have coffee! Same goes for the electrical supply house. I try and go to the counter day/lunches when I can.

[cledry]

Don't get to our suppliers as much as I once did. We have a couple of rookies who do a lot of the gopher work. Personally I am the type who hates to be waiting while the guy in front counts each key blank to make sure he didn't get cheated, you know the guy who is a cash customer. I want to get in and out in a couple of minutes at most. We have four pretty major suppliers in our small town so it is preferable to having stuff shipped. The other advantage is that shipping is usually free when it is needed because by picking up the bulk locally you save them shipping most of the time. I usually will grab a couple of bottles of water for the road at CRL but no time for the coffee and donuts.

[Tyler J. Thomas]

Before Clark came to town, IDN was one of two suppliers in town. The other rarely had anything in stock so it was IDN for nearly every same day item. The rest we just shipped in from Sec Lock, Clark, whoever. Anyways, IDN sells to scammers. They don't care; if you've got money and a business license you're a locksmith to them.

The counters at IDN were, and I'm sure still are, full of hilarious conversations between the scammers themselves or the scammers and whoever was working at the counter. They'd often describe the situation and the poor counter person would be tasked on finding the part(s) they needed based off of obscure information and, if lucky, pictures.

Well, I enjoyed messing with them in a not so friendly manner. I'd often deliberately sabotage their efforts because, F 'em, they were sabotaging our industry. A scammer was at a counter one day trying to purchase an early 90s BMW ignition cylinder. He couldn't figure out how to remove the one he was working on so he left the job, went to IDN to pick up a new cylinder (how he was going to get it in without removing the existing one was beyond me), and would return to finish the job. I said "Hey, that's too much work! You can pick those things and remove them! Easy as pie!" I therefore instructed him how to remove a BMW ignition cylinder, something about picking it to the on position, pressing the brake pedal, and cycling the headlights on manually 5 times. By my logic, that would release the "solenoid" holding the ignition cylinder in and he'd have it out in a matter of minutes.

He bought the cylinder (I think he was just going to give them a new key, separate from everything else on the car) but I do wonder how long he tried my "method" before he gave up.

I also had fun convincing a few of them that a Y1 key blank would fit any Medeco Air keyway.

[GWiens2001]

Love it, Confederate! Guess with enough hammering and filing, it would fit.

Gordon