Long Arm Quilting Business Lesson Learned

I have always been a believer that competition is a great thing. In business, it keeps us honest and on our toes.

I was at quilting retreat and on vacation last week and weekend. I had a wonderful time. I will blog about that in another post. However, being on vacation means that I was not at my studio, working and taking in new customers.

Due to a much appreciated referral, I received a phone call while I was gone and the nice lady left a message that I should call her back that day. It was a Friday. I received the message on Sunday evening when I returned home and I called and left a message for the quilter that I had been gone and would call her on Tuesday when I would be available to speak freely with her.

I did call her as promised on Tuesday afternoon. Unfortunately for me, she had already found another quilter to perform the custom quilting job. She apologized that she had gone to someone else and I explained that she didn't need to apologize, as I was the one that had not been available. We actually had a lovely discussion about her quilting, guild membership and other stitchy subjects. She had planned to call me last night to let me know that she was taking her quilt to Allentown, PA to be quilted. She is looking for someone closer to where she lives in Northern NJ.

I gave her my cell phone number so she could always reach me in the future. I wasn't upset over the loss of potential income, as I am quite back logged at this point in the busy season of long arm quilting. I just felt bad that I did not have the foresight to forward my business line to my mobile number while I was gone. herein lies an important lesson learned by me this month. Hopefully, this quilter will come to me the next time and I will earn her business in the future.

I am wondering if other self employed artisans have thought about this? I hope that by writing about it I can help others avoid a missed opportunity. Comments and feedback welcome!