I have been spoiled I tell ya'!

Those little touches truly are appreciated.  A couple of weeks ago I decided to order three cakes of Stirling's bath soaps because of some positive comments I had seen here on DFS.  Included was a sample of a fourth bath soap.  I am finally getting to try the first soap tonight.  I decided to try the sample first because it was Bay Lime scented.  Not being a fan of bay rum I thought I would get this one over with.  Big Mistake! LOL  When I opened the well wrapped soap the most wonderful fragrance hit my nose.  The bay leaf scent beautifully modified the lime and now I cannot wait for this evening's wash up.  Had I not received the sample (1) I never would have considered buying it, though I might now, and (2) it is making me look even more forward than I was to the three soaps that I actually did purchase.  Of course there was a "thank you" in the order, as well.

With all of those ridiculous and meaningless "mission statements" going around with everyone today let me say, don't bother.  Just give me quality service and products such as I received from Stirling (as well as many other of our artisans).

Those little touches truly are appreciated.  A couple of weeks ago I decided to order three cakes of Stirling's bath soaps because of some positive comments I had seen here on DFS.  Included was a sample of a fourth bath soap.  I am finally getting to try the first soap tonight.  I decided to try the sample first because it was Bay Lime scented.  Not being a fan of bay rum I thought I would get this one over with.  Big Mistake! LOL  When I opened the well wrapped soap the most wonderful fragrance hit my nose.  The bay leaf scent beautifully modified the lime and now I cannot wait for this evening's wash up.  Had I not received the sample (1) I never would have considered buying it, though I might now, and (2) it is making me look even more forward than I was to the three soaps that I actually did purchase.  Of course there was a "thank you" in the order, as well.

With all of those ridiculous and meaningless "mission statements" going around with everyone today let me say, don't bother.  Just give me quality service and products such as I received from Stirling (as well as many other of our artisans).

I placed an order with Stirling not too long ago for 2 matching shave soap and splash sets. Inside the packaging was not only a nice little handwritten "Thank you for your order", but also 2 samples of bath soap, Witchy Woman, and "Summer Test". Both are freakin awesome bath soaps, and had I not received these free samples, I would not be,a t this moment, putting together another Stirling order to include these particular bath soaps and another I hesitated on as I wasn't sure I would like using an "artisan bath soap".

Another well-known vendor, Phoenix Artisan Accoutrements, sent along a very nice bumper sticker, a nice sample of shave soap, and a sample of aftershave balm along with my last order from them, as well as taking the time to write a quick "Thank you for your order!" on my packing slip.

All I really ask of(or expect from) an artisan is to provide me a quality product and timely shipping. Sell me what I want and send it to me as soon as humanly possible. When they take upon themselves to show me how important I am to them, it does, absolutely, turn me into a "fanboy". I will back up those suppliers with my purchasing power, and I will speak up if I see something negative being said about them. Their efforts win my loyalty...

I would have stopped reading the scent  description after "You are wandering...." and moved on.  

Now if it had instead read "You are striding purposefully through a crowded marketplace...." that would have kept my attention! Those descriptions are so Seinfeld yet you still see them. I mean seriously.

Freddy I'm glad you like the Stirling bath soaps. I really like them as well and sometime last year I picked up their Barbershop bath soap despite not being a fan of Barbershop scents (so I thought) It was amazing and is one of my favourite Stirling scents, I bought more of their Barbershop bath soaps and also in shaving soap and balm. Its amazing what a sample can do to get you to try a scent you wouldn't otherwise try based on the description or your own preconceptions (e.g. Bay Lime). I think its an excellent way to build and grow a business. Of course now i have to go get some Stirling Bay Lime!

I also appreciate the small, hand-written thank you note, even if handwriting analysis proves it to not to be the writing of the actual artisan, at least someone in the system wrote it. Often these artisan businesses are sidelines to day jobs with few to no employees involved so you're certain that if there's a handwritten note in the package it was written by the artisan themselves - take Chatillon Lux for example, I know that Shawn makes and bottles the product, packs the order and ships it all himself - he has a partner that does the labels and I believe there are a couple of other people involved in some creative capacity but its a very personal hands on business and I appreciate that.
Marko

Marko, I couldn't agree with you more.  By the way, much of the sample of the Bay Lime soap is gone and I enjoy it every time I bathe.  The scent just makes me feel good and the soap itself feels great on the skin but washes off cleanly.  I couldn't ask for more.

As you can tell, I am more than pleased with the bath soap but I wonder if I would have felt the same if the service I received was perfunctory at best or rude at worst?  There is that indefinable something that is so important as to how we look at a product and consider it special.  ezlovanBarrister_N_Mann, and DapperDragon, to name just three (and there are certainly others) get this so very right.

Marko, I couldn't agree with you more.  By the way, much of the sample of the Bay Lime soap is gone and I enjoy it every time I bathe.  The scent just makes me feel good and the soap itself feels great on the skin but washes off cleanly.  I couldn't ask for more.

As you can tell, I am more than pleased with the bath soap but I wonder if I would have felt the same if the service I received was perfunctory at best or rude at worst?  There is that indefinable something that is so important as to how we look at a product and consider it special.  ezlovanBarrister_N_Mann, and DapperDragon, to name just three (and there are certainly others) get this so very right.

Freddy I completely agree - its like shaving, its like life....its not the destination but the journey, the experience that makes it special. Those vendors and artisans that get it, get it - its not just getting the products you ordered but how you get them and the samples included are a thoughtful touch. A few years back when I first ordered things from Fendrihan the packages would arrive with each item nicely wrapped in tissue paper and all necessary anti-leak precautions taken and several samples as well. Opening their packages was like being a kid on Christmas morning again. They still wrap things but its more utilitarian and they've formalized the sample process so that just before checkout you can opt to choose your own free samples, 3, 6 or 9 (I think) depending on how much you've spent. I guess choosing is ok but the samples rarely change so once you've tried something you want something different and frankly, this approach takes the surprise factor out of the equation and thats a big part of it.

Freddy based on your comments I went to Stirling to buy some soap - I had in total about 8 bars of soap in the shopping cart but when i got to shipping I almost choked - $46.00!! Thats just madness. Sure I'm in Canada but hasn't anybody heard of NAFTA? I can get stuff shipped from Portugal for a fraction of that price and I think they actually use mules for part of the trip Needless to say I aborted the mission and abandoned the shopping cart.

Freddy based on your comments I went to Stirling to buy some soap - I had in total about 8 bars of soap in the shopping cart but when i got to shipping I almost choked - $46.00!!  Thats just madness.  Sure I'm in Canada but hasn't anybody heard of NAFTA?  I can get stuff shipped from Portugal for a fraction of that price and I think they actually use mules for part of the trip  Needless to say I aborted the mission and abandoned the shopping cart.

Wholly man! $46 shipping? Send an email to Rod about this - see if there is an error.

Marko, I feel your pain.  It's the same for those of us in the States ordering outside the country, even if it's just from our friends in Canada which, let's face it, is just next door.  I know that Brian and Rachel Goulet of the Goulet Pen Company have customers scattered throughout the world, not just in the U.S.A., and they periodically apologize to their foreign customers for the jack up in shipping costs.  Good vendors like ours or the Goulets don't want this anymore than their foreign customers do because, ultimately, they lose business.

For what it's worth I paid $20 for EMS shipping and got a package of likely similar size, lighter in weight though, from Japan to east coast US (Virginia) in 3 days.

Wholly man! $46 shipping? Send an email to Rod about this - see if there is an error.

It is likely due to Priority over the cheaper, untraceable and uninsurable FIRST CLASS.

Just a guess.