“We don’t work by the hour, but by the client.”  from "Gray Mountain" by John Grisham quoted by a lawyer in the book but I was wondering how it applies (should it?) to all service businesses and my woodworking in particular.  

As a customer I have often felt that suppliers are more interested in their bottom line and how I can contribute (i.e., working "by the hour") as opposed to truly working to understand needs and providing a solution (i.e., working by the client).

As a supplier (incl. customized woodworking products), understanding that BOTH are necessary (profit AND solution) I try to separate the two: evaluation of financial potential (as quickly and discreetly as possible) and taking the time to understand the need before taking the risk - committing to a solution - of quoting.   I prefer to turn away business than to take the approach of "custom-fitting" the customer into my "standard" solution while hoping to be able to bill enough to make it worthwhile for me.  Agreed, the similarities between my (micro) business and, well, almost any other, are stretched here.  I am undeterred...

One year ago, I was approached by a chef who asked if I could make (replace) the handle on his (very expensive) Japanese knife, the one he preferred and used on a daily basis.  It seems that the handle had become cracked and was uncomfortable for use.  He had contacted the manufacturer and was told that it would cost approx. $400 to get a quote, he'd have to be without the knife for a prolonged period of time (return to Japan) and would not know how much it would ultimately cost for the repair.  I asked a perfunctory question about the shape of the handle and discussed the possibilities with him before telling him that I'd be ready to try for 10% of the cost of a quote.  He said he'd think about it and never came back - to my relief.  In retrospect, I'd let my desire to be useful and helpful overwhelm the warning bells ringing as I imagined what I could do to possibly be of help.  Today, I understand how difficult it is to make something that requires perfect shape and balance (to him, not to me), which is difficult at best.  I would likely have had to make several iterations of handles (i.e., incurred great cost) before finding one that fit his hand, not to mention the varieties of wood that would have provided the weight balance he'd become used to.

Years ago, in a piano restoration capacity, I'd found a profitable niche doing something similar - taking the piano restoration process apart into manageable components in order to meet the primary inhibitor to (Steinway's) restauration approach.  To have Steinway restore your S-model piano would cost, on average, $28,000 (plus shipping) and would require the client to be without a piano for minimum 9 months.  After that, the piano would return in almost new condition, which meant 2 years of piano tech work to adjust the mechanism, hammers, frequent tunings etc. to bring it to the client's preferences.  For my service offer, I broke down the restoration into : Cabinet restoration, String replacement and Piano Action replacement (keys and/or hammers and/or dampers).  To minimize customer impact, I purchased a used Steinway S so that I could offer it to the customer as a replacement for those who wanted to have the piano's cabinet restored (90 days sub-contracting to a specialist including pick up and return of both).  For the other services, I offered to perform the work at the customer's home as it is a (minimally) intrusive work that provided the benefit of having the customer see the progress and of limiting the space needed for me to perform the work in my own (limited size) workshop.  This reduced the costs significantly for both of us and allowed the customer to have a "pay as you go" approach that could be as limited or complete as desired based on the results expected vs delivered.  Every case was unique (and less expensive than Steinway's).  Work by customer, right?

Recently, I was approached by a person who asked if I could repair a handcrafted pen that he'd purchased from someone like me in the recent past.  When I asked about the pen, he mentioned that it was made of antler, a material I have never worked with.  The work would have required disassembling the pen and replacing the mechanism.  In the best case scenario, I could have billed the price of a new pen for less work time. In this case, I declined outright and suggested he return to the person who had made the pen in the first place as they would have greater knowledge of the material and the risks of working with it. I have no particular interest in working with antlers and was concerned that I could crack his in the repair process.  In other words, if anything had gone awry, there would have been no potential gain for me and marginal gain for him (a new antler pen would have been slightly more expensive).  Experience taught me to listen to the warning bells.  Still, better to be clear about it and quickly so as to avoid wasting his time.  One year ago, I may have considered trying.... 

Although concern for my gain (or possible loss) was an important factor, I still consider this to be working "by the customer". 

The Amazon Web Services President emphasized this "work by the customer" approach as the key to their business growth and success vs the "old school" competition.

The outcome must be a win-win.  Working "by the hour" will always provide a win for the supplier (short-term), but the customer takes a risk.  Working "by the customer" will (should) provide a win for the customer, but the supplier takes a risk - but isn't this the way it should be?  

I was prompted to write this today partly out of frustration because, as a potential customer of a renewable energy solution, I have contacted a couple individuals who have demonstrated a complete lack of interest in understanding my problem and who have insisted on trying to convince me that what I want, which is apparently not going to be profitable for them, is not really what I want.  In the interactions, we have both wasted time. Few interactions can be so frustrating, better to have told me immediately that my project did not interest them rather than spending hours in meeting and writing emails - perhaps you'll agree.

Feel free to comment with your own experience if you'd like, I'd be interested in reading those.