A new idea. A new project...

[Robby Amper]

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I have an idea.
A vision.
The last time I had such a vision, I started Whip Basics.
The next one were the WB DVDs. Then came the Masters Gallery.
And here's the next logical step


I had the idea of a group of whip makers, who advocate for each other. Elite, yes. But more than honorable and trustworthy. That means that not everyone who likes, can join that group. It will not become inflationary. I will consider very close who will join. And who won’t. Whereat the other members of the group will join that conversation for sure!

Perhaps you know that for yourself and/or heard of someone who made this bad experience… You buy a whip which is advertised as this and that. You pay with your hard earned money and what you get is blemished. You talk to the whip maker. Either he’ll tell you that everything’s okay and you shouldn’t contact him any more on that or - you get no reaction at all.

In this group of whip makers it will be like that, that you can contact a whip maker out of that special group, who’s next to your place and talk to him/her. That whip maker will inspect the whip neutral, objective and very, very close. If you cracked the whip on concrete or gravel and/or simply abused it, you will know. If your claim is entitled, two things will happen. First - the whip maker who made that poor whip and refused to help you, will be banned instantly from that group. Second - one of the other whip makers in that group will jump in and will make a new whip for you.

And you - the customer - don’t have to pay anything!

Out there are some “whip makers” who do bad work, sell crappy whips and never respond to a customer’s request. We all heard of these things. Everybody did.

And my vision, my idea, is to create an opposite pole to these people. To create a ring of whip makers under a seal of quality and customer service. That way a customer will be safe and sure, that - if (!) there would be a problem, he’ll never be alone! But - yet being in that group, no whip maker will sell a bad whip. Simply because I’ll only accept the best of the best in that group.

And the name of that group shall be:





What do you think, folks?





Robby





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[Robert Gage]

Dear Robby,

Of course I'm not a whip maker, but I think this is a splendid idea! I hope it comes to be.... It reflects, once again, the generous spirit you bring to this whole world of whips.

Robert

[Bobbi Holyoak]

I love the idea.

[Jared Routon]

Robby this is a great idea. Integrity is doing what is right even when nobody is looking. Well maybe this ( knowing your piers in whip making) will always be looking will help keep that integrity intact. Thanks Robby for all you do for this community.

[Mario Desgronte]

"The Whip Basics Ring of Trust" is a great idea and it would be to stand for an excellent customer service.
Today, such a customer service is very rare.
I think this would be work, Robby.

Mario

[Ralph Masemann]

Hi Robby,
I think it will be a great project with a big resonance
Like the Whip Basics itself, it would become a singularly project!

Ralph

[Alex Lewis]

I think its a great idea. I read that an old Australian bush saying is to "never buy a whip from a man you don't trust." Its not always easy to know who you can trust when buying over the internet, and this lets a customer buy with confidence that his investment is a good one.

Alex

[Robby Amper]

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I'm happy to announce, that I gave the GO for the project a few minutes ago. It'll take a few weeks until everything's online - my great, big thank you to Jonathan Lewis! He's going to build up all these things for me. As soon as that project's alive and kicking, there will be never more (!) any customer who will experience a bad surprise, as long as he/she buys from that group! That will set a new standard in customer service.


Just one thing. For the record... My benefit on all that is exactly nothing. Zero. Nichts. Nada. I don't have a cut on anything nor do I receive any fee from the whip makers to be in that group. To become a member of that honorable group is a question of being invited - not of paying money!


That way no whip maker can join, use all the advantages, make fast money and disappear. Remember - that WB Ring of Trust is a group to give even more customer service and trust to the people who like to buy a whip! It was a project, I had in mind for a long time. And I'm happy that it comes to life, now. Within the next few days you'll know the names of the whip makers who are the first generation of artists, to form the Whip Basics Ring of Trust.




p.s.
Isn't that cool...?

[Bobbi Holyoak]

Yes, very cool! Thanks for all your hard work, Robby.

[Ralph Masemann]

Hi Robby,
congratulations for the start of this GREAT project!
Very, very, very, very, very,.... cool idea!

Best,
Ralph

[Lasse Carenvall]

A literary quote comes to my mind:

"Respect, loyalty and trust cannot be bought or commanded - they have to be earned"

[Gideon Rodgers]

Today, such a customer service is very rare.
Mario

I think that is the case in a lot of places.
, and I think it is a good idea, Robby.

It is just a sad thing almost that you have to do a thing like that to get good customer service. You would think the farthest thing from the sellers mind would be to rip off there customers.

[Rhett Kelley]

As a seller, ripping off someone or giving them less than they bargained for is the farthest thing from my mind.

I've been ripped off by a whipmaker I thought was a friend and I've had a couple of customers try to get over on me too. Yet, I have thought for a while that perhaps something like this would be good. You know, some accountability among craftsmen.

I would like to think with my long tenure of selling whips online, I could continue to stand alone- and I'm sure I could, no problem. However, I could also see how someone unfamiliar with whips might be encouraged by this project as they might not know me from Adam's house cat -as my grandma used to say.

I actually looked into getting Better Business Bureau accreditation back in 2012, but they wanted something like $600 for that. I just didn't have that much laying around at the time.

[Jonathan Lewis]

I bought my first whip from Diamond Whip Company partly because I was looking online and found someone with a good reputation. I can't remember his name right now but he was of a previous generation. There was a note on his site saying he had retired but to try Rhett Kelly. At the time, you were not filling new orders, or maybe your waiting list was too long, I can't remember exactly now, but I looked through your site and saw a reference to Noah where he was mentioned as being skilled. And so my first whip was from him.
So, yes. This kind of project has value. Whip makers of good repute that say another whip maker is good, get listened to. Mutual support where all involved have known high standards can definitely increase outside trust of all involved.

[Robby Amper]

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It is just a sad thing almost that you have to do a thing like that to get good customer service. You would think the farthest thing from the sellers mind would be to rip off there customers.

Dear Gideon,

here the story is a bit different. I don't think it's sad, I think it's a giant - and positive! - leap into the right direction. At the moment the WB Ring of Trust is formed by four whip makers. Every one of them already has a more than great reputation. And now these whip makers state officially that they're such convinced by the quality and the customer service of the other whip makers in that group, that they're wiling to act as guarantor for the other members! Until now you had whip makers out there with a good reputation. And - of course - every whip maker says that he or she offers the best possible service. Or did you ever see a whip makers page on which is written: "My whips are crap, but I want your money"…?

But from now on you do not only have a group of whip makers with an excellent reputation as individuals. From now on you have a group of whip makers who are not only highly respected, but guarantee for the work of the others! That is the best thing, the best way for any customer to be sure - and safe! - to buy a whip, to have the best service imaginable.

That is the Whip Basics Ring of Trust!





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[Lasse Carenvall]

I have received a couple of hints that I might have been less than clear about what I meant with my comment about trust, respect & loyalty having to be earned! I guess since I read the book and remember the context the quote comes from, the entire meaning is so obvious to me I did not think about that. So, a little clarification might be in place! :-)

Anyway: It is meant as positive. Very positive, in fact! Btw, it was Robby´s comment that this was supposed to prevent whipmakers who are just interested in a “fast buck” to pop in, clean out and disappear that made the quote pop up in my mind.

Trying to explain the quote I should start by the “respect & trust” part. To gain trust & respect as a craftsperson (not just as a whipmaker) takes time, a lot of time, and showing that you can be trusted – not once or even twice, but consistently. I often say that as a craftsperson there are only two things you can use to your advantage in business: The quality of your work, and how fair & honest you are to deal with. That´s it! No large serial production, no cheap prices, no flash or bling-bling – just consistent, reliable, good work and honesty. This, in turn, lets you earn trust & respect from customers as well as other craftspeople. And loyalty, too, of course! Happy customers return, and other craftspeople dare to recommend customers to you for things you do but they don´t! Anyway, this takes time and cannot be “bought or commanded” – you have to earn it the hard way (which in this case is the only way...)

To apply this to the intended group, where (as I understand it) you get invited, not just sign up, you get the whole package. You have to earn your invitation, you have to earn that trust & respect. Being part of such a group also means (at least in my world of thinking) that you respect the others, you give honest feedback, you trust the others because you know who they are and what they do. You are also loyal. In this case it would for example mean that, let´s say someone asks you to refer them to a good maker for something special. You know that Ben the Braider is part of the group, and you know he is really good at that special thing – so you refer the person to Ben because you know the customer will be very well taken care of! In my eyes, that loyalty also means that should you (heaven forbid!) find that someone in the group is doing substandard work or giving poor service, you take it up inside the group – you don´t go out shouting it to the world and “pull his/her pants down” in public! (After all, there might be a perfectly valid reason he/she has a down period!).

I hope that clarifies things? As long as such a group does not turn into a “Club for mutual admiration” (sadly, I have seen such things happen) I think it is a fantastic idea!

Well, that´s my two cents about this.

Lasse C

[Sir Roger Tuson]

I'm trying to describe the warm fuzzy feeling I now have after reading about the WB RoT.

At last, commercialism driven by ethics and trust rather than a desire to make as much money as easily as possible.

My admiration to Robby and the first four members. May it remain exclusive but grow as it should!

[Robby Amper]

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Thanks for the explanation, Lasse. And let me assure you - that is exactly my idea behind all that!

Rog - I promise you that it will remain exclusively and it will grow. But very slow.

There will be folks who will call it a dictatorship. There will be - again - folks who'll going to play the nazi card on me, because I'm german. But the only way into that WB Ring of Trust will be with me. Suggestions, sure. Applications, sure. But only if I am really convinced by the customer service and the quality of a whip makers craftsmanship there will be a chance to join that group. Elite, yes. Absolutely. But when a customer buys from one of these artists, he does not only have the reputation of one whip maker, he'll have the reputation and the word of four great whip makers and my word, too!

My bond to these whip makers is, that I make sure in all conscience, that a new member in that group will rise to the standards, the others already set. And when you read the names of these four, you know what high standard I'm talking.

Tyler Blake. Rhett Kelley. Bobbi HolyOak. Simon Martin.

People will make jokes on that. People will be jealous. People will say that no one needs such a group. Yes. It will take time. Perhaps a long time. Perhaps a very long time. But somewhere along the way - even if it'll take years - there will be the first customer who asks the first whip maker: "If you say that your standards are so high...Why are you not in the WB Ring of Trust?"






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[Lasse Carenvall]

Precisely. And without a doubt, there will be those who thinks this is excluding,unfair and express envy, etc, and so on. Well, they should think about the other side of the coin:

To be included in this group, with its clearly stated high standards, also puts demands on its members! You can´t get lazy because you have become a Ring Member, and flaunt that membership around! You have to live up to those standards.

If you are able to and prepared to live up to those standards, consequently and reliably, you belong in the Ring - and you are likely to get an invitation (at least I suppose so - I´m not the one who invites).

Personally, I am unable to see a problem.

[Terry Shaw]

Ok, I now have a 10 year goal in whipmaking! Robby I am so impressed with the full scope of this. It lends itself to yesteryear almost with people being known for good quality and ethics as well as knowing of others and supporting others with the same ethics. As a Customer Service Manager in the 'real' world for 16 plus years, I can attest to the fact that 'customer service' just does not exist in large quantities as it used to. To know that there would be people to go to that not only back up their work, but support and back up the work of others, that's huge.

Give me time. I'll join those ranks!

~T.