Aftercare and repeat clients: what to do after a commission is delivered
Updated · 8 min read
For most small workshops the next commission comes from someone who already knows your work: a past client, a friend of theirs, or someone who saw a piece in a home. That makes the months after delivery as important for the business as the weeks of the build.
This guide is for makers of one to five people who make to order, in any craft. It covers what research says about referrals and recommendations, a simple follow-up schedule, maintenance reminders, repairs, the records that let you help a client years later, and how to ask for introductions without being awkward.
We stay close to the sources. Where a study looked at banks or consumer products and we apply it to a workshop, we say so.
Key takeaways
- In a study of about 10,000 customers of a German bank, Schmitt, Skiera and Van den Bulte found that referred customers were worth at least 16% more than comparable customers who were not referred.
- Berger and Schwartz found that products which are publicly visible or often cued by their surroundings get talked about both right away and over the following months, while products that are merely interesting get a short burst.
- In a 2020 Crafts Council study of buyers in New York and Los Angeles, nearly half (47%) of the potential market for UK craft were cautious buyers who limit their risk by buying from makers whose work has been recommended to them.
- Plan three or four contacts after delivery, each tied to something useful for the client: settling in, first maintenance, the season change, the first year.
- Keep records against the serial number, not the client's name, so you can answer repair and provenance questions years later.
- Check the rules on marketing messages before sending reminders. In Poland, the Electronic Communications Law requires prior consent for commercial information sent electronically.
What the research says about referrals
Referred clients tend to be more valuable. Philipp Schmitt, Bernd Skiera and Christophe Van den Bulte tracked about 10,000 customers of a leading German bank for almost three years. Customers who came through referrals had a higher contribution margin, though that gap narrowed over time, and a higher retention rate, which did not narrow. On average a referred customer was worth at least 16% more than a non-referred customer with similar demographics and time of acquisition. A bank is not a workshop, so the number does not transfer. The direction is a reasonable guide: people who arrive through someone they trust often start with better-matched expectations.
Visible things keep getting talked about. Jonah Berger and Eric Schwartz studied everyday conversations about more than 300 products, together with a field experiment and a laboratory study. Interesting products got more word of mouth straight away but not over the following months. Products that were publicly visible, or cued often by the environment, got more word of mouth both immediately and over time. A dining table that hosts guests every week, a ring worn every day or a guitar played at gigs is cued constantly. Your job is to make it easy for the owner to say who made it: a visible maker's mark, a card in the drawer, a short URL on the certificate.
Recommendations reduce risk for cautious buyers. The Crafts Council's report The Market for Craft (2020) includes a study of buyers in New York and Los Angeles. It split the potential market there for UK craft between risk takers (45%) and more cautious buyers (47%). The cautious group limited perceived risk by buying from makers whose work had been recommended to them. These are US buyers, so treat the figure as a pointer rather than a measure of your own market. Commissioning is riskier for a client than buying a finished object, so this matters even more for made-to-order work.
A note on Net Promoter Score. The "how likely are you to recommend us" question was popularised by Fred Reichheld in Harvard Business Review in 2003. Bain scores answers from 0 to 10: 9 and 10 are promoters, 0 to 6 are detractors, and the score is the share of promoters minus the share of detractors. In a 2007 Journal of Marketing paper, Keiningham and colleagues tested the claims on Norwegian customer data, and by MeasuringU's summary did not find Net Promoter clearly better than other measures at predicting growth. For a workshop with a few dozen clients a year, the open question "what would you tell a friend about this commission?" will teach you more than the score.
A follow-up schedule
Tie each contact to something the client can use. Four touch points are enough for most commissions.
| When | Purpose | Example by craft |
|---|---|---|
| Within the first week | Has it settled in? Anything unclear? | A table on an uneven floor; a ring that feels loose in cold weather |
| First maintenance point | A reminder of one care step | Re-oiling a worktop; conditioning a leather bag; changing guitar strings |
| First season change | What changes with heating, humidity or sun | Wood movement when the heating comes on; instrument humidity in winter |
| One year | How it is living; any wear to look at | Glaze on a much-used mug; edge on a kitchen knife; hinge on a jewellery box |
Keep each message short, as in the client updates guide: two or three sentences and, where it helps, a link to the care card.
An illustrative one-year message: "It is a year since your walnut table arrived. Oiled tops usually need a light refresh around now, especially near the window. The steps are on your care card, and if anything looks worn, send me a photo and I will tell you whether it needs attention."
Maintenance reminders and consent
Reminders work best when the client has chosen them. Ask at handover whether they would like an occasional care reminder and how they prefer to hear from you, and record the answer.
Be careful when a reminder also promotes something, such as a new collection or a repair offer. Rules on marketing messages differ by country. In Poland, article 398 of the Electronic Communications Law (Prawo komunikacji elektronicznej) prohibits using telecommunications terminal equipment to send commercial information, including direct marketing, to someone who has not consented beforehand. In the UK, the Information Commissioner's Office publishes guidance on electronic marketing. This is not legal advice. If in doubt, keep reminders strictly about care, or get clear consent.
Repairs as part of the relationship
A repair is often the moment a client decides whether they would commission you again. Set out your approach before you need it.
- Covered faults: what your guarantee covers, for how long, and how to ask. Fix these without argument.
- Wear and accidents: a dropped mug, a scratched table, a broken strap. Quote normally, with honest advice on whether a repair is worth it.
- Alterations: resizing a ring, re-finishing a top in a new colour, re-stringing for a different tuning. Treat as a small new commission.
- Other makers' work: decide whether you take it on and say so plainly.
Ask for photos first. Many questions can be answered from a picture and a sentence of advice, which costs you five minutes and earns a great deal of goodwill.
Records that let you help years later
The value of aftercare rests on what you can look up. File everything under the serial number you marked on the piece, as described in maker's marks and serial numbers.
- Specification: dimensions, sizes, agreed variations.
- Materials and sources: timber species and supplier batch, metal alloy and stone details, clay body and glaze recipe, leather type and tannage, tonewoods and string gauge.
- Process notes: finish product and coats, firing temperature, heat treatment of a blade.
- Record photos from handover, and the care card you issued.
- Repairs and alterations, dated, with photos.
Keep client contact details separately, linked to the serial number. Pieces change hands, and a future owner may contact you with only the mark to go on.
Asking for introductions
Most happy clients are willing to recommend you but rarely think to. Make it easy without making it a transaction.
- Ask at the one-year contact or after a repair, when the client has lived with the piece.
- Make the request specific and easy to decline: "If a friend ever asks who made the table, I would be glad to hear from them."
- Give the client something to pass on: a card, a link, a short URL on the certificate.
- Thank people for introductions, whether or not they lead to work.
Rewards for referrals are a separate matter from reviews. Never offer a reward for a review unless the review is clearly labelled as incentivised, and note that some platforms ban incentives entirely. See collecting testimonials and reviews.
Repeat commissions
Repeat work often follows a pattern you can anticipate and mention once, at the right time:
- Sets and matching pieces: chairs to go with a table, a second piece in the same glaze, earrings to match a ring.
- Gifts: past clients often commission for people close to them. Fuchs, Schreier and van Osselaer found that the appeal of handmade products was stronger for gifts to loved ones than for more distant recipients.
- Life events: a move, a new room, an anniversary. Do not track clients' private lives to sell to them. Let them tell you.
This guide is general information, not legal advice. Laws change, and how they apply depends on the facts of each case. Before a decision about your own contract, product or business, check the current text with the relevant authority or ask a lawyer.
Sources
- Referral Programs and Customer Value, Schmitt, Skiera and Van den Bulte, Journal of Marketing 75(1), 2011 (author PDF): referred bank customers more profitable and loyal; at least 16% more valuable
- What Drives Immediate and Ongoing Word of Mouth?, Berger and Schwartz, Journal of Marketing Research 48(5), 2011 (author PDF): visible and cued products get more word of mouth over time
- The Market for Craft, Crafts Council and partners, 2020 (PDF): in the New York and Los Angeles study, 45% risk takers and 47% cautious buyers in the potential market for UK craft; cautious buyers rely on recommendations
- The One Number You Need to Grow, Reichheld, Harvard Business Review, 2003: origin of the Net Promoter question
- Measuring your Net Promoter Score, Bain & Company: question wording and scoring
- A Longitudinal Examination of Net Promoter and Firm Revenue Growth, summary by MeasuringU: critique of Net Promoter's predictive claims (Keiningham et al., Journal of Marketing, 2007)
- Prawo komunikacji elektronicznej, Dz.U. 2024 poz. 1221, ISAP: article 398, prior consent for electronic commercial information in Poland
- The Handmade Effect: What's Love Got to Do with It?, Fuchs, Schreier and van Osselaer, Journal of Marketing 79, 2015 (University of Vienna): handmade effect stronger for gifts to loved ones
Questions this guide gets asked
Is it pushy to contact a client after they have paid?
Not if the message is about the piece and how it is doing. A short, useful note with no sales pitch is part of the service. Ask at handover whether the client would like occasional care reminders, and respect the answer.
Should I ask for a referral directly?
You can, once the client has lived with the piece for a while and is clearly happy. Keep it simple and easy to say no to. Never offer a hidden reward for a review, which breaks platform rules and, in the UK and EU, consumer law.
How should I price repairs on my own work?
Separate faults covered by your guarantee from wear, accidents and alterations. Fix covered faults at no charge. For the rest, quote in the normal way, but many makers keep a modest rate for their own pieces because the repair also keeps the relationship going.
What records should I keep after a piece is delivered?
The serial number, specification, materials and their sources, finish or glaze details, record photos, the care card you issued and any later repairs. Store them under the serial number, not under the client's name, so they stay useful if the piece changes hands.
Is Net Promoter Score worth using in a small workshop?
The question itself can be a useful prompt, but with a few dozen clients a year the score moves too much to mean a great deal. Peer-reviewed research has also questioned whether it predicts growth better than plain satisfaction measures. The written answers are usually more useful than the number.