Guys I have a perspective customer that I just can’t get to commit. He is a great friend and we have had discussions through the years but he is sold hook-line-and-sinker to Falcon Rods. I know I can out build them meaning quality, design, personalization etc. If I could just compare specs and get similar blanks. Does anyone know who manufactures their blanks? Can we get the same blanks?
Gabe

Assuming you could get a Falcon blank - are you going to beat them on price? Can you offer the same warranty that they do?

My point is that this sale may not benefit you, particularly long term. If the guy isn't willing to pay more than he's paying now and expects the same sort of "no questions asked" replacement type policy, watch out. Not every fisherman is a customer for a custom rod.

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Since your friendly with this person, why not lend him one of your personal rods to try? I've found lending a trial rod to a hesitant customer usually closes the deal for me. Especially if you can provide a few to compare against each other. Sometimes the barrier to closing a sale is that the customer just doesn't have the confidence in themselves to articulate their needs correctly. They can be oversold, confused, or even intimidated by your knowledge. These kinds of customers know they don't have a sophisticated working knowledge of descriptive rod terms when they talk to a pro and they don't want to show their lack of knowledge. It's easier for them to be non committal. Your friend may be one of these kinds of people. He has general interest, but may be afraid to commit to something worrying that what he gets won't be what he really wants or needs. He likes his certain rod(s) because he selected it/them from others likely through a comparative elimination process in favor of the one(s) he uses now. You may have to give him the same opportunity. Give him some options so he can very easily say, "oh I really like this one because ..." and let him then describe in his own way what seems or feels right to him about that rod.

One of my fishing buddies is the same way; he'd love to have a set of my rods on his trolling boat, but somehow worries that he's inconveniencing me by asking me to build him a set so each year he buys a new set of factory rods, then spends all year complaining about various aspects of each he doesn't like. A third mutual friend told me that the reason he won't have me build him a rod is that he'll feel compelled to use it because of our friendship even if he finds he doesn't like it. So he just avoids having them built. I finally had to just give him a set of rods one year to break the ice with the understanding he could keep any that he liked and return any he didn't like. He ended up keeping them all and then had me build a few more. It was a no-brainer for me, we fished together for nearly 30 years and I knew exactly what he wanted and needed, even if he didn't.

Sometimes with a close friend or family member, you just have to take the initiative for them to break the ice.

Gabe,

Their blanks are designed to their specs. I know their 3 and 4 power moderate action blanks don't have much comparable without trimming a blank from both ends, but I've never taken the time to match them. Instead I found blanks that suited my needs better than the Falcons I had.

Falcon make a nice workhorse rod, but there is no doubt you can build a better performing rod. I have most of my old Falcons stripped, but never rebuilt them, as they were blanks that didn't strip easy and need to be stripped to the bare blank to be redone nicely. I just haven't had the motivation to properly strip their finish to the bare blank.

Take John's advice and put some blanks in his hand that you know will get the job done and do it well. If he isn't up for it, then he may just not be interested in a custom.

Joe

good replies and great feedback. But can i assume no one knows who manufactures thier blanks? Are they available to us?

Gabe

I think it would be safe to assume that Falcon uses very inexpensive oriential made rod blanks. They could not meet the price point if they didn't.

My first decent rod that I saved up for to buy when I was in high school was a Falcon Open Hook Special which I paid around $100 back in 1997. At the time I thought that for a fishing rod it couldn't get much better. I still have the rod and fish with it but looking at it now it really is not all that great. It has aluminum oxide guides with a uneven epoxy finish and is very simple looking.

Maybe put a rod in his hands that has components that Falcons lacks such as microwave guides or a Manley Adjust a butt.

There's such a placebo effect with anglers and factory rods that if you cant source the blank your at a pretty stout uphill climb from the jump.

James Newsome Wrote:
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> I think it would be safe to assume that Falcon
> uses very inexpensive oriential made rod blanks.
> They could not meet the price point if they
> didn't.


Wrong assumption. Falcon Rods, and the blanks they use. are made in the USA as advertised. They are not available to the public. For some reason I think they tried an imported rod/blank a few years back but I believe they stopped.

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Gabe,

If all else fails maybe you can do as I just did a few weeks ago for a Falcon Rod owner. He gave it to me for repair since a couple of the micro guides were broken asked me to replace them all. And also if I could make the rod stand out more since he felt it was rather bland with all the guides in black. So I improved his rod by adding a metalic red trim ring to the wraps and putting 1 mm larger American Tackle Ring Lock micros on it. The origional guides were black and the replacements were stainless in natural color. Then on the reel seat I put a Red aluminum hood and over wrapped the hook keeper in red as well. It will perform better with the larger guides and sure looks a lot crisper.

He was very pleased with the changes and maybe your friend would like the same.

Tom

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