Editing The Pen Addict 303/transcript (section)

== Pen Testing ==


'''Myke Hurley:''' You try this terrible nib.

'''Jim Rouse:''' Well, I thought it was terrible because it wasn't what I was trying to do. And it just worked out.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' So, how long have you been with Franklin Kristoff now?

'''Jim Rouse:''' Almost five years. Almost five years. That's from the time he started to expand from one person up. And now we have like ten people.

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Wow.

'''Ana Reinert:''' So, especially at pen shows, because you can see the process, Franklin Kristoff has become like an institution. Because it's like the table is typically quite large. And as a customer, you'll come in. You'll take a look at the bodies that are available. You'll try out the nibs from all the testing. And then you'll kind of add an assembly line. You'll pick your pen. You'll pick your nib. And then it will go along. And it will come to you. Now, what is this process? What is the thinking behind this process? Like, why do you do it that way? Is this just at pen shows that this happens? Like, does every nib go through you? Like, what is the thinking behind this process? Why does Franklin Kristoff do that? And why is it so important?

'''Jim Rouse:''' When you order something from Franklin Kristoff, you pick out a body you like, or a nib, but mostly a body. You find the body you like. Then you pick from a long list of nibs, which are then, you know, put on that pen for you, you know, tested. Make sure they work okay.

'''Ana Reinert:''' Every single individual pen is tested, irrespective of whether it's here or online.

'''Jim Rouse:''' Like I mentioned before, that goes on the card. Like I mentioned before.

'''Jim Rouse:''' What? Every single pen. You already did it, so I get to do it too. Yeah, I know. Every single pen. Where should I start? We don't buy units. I said this before. We buy individual pieces. So we have to put them together anyway. So we have this process where we clean them. We check with a shim to make sure they're in the proper dimensions. We center them in the feed, make sure they're set properly in the feed. By having that hands-on with it and the microscope we use, we can see if they're centered. Everything is perfect. Put it in and then dry test it. If somebody requests, we're happy to wet test. And the reason we don't wet test everything is because sometimes people will call you up and say, you sent me a used pen. Yeah. You know, so. Which makes sense.

'''Ana Reinert:''' Like if every pen arrived with some black ink on it, you'd be like, hang on a second.

'''Jim Rouse:''' Yeah, I am delighted to wet test anything for you. It takes a little longer, but it's probably worth it, you know.

'''Ana Reinert:''' Yeah, because you know it's working at that point, right?

'''Jim Rouse:''' You can see it. If people give us notes like I'm a left-handed overwriter, I'm an on-the-line left-hander, or, you know, I write at a severe angle to the paper, not for them, but for me it's severe. You know, you tune that into the pen. Yep. And I forgot the other part of your question.

'''Ana Reinert:''' But it's like, so why, like, obviously this takes a lot of time.

'''Ana Reinert:''' Do you think that this time investment on your end is beneficial? Like, do you think that by spending this time, every pen being tuned and tested, saves time on the back end with, like, people sitting in the back that there's problems? Like, what is the reasons that Franklin Kristoff has decided that this is the process that you want to take? Because you could just not do it that way.

'''Jim Rouse:''' I think, and I can't speak for Scott, but from my point of view, I think it's because they're getting really a custom product.

'''Ana Reinert:''' Sure.

'''Jim Rouse:''' They're picking their body. They're picking their color. They're picking their nib. We're actually not just screwing a nib in it. We're really going over the nib. You know, we package it up and we send it out. And yes, we do that for everyone. I think that the process at the show is not different than the website. If you really think about it, you pick a body, you get all, but what is different is you can try all those nibs and see how you like it, you know, and they give you an idea of what you're going to get. And then you get to come over and sit with me and we try to figure out the best we can. You know, does this corner have to come off because it's too sharp when you do loop-de-loops or, you know, straight lines? You know, I had a lady today that was doing circles and now, come on, circles aren't a normal part of writing, but she was bothered by a little roughness with a circle. So we fixed it. We found a way to fix it. And I think the customer is much better served in the end run. That's what it's all about a lot of times is you want to take care of your customers. You want to make them happy. And that's what we really try to do. That's a real driving force at Franklin Kristoff. What will make the customer happy?

'''Ana Reinert:''' And I will say, like, from coming to pen shows a bunch and seeing people who own Franklin Kristoff pens, typically they don't own just one. And it feels like that there is a real loyalty built around the brand. And this is probably part of the reason for that, right?

'''Jim Rouse:''' I think so. I think people like the different color prototypes. I think a lot of people really like the regular colors, too. And I, you know, people love nibs. I had a lady yesterday that was looking for a nib. And I couldn't find the exact right nib for her. I just wasn't sure which way to go with it. I had to think about it a little bit. And she asked me, well, who could I go with? And I know a lot of these pen companies. You know, you're around 25 years. You're going to learn something. Not much, but you're going to learn something, right? So I've thought about it. You know, I'm not knocking anybody at all. I just could not think of anybody to refer to. I try, you know, pilots and sailors and platinums and all these different pens, Mont Blancs and Viscani. I own them all. And, you know, I have never, I can't think of a time that I've actually bought a pen that I was just 100% satisfied with the nib right away, that I didn't have to tinker around with it a little bit. You know, and I think people tell me they like our nibs and I believe what they're saying. I mean, you guys like our nibs?

'''Brad Dowdy:''' Yes.

'''Jim Rouse:''' So, you know, I think that's what it's all about. Mm-hmm.