Sharp practise

I got into this business just by feeling a Wüsthof knife. I was so impressed that, well, I did not buy the company, but I certainly became a part of the family. That was some 14 years ago and I am still having a ball – but now, of course, I am at the retail frontline.
Despite the fact that there are many more points of sale for knives here in the USA than you will generally find in a major shopping town in Britain, the category remains so buoyant that there is room for all. There is even room for the cheap imports, but despite heavy price increases on some knives, people generally desire the best.
I have often said that I can sell a knife before the assistant at Bed, Bath and Beyond has got beyond finding the key to the knife cabinet. In my experience, selling knives isn’t too hard. Just put a really good knife in that customer’s hand and it does the trick. However I find that people want to talk to someone who is knowledgeable, because they are still nervous about using and, above all, maintaining a top quality product. So I spend lots of time talking about the right knives for the job and about storage, but especially about knife honing and sharpening.
The first thing I say to folks is that I do not advise they give their knives to a stranger with a grinding wheel. Only this morning a lady suggested she hadn’t sharpened her knives since she had them and would probably get the guy who does her husband’s saws to deal with them. I politely put her straight, but I still don’t know if she will end up with a drawer full of tools suitable for creating a mortise and tenon joint.
I just took in a range of ceramic knives from Kyocera. It went a bit against the grain, being such a Wüsthof fan as I am, but I have always liked the sharpness and, now that the prices are a little more competitive, they are more affordable than they used to be. But one great advantage is that you don’t have to sharpen them. They reckon that, after about a year or so, you may notice a slight drop in edge quality, at which time, for only the cost of the postage, you pack it up and mail it back to them. They put a new edge on and return it to you. What a deal! Don’t tell Wolfgang Wüsthof I told you about that, or he’ll go crazy worrying about similar requests. But that is just a great marketing tool, taking away all the worry of edge maintenance altogether. Nevertheless, it doesn’t stop people asking the obvious question: will they break if I drop them? My answer is, “Yes,” but you would not want to drop a steel knife on the floor either - and in case you do, be more concerned about losing a toe than losing a knife.
Well-informed sales people that can provide the answers as well as guide and reassure customers are, of course, key to providing the customer service that knife sales deserve. You just don’t get it from a college kid working for minimum wage on a part time basis. We need to pass on our skills and knowledge to our customers so that they can happily invest in the best, knowing that that purchase will serve them for many years ahead.
The day that I picked up a Wüsthof Classic 8” Cook’s Knife in Grace Brothers, Sydney Australia in 1991 marked a new chapter for me – and I am happy to still be surrounded by the very same product that inspired me to start a new life.