For the longest time, I thought I was in the business of selling jigheads. Build a better product. Use better hooks. Pay attention to the details. Solve a real problem. Then people would naturally buy it. Seems logical, doesn't it?
It wasn't. Not because the products didn't work. Because I misunderstood what customers were actually buying.
Nobody Buys a Jighead
Stay with me for a second. Customers think they're buying a jighead. They're not. They're buying confidence that when they make that next cast, the hook won't bend. The bait will run true. The fish won't come unbuttoned. They're buying confidence that the money they just spent was worth it.
Eventually, I realized something even more important. Confidence comes from the product. Trust comes from the company. That's where real brands are built.
Every Order Has a Name Behind It
Right now, every order means something to me. Not because of the revenue. Because there's still a real person behind it. When my phone goes off with another Shopify notification, I don't see Order #2471. I see someone who worked all week, decided to spend a little of their hard-earned money, and trusted a company they've probably never met.
That trust isn't something I take lightly. That's why every order gets a handwritten note. Not because some marketing guru said it increases customer retention. Because I genuinely appreciate the fact that someone chose Ebb N Flow Outdoors over the hundreds of other options they had. Someday I may not be able to write every note. But today I can. So I do.
Customer Service Isn't a Department
One of the advantages of being small is that there isn't a wall between the customer and the owner. If you call, there's a good chance I'm the one answering. If you send an email, I'm probably reading it.
If you comment on Facebook asking for a different weight, another hook size, or a feature you'd like to see, I'm paying attention. Not because I have to. Because that's how better products get built. Some of the best ideas we've ever had didn't start in a product meeting. They started with a customer who took the time to send a message.
Every Conversation Makes Us Better
Big companies spend thousands of dollars on market research. I get mine one conversation at a time. A guide who wants a different hook. A tournament angler asking for another weight. A weekend fisherman explaining how he fishes a bait differently than I ever imagined.
Not every suggestion makes sense. But every conversation teaches me something. Customers aren't interruptions to the business. They're the people shaping where the business goes next. If you're willing to listen, they'll tell you exactly what they need.
The Day Things Change
I hope one day Ebb N Flow grows to the point where I can't personally answer every phone call. I hope we're shipping too many orders for me to write every handwritten note. I hope there are employees helping customers because we've become too busy for one person to do it all. That's growth.
But growth shouldn't change your mindset. The handwritten notes may stop someday. The personal phone calls may become less frequent. But listening to customers can never stop. Because companies don't lose customers when they get bigger. They lose customers when they stop paying attention.
The Competitive Advantage Nobody Can Copy
Anyone can copy a hook. Anyone can copy a mold. Anyone can copy a color. Given enough time, they can probably build something that looks remarkably similar.
What they can't copy is the relationship you build with your customers. They can't copy the phone call where you helped someone rig a bait before a weekend tournament. They can't copy the email you answered at 9:30 at night because someone needed help before a fishing trip. They can't copy the handwritten note tucked inside a package thanking someone for taking a chance on a small business. Products can be reverse engineered. Relationships can't.
The Brand I'm Trying to Build
People sometimes ask me what makes Ebb N Flow Outdoors different. Sure, I'd love to tell you it's our products. I believe in them. I work hard on them. But I hope that's not the first thing people remember.
I hope they remember how they were treated. I hope they remember that when they reached out, someone answered. I hope they remember that their feedback didn't disappear into a customer service ticket — it helped shape what came next. Because if we ever get big enough that customers stop feeling heard, then we've lost something far more valuable than a sale. We've lost the reason they came back in the first place.
One Last Cast…
One day, I probably won't be able to write every handwritten note. I won't be able to answer every phone call. That's part of building a business.
But if I ever stop listening — if I ever stop treating customers like partners instead of order numbers — then I'll have built a bigger company. Not a better one. Because in the end, people might buy your product once. They come back because they trust the people behind it. And trust is still the one thing no competitor can copy.
Until next cast...
- Dave Erdly
Founder, Ebb N Flow Outdoors