How to: Maintain relationships with listed factories

Once listings are live, you will want to continue building a strong relationship with your manufacturers. Working out how to strengthen this community of listed manufacturers is something we are constantly working on and have by no means cracked just yet!

We’ve found that some listings will be frequently in touch, wanting advice about new suppliers, or telling you about exciting new projects they have been involved in recently. Others you will only hear from every year or so, or if there is a problem.

Here are a few things that we have done in the past to maintain those relationships:

Annual Check-in

We recommend getting in touch with each listing about once a year (more if you have time!) to ask whether or not the manufacturers have had any new enquiries as a result of being listed on Make Works. This is a brilliant way to check in, but also means that you can gather stories, photographs and quotes to help build more case studies of the project in action.

When you get back in touch, always ask if there are any amendments that the factory would like you to make on their listing. For example if the manufacturer has any new machinery, any changes in staff or have moved premises.

Generally we follow these leads up by email, or simply phone people for further information.

Stories and interviews

One way to keep in touch with listed manufacturers throughout the year is by writing Stories, especially interviews, about them, e.g. a Factory Friday post, Made Works articles about projects they have recently worked on, or asking them to contribute to a How To Guide about their particular speciality to the site.

We also frequently post links to the listings on social media. This highlights the factories to users and if tagged, reminds the listings that Make Works are signposting people their way.

Events

Nothing beats building the community in real life, so invite manufacturers to any events and meetups you are organising. In the past Make Works Scotland have tried Maker Speed Dater nights; asking manufacturers to speak at talks; a Christmas Quiz and hosting a pub meet up for manufacturers in Glasgow.

Projects

You might want to get your listings involved in other aspects of your Make Works project. For example, being a partner for an artist residency; hosting a masterclass or coming to a Trade Show. Once you have visited the factory and listed them, then it is often easier to make this sort of ask.

Changes to your Region

If there are any significant changes to Make Works in your region, for example, your team members are changing or something is changing with how the website works - make sure you let them know and make sure they are still happy to be involved. Make Works Scotland have a specific Mailchimp list for the factories so that they can inform them all of any changes quickly.