Disappointed and unconvinced, I left their Website scratching my head.
Seth Godin has linked to them. Several online magazines have featured them, both in articles and within seasonal wish/gift lists. And, of course, they also have the audacity to call themselves “Best Made Axe,” all of which made me eager to head over to their Website to read up on these (self-labeled) best made axes.
And while their Website (and marketing in general) does some things incredibly well – these guys are routinely selling out of their entire inventory of $200-$500 bespoke axes, after all – there are HUGE gaping holes in the site’s content. Here’s how their site fails the visitor:
1) No discussion of the painstaking efforts to ensure top quality.
Look, I don’t want to be a jerk, but if you’re going to call yourself “Best Made,” it might be a good idea to substantiate that claim on your site. Tell me stuff like:
- What kind of steel are you using for the axe head?
- What kind of forging process?
- What kind of heat treatment?
- What kind of finishing process?
- Who is doing the forging?
- How are you attaching the axe head to the hickory handle?
- What are the ergonomics of the handle?
- What kind of extreme testing did you do to the finished product?
- How does the axe perform?
- How does your axe compare to other axes?
- In what ways is it actually better made than these other axes?
The Best Made Axe site does none of that. The most I get is the information that the axe is hand-forged of “fine grain” steel. Not nearly good enough – at least not when you want me to spend between 2X and 8X the price of a “darn good” axe in order to get your supposedly “best made” version.
2) No pictures of the manufacturing process
Don’t just tell me about the painstaking manufacturing process, SHOW ME. Literally. With pictures and video and stuff. Show me the manufacturing process and the ability of the finished product to outperform the competition.
The picture on the left is a perfect example of this. Saddleback Leather Co. manufactures premium, full-grain leather products. And they charge a premium for them. But their site goes into great detail regarding the superior quality and manufacture of their goods – content that’s fully illustrated with zoom-able photos and videos.
3) Not enough content from or about users kicking ass with their AXES.
Where are the stories of guys building their own log cabins with a Best Made Axe. Or how it has transformed a dreaded chore into an anticipated pleasure. Or about how just having the axe hung on the wall of their office has transformed their outlook on things. Or something!
The best I could come up with was to find Best Made Company’s fan page on FaceBook wich linked to a YouTube video of a guy opening a bottle with one of their axes. Not sure how impressed I was supposed to be with that, really.
Compare Best Made Axe’s Site to Those of Other Premium Products
Go ahead and compare the Best Made Axe site to other Websites for similar top-end/upscale products and see how much more thoroughly these other Websites sell you on their products’ quality:
Do you see how these other sites go into great detail about the design and manufacture of their products? How, almost on a point-by-point basis they explain WHY their products are better, and about the benefits that you, the consumer, can expect from purchasing this higher quality item.
Buyer Confidence and Buying Rationalizations
While not everyone will click through all of the detailed information provided on these example sites, and even fewer people will read through all that information, many people will scan through it, see that the quality information is there, that the passion is there, and gain the confidence to make the purchase.
Let’s be honest, Best Made Axe wants to charge you between $250 and $500 for an axe. You can pick up a Gransfors Bruks (what is commonly considered the Rolls Royce of Axes) at roughly $70-$120 for most models. You can pick up a very highly regarded, Maine-made Snowe & Nealey axe for even less than that.
What’s the quality difference between the Best Made and these other brands? What am I getting for 2x to 8X the price?
Even when it’s not about the money, it’s ALWAYS about giving prospective customers something to hang their hat on. The Best Made Axe certainly looks nicer than those other axes I mentioned, but most people are loath to admit that their money is going towards nothing more than status and brand name. If you want them as customers, you need to give them something they can hang their hat on, some other faux-reason they can use to rationalize their purchase, like (notionally) better quality, durability, and performance. Etc.
That’s what detailed quality and manufacturing information content on a website does: not only does it fan the desire for the product itself, but it provides visitors with the justification they need to rationalize the expense. It also gives them the firepower needed to explain their purchase to a spouse, significant other, co-worker or any other any-sayer.
So what about Your Website!
Is your site closer to Saddleback Leather Co.’s, or is your site closer to Best Made Axe’s?
Maybe Best Made Axe just doesn’t really have the goods when you come right down to it. Maybe they’re mum on the quality thing for a reason. Maybe it’s a “better to keep your mouth closed…” kind of thing.
Now, I’m not saying that’s the case, but you can see why a website’s conspicuous silence on the subject invites that kind of speculation.
So if your product really does have the quality edge, you’d be criminally negligent not to make your Website into the most eloquent spokesperson it can be concerning the superior design, quality, manufacture/delivery of your product or service.
Comments
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Beth Robinson on 01.19.2010
Great example to pin the principles on, Jeff. You really captured the concept and told the story well. I think you might have also inspired my next blog post, but I won’t know for sure until I’ve written it…
Beth Robinson´s last blog ..Manufacturing B2B Examples in Social Media
Nick Zdon on 01.19.2010
I think you make some valid points. Although as an owner of two Best Made Co. axes, and as one of the Facebook fanpage administrators (full disclosure), I feel I must raise a few of my own points.
What started as a limited number of hand painted axes for a New York City boutique has, in less than a year, has become much larger than either of the owners had ever dreamed. In someways the rapid success has required that an enormous amount of attention be focused on creating the axes rather than the website. Not to offer that as an excuse for any lack of detailed and technical quality content on the site, but Best Made is a small company started by people who love design and the outdoors as well as a small group of “brand enthusiasts” who share that same love, and resources are limited now. There is still much more work to be done, not only in building ‘quality’ messaging but in building the brand as well.
We’ve had requests from people for testimonials regarding the quality of the axes and it’s something we’re trying to foster on the Facebook fanpage. As an owner of two Best Made axes I can assure you that the quality is top notch.
The fact remains that despite your stated lack of content on the Best Made Co. website the company is becoming quite successful, in both the press coverage and in axe sales. The sustainability of that success in the web sites current state is yet to be determined, but rest assured that changes are afoot. 2010 will see many new developments in the world of Best Made Co.
You also fail to mention the other content on the site. The FAQ does a great job of positioning both the axes and why a person would want to purchase one. It should be mentioned that the axes are just the beginning. Also, the Facebook fanpage (which I’m surprised you don’t link to from your post) has become a nice little gathering place for owners as well as far people who may not own a Best Made axe, but just like the idea of Best Made Co. itself. Both myself and the other administrator have also posted our stories about why we believe in Best Made Co. so much that we’re willing to volunteer our time to running the fanpage (that’s right, we volunteer our time. While I have a strong connection to the company and it’s founders I’m writing now on my own behalf, not as an employee.)
There may be sizable gaps in some of the content on the current Best Made site, but we’ve found a great deal of support for the brand regardless of this fact. We’ve found a great group of people who are very ready to believe in a company that connects with them on a deep emotional level. Which is support one rarely finds at all these days.
Best,
Nick Zdon
Jeff on 01.19.2010
Nick,
Thank you so much for your thoughtful comments. As I stated in the opening to this article, “[Best Made Axe's] Website (and marketing in general) does some things incredibly well.” Your fan page and obvious commitment to and passion for the brand are certainly among those things that Best Made Company is doing incredibly well.
What I found distressing was the lack of substantiation to the claim “Best Made.” Yes, Best Made is a new company undergoing explosive growth. Yes, the FAQ and other parts of the site have some great copywriting on them. Yes, there are obviously more than a few brand advocates out there who are incredibly pleased with their Best Made Axes. But nowhere on the site is there anything that would explain to me why a Best Made Axe is a better axe than a Gransfors Bruks or a Snow & Nealey Axe. both of which cost a fraction of the price and are already very well known for incredible quality.
And, well, if the company is going to have the wonderful audacity to call yourself Best Made (and Bravo for that, really), then I’d say a visitor might reasonably expect them to substantiate that claim on the Website.
At the end of the day, all I’m saying is that including that kind of information on the site would help a successful brand become even better.
Since you volunteer for the company, let me ask you: have you owned any other axes besides Best Made? Have you owned any other premium axes? Have you compared them? Would you, as the director of the fan page, be willing to host such a comparison? I think you’d be doing the brand a favor by doing so.
- Jeff
Nick Zdon on 01.19.2010
Thanks for the very speedy reply Jeff,
I’ll have to agree with you that the inclusion of such content would be valuable on some level. Although, Best Made has made a choice to focus on other aspects of owning one of their axes. A ‘better than brand X’ quality comparison would put Best Made in a competitive tier that they honestly don’t fit into. I’d venture to say that for many Best Made owners the quality of the axe is an ancillary factor when deciding to purchase one. I’ve found that for many owners, the decision to buy a Best Made axe was a highly personal decision, motivated by everything from the love of the design object, to nostalgia for the outdoors. I’ve described my own thoughts on the Best Made fanpage discussion forum.
As for my own axe-wielding experience, in a former life I worked on a landscape construction crew which required the use of both many hand tools and heavy equipment. Usually the life expectancy for a tool such as a felling axe (similar in style to a Best Made axe), sledgehammer, or even just a shovel is around 2-3 months. Often times the repeated use just wears them out. Handles splinter, metal breaks, etc. This causes many crews to purchase cheaper ‘disposable’ tools of the basic quality you’d find at a hardware store. It’s safe to say that Best Made axes are far beyond this quality.
As for a similar ‘premium axe’ I’ll say, quality-wise, Best Made exists in the same echelon as those you mentioned (I’ve used Snow & Nealley axes before, although not Gransfors Bruks) As for the higher price point, the added cost comes from the design and attention given to finishing the helves (handles). As this is done by hand, along with the construction of custom shipping cases, these axes demand a higher price point. How much is too much is a question left to those considering purchasing one.
Thanks again for the comments. Keep an eye out for 2010, there should be some great things coming down the pike.
Best,
Nick Zdon
Jeff on 01.19.2010
Well said, Nick. And thanks again for the response/comments.
I will say this: from a design/aesthetic standpoint, Best Made Axe is without a doubt the most beautiful looking axe I’ve come across. If one were going to buy an axe for its symbolic aspects and primarily for display, Best Made Axe would probably be the way to go.
- Jeff
Graeme Cameron on 01.19.2010
As Co Founder of Best Made Company and a life long axeman I would love to comment on something.
We are not about putting our axes beside a Gransfors or Tuatahi and saying “BMCo is better” and here is why. I love Gransfors axes, infact I own several! Our product is extremely limited in availability and some of our designs are even one off. That puts us in a very different market than any other axe company. I have actually pushed potential clients with very technical questions in the direction of Gransfors. This has nothing to do with a lack of technical know how or knowledge, far from it. We just don’t believe that our product requires a heavy technical explanation for being as good as it is. It is far more than Steel and Hickory. Our customer base is generally not interested in grind angles on the bits or in hardness testing. They are interested in becoming part of a company that tells a story about a product, gains their trust by actually acknowledging them, offering a unique experience through the purchase and in the end delivers an outstanding quality axe. We are not interested in being technical here – we are interested in providing motivation to think about good citizenship. We are interested in sharing our “Inspiration” and watching how it builds a “Tribe” of people – people with a common thread…. and guess what… that thread is not the axe.
There are gaps in our site for sure and we will continue to fill them. Never did we compare ourselves to any other company or brand… We are on our own and will continue to forge ahead in the direction that we choose. If people don’t like what we are doing that’s fine but if a few out there do like it then I would think we have reached some level of success. There is plenty to come from Best Made Company and it will go way beyond the axe.
You don’t have to own a BMCo axe to be part of it – you just need to understand 4 very important words.
X
Graeme
Jeff on 01.19.2010
Graeme,
First of all, thanks so much for commenting. Second, I definitely get that your brand is about *more than* the technical excellence of the axe and I think your brand’s ability to strike a resonant chord with your tribe is admirable. So you have no argument from me on those points.
Where I think I’d (respectfully) take issue with your comments is the “Never did we compare ourselves to any other company or brand” part. I hate to get all English Professor on you, but the “Best” in “Best Made” is, in fact, a superlative. To call your axe “Best Made” – and especially to use the phrase “A Best Made axe is a best made axe” – is to compare your axe (favorably) to all other axes. And it may BE better made than all other axes. All I’m saying is that if that is actually the case, I’d love to hear the story behind it on the Website. I think it would be a story worth telling.
Respectfully,
- Jeff
Dave Munson on 02.28.2010
I thought i’d put my two cents worth in on this. Jeff, you are absolutely right. The word “Best made” means that all others are made of a lesser quality. Now to my main thought.
Graeme, I argued with my marketing friend about my old website before he convinced me to rebuild it. I argued that I was selling to a lot of people and that was proof that Saddleback Leather’s website was just fine the way it was. He agreed that the current website was converting traffic, but then asked me how many more folks I could convert if the website were even better. How many was I missing that would have bought if they would have known the facts?
The key thought that he won his argument with was this; there are emotional buyers and there are logical buyers. I was (and you are) reaching only the emotional buyers.
The emotional buyers want to belong to a tribe. They buy based on stories and pictures and persuasive copy. If they like you, they’ll buy from you. The facts are nice, but they don’t need them to make a decision. They need a feeling.
Then there are logical buyers. They want to know the facts. They want to know if this axe will make their work easier and will it last. They want to know that they’re making a good decision and won’t feel dumb later. No one wants to get took. How hard is the steel? What makes it better than a Walmart or Home Depot axe that has a hickory handle? Will the head fly off? Why won’t the handle crack easily? Basically, why is this axe the best?
If you’re not willing to tell the facts, then you’re missing out on a giant portion of sales from the logical buyers. I know this is fact because that’s what happened with me. My old website’s front page had a cool picture, a cool story and some funny questions for the person to ask themselves. On the new website, I made the quality facts accessible in two places on my front page above the fold. My sales rose 30% the first day of the new website and my bounce rate lowered about 15% immediately. Those stats have not wavered since.
Trust me, you need to give the facts. Jeff probably pays more in taxes each year than most people earn in two. And he makes it by writing website copy that convert both logical and emotional buyers. He deals with billion dollar companies on a regular basis doing this very thing. He’s the Rambo of website copy. You just got some extremely expensive consulting for free. It would be a shame if you didn’t do something with it.
If you truly don’t have the best made axes out there, I suggest you make that your aim. Sooner or later some hardness tests will be done by ax enthusiasts or by a competitor who doesn’t like being “second best” and their findings will make it onto some blogs and and onto your fan page and onto a few logger forums and you’ll lose it all. Seth Godin says that you must do business today as if you were doing it on a small island. People talk and information spreads fast on the internet. All someone needs to do is google ” ‘best made ax’ review” and you’d be toast.
Tim Auman on 07.02.2010
The real kicker to me is that this guy does not make these best made axes, he merely buys a standard axe from Snow & Nealley (http://snowandnealley.com) that retails for @ $60-$70 and paints the handle.
Jeff on 07.02.2010
Tim,
Just wanted to emphasize that – absent some kind of leaked information – no one knows for certain who Best Made Axe is using to manufacture their axe heads. They only say the axe heads are being made in Maine. So, while Snowe And Nealley is a pretty good guess, it’s not OK to accuse them of that without some kind of confirmation. All I was saying is that it appears that Snowe and Nealley make an axe of equal quality to Best Made Co. for far less money.
That said, I’m happy to keep the door open for them to explain how and why their axes are better, if, in fact, they are. The real point to the post is that, absent that kind of explanation, many prospective customers will remain unconvinced. In other words, make sure you offer that kind of explanation and detail on your Website. The idea is to learn from the situation, not to beat up on Best Made Co.
- Jeff
Christoper on 09.01.2010
Jeff,
I know you did not say that Best Made are S&N. You didn’t have to. Anyone with a little looking can see that. Their is only one axe maker in Main=S&N. Same head pattern, handle pattern, weights etc. Why else would the handle maker in TN. be sending handles with no stamp or finish to ME. if they were not be used for Best Made?