There is a correlation :) out of the half dozen non Spydercos I've sharpened for folks at work I now see some Spyderco taking the place of the knives I sharpened :D Taking time to talk a bit about materials and build with the folks I've sharpened for might have helped
If you aren't comfortable sharpening, taking the time to read, listen, learn, experience and accomplish is well worth the effort :)
Take the time and effort to sharpen a coworkers or friends knife :) I offer any time I experience a dull edge: You'll learn more than you think
Charlie
" Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not one bit simpler."
[CENTER]"Integrity is being good even if no one is watching"[/CENTER]
Another approach I have is to give them a loaner knife that allows them to experience Spyderco. If I take a knife from someone to sharpen, I hate to see them without one, so I will lend either a modified Spyderco Ambitious (shortened blade for Chicago) or a Byrd Cara Cara 2. When I tell people they could have the Ambitious under $35 and the Byrd under $25, eyebrows get raised. It's led to a few sales just like that.
Though I can sharpen quite well, I hate doing it, so I never offer anymore. If I knew any knife people I might. Funny thing though - when I do see any pocket clip I get excited and think, "yah, that guy's cool", unless they look like a punk-*** (sorry, but it's true).
I was on a cold call sales call and the customer is using my biggest competitor. Mid conversation I glanced down and see the familiar "doctor scrubs green" FRN peeking out of his pocket. Me, "Nice Spyderco". Him, "How did you know? You into knives?" He pulls out a well used green Endura, I pull out my Caly 3.5 and that my friends is raport.
I've converted 2 and hopefully a 3rd is on his way. They were impressed how sharp i could get a knife and never knew that a SpyderEdge could be done. I took a bur out of one of the serrations and they were completely impressed. After doing a couple of filet knives it turned into folders. The discussion turned into Spydies and the steel that the use. One of the guys picked up a serrated Salt and the other one picked up a Dragonfly Salt. The 3rd guy says that there are way to many cool looking Spydies and he can't choose. I lent him my Delica which was close to the Gerber that he had, he's liking it and thinking about a combo edge.
Now my sharpener is like a cool new tool that they like to use. Sometimes I think the just go out and cut a bunch of stuff so the can practice on the sharpener. They love cutting paper with a sharp knife and making confetti.
A few guy think I have an addiction since I own so many, but I'm quick to bring up it's just like a fishing addiction. I equate them to Lays potato chips, can't just have 1! So far we have 4 Spydies in the office and I'd like to see that number grow by a few.
