Insights into the persona of gunsmiths.

by Mark R. Hollensen

This is a topic that is often left out of business related education materials. I mention this because I did touch upon it in iiThe Business of Gunsmithing; A Practical Strategic Compendium. I opted not to go too deep into this subject in my book as I know there are many people out there that might say I am encroaching on psychological or human behavior, and that is better covered in medical journals and behavioral science literature. However, I wanted to elaborate on this topic here because over the years I have encountered gunsmiths that I walk away from wondering how they manage to stay in this business. I’ll bet some of you have done the same thing.

What is a “Gunsmith Persona”? Well, I wasn’t a psych major (a little slack here, please?) but there is a line between personality traits and customer service that I’ve observed to suit successful gunsmiths. In my book I brought up the thought process of creating, working on, refining, and making a persona for yourself to succeed. I don’t mean to call out people that my posses some of these negative traits, rather, I bring it up as a discussion to help your career.

Professional craftsmen are best served by simply being themselves. Working with customers, wholesalers, dealers, and whomever else you have business dealings with as being yourself typically translates to honesty, integrity, and self-confidence. But each of us have our own way of communicating with other people and how we interact with them and that can make the difference between “good word of mouth” or “stay away from that guy”. Each of us probably knows if we tend to communicate with others in a more positive or more negative way. And if you can recognize that you’ll have opportunities moving forward to make any needed changes on how you interact with other people in refining communication skills and interactions.

The goal is to make your interactions a positive experience. This is so very important when working with your…

Read more in the August 2021 issue.

Don’t miss a single issue. Subscribe now or renew your subscription.

For non-subscribers wanting free access, submit one free article to use on our site and we’ll send you a complete digital copy of any issue of your choice (April 2006 to current).