kswan

I actually recommend asking the customer to initiate the order by email. This weeds out the people who were just being impulsive when they asked for a reservation (and there are plenty of people who do this). I do not wish to spend my energy chasing down someone who turns out not to be serious. There is quite a bit of back and forth emailing required to complete an order, so the customer also needs to prove that they are reliable communicators by email (there are plenty of people who aren’t). This move also signals “I’m not going to cater to you. I’m busy and you need to make this easy for me.” Again, it weeds out the problem customers. 
Another option I use sometimes is “yes [those items] can be reserved for [that show]. When it’s about a week before the show, send me an email and ask me again. If I have it in stock, I’m happy to hold them for you.” This does not obligate me to change my production plans for a customer I don’t know.  The customer is usually standing in front of my email list sign-up pad during this conversation. If they then sign-up for my email list, that’s a good indication of seriousness. I’ll say “oh cool, when you get my email about [that show], just hit reply and let me know what you want.”
This does not apply to existing customers who have followed through successfully on reservations before. If one of them asks for a reservation at a show, I’ll write it down in my notebook on the spot. Knowing the person makes all the difference. 

Shows can definitely be overwhelming at the best of times, and now is not the best of times! If offering to take orders is a service you *want* to offer (extra emphasis on the want to), people like feeling looked after. It’s a good idea to couch it in terms of yes, I’d like to be able to help you, let’s make an appointment for later so you can have my undivided attention. Make sure you get their contact info and follow up with them, rather than leaving it up to them to contact you. If you leave it up to them, you’ll never see them again. 
For Trello, think I pulled the Kanban template to start with, but I relabelled all of it, added stuff and changed the background. It would have been just as simple to start from scratch. 

It's funny because I love organizing, making color coded binders and files and such! And I understand about the feel of a nice pen on paper. I just got overwhelmed by people asking for things at my booth, and wasn't expecting or prepared for it. I think what I'll do is stick with asking them to email me with a request and try not to get too bogged down in details while at my booth. That's overwhelming enough as it is.  I did that at one show where four people asked me about making things, which is more than I've encountered yet at a time. I'm still pretty new to doing larger craft shows, and having a year hiatus didn't help with keeping things running smoothly...
I'm going to make myself a binder with sections, because I really like being able to move parts around, and take that to shows. I'll keep my sketchbook for home, that's where I draw for myself and sketch items someone asks for.  OOOH! I'm getting excited thinking about the sections I can make, like a place for the info sheets you receive from the show organizers, a place for taking notes and to do lists for each show. That way I can flip to the page where I took notes on the day and will remember it (hopefully). That would have helped remedy my embarrassing situation.
I'm messing around with Trello right now. Did you use a specific template or did you start from scratch? I have to read through the guide because there's a lot to it.

Yes. Yes you do, if you’re going to offer this as a service. Taking a bit of time now to organize a system will save you a TON of time and headache later.
When I made my paper version, I got super fancy with my formatting, because it was part of a larger planner that I use to track a bunch of other things as well.  I set myself up to enjoy using it, because my ADHD is a toddler and needs shameless bribery sometimes. It’s got a snazzy reusable cover, it’s printed on nice paper, and I like the feeling of writing in it with my favourite kind of pen. I spent a really ridiculous amount of time designing it initially, but it’s something I still enjoy using, so it was time well spent.
That said, you don’t have to get elaborate if it gets in the way of you creating a system.  Even just having a pretty composition book from the dollar store that is dedicated to your special orders is better than loosing scraps of paper. Or maybe you need to get yourself a fun clipboard to keep the scraps in one place instead! The best system is the one that you actually use.

@Callie Beller Diesel Thank you for sharing this! Do you think you could show a photo or explain more how you might use this for custom orders? I just had a mortifying experience where I verbally agreed to save a vase at a show for someone and forgot, then accidentally sold all of those before she arrived. I've also gotten  more custom orders at the same time that I want to find a good way to keep track of. 
Also, would you use Trello while at a show? I think you said you use it with a tablet. I can barely see my phone screen so I wouldn't want to use it with my phone while at a craft show.

So maybe some of you already know about the app Trello if you’ve had to work on projects in a more corporate setting in the last couple of years. I hadn’t paid a lot of attention to it, because every time I heard it mentioned, it seemed like more software than I needed. But a booth neighbour friend and I were talking about workflow stuff this summer, and she showed me how she used it to track the various stages of work in progress. 
The plan was to try it out and report back after show season was done, but it’s been so effective in the last couple of weeks that I thought I’d write about it now!
If you’re not familiar, Trello is sort of like an online Kanban board, or one of those setups where you have the stages of progress for a project written at the top of a white board, and you take a bunch of sticky notes with individual tasks that need to be done and move them along the line as they get completed. In Trello, multiple people can log into the board from wherever they’re working from, and you don’t have problems with sticky notes falling off the board and getting lost. It’s more visually oriented than a spreadsheet, because you can drag and drop items (cards) from one list to the next.
You do need to sign up for an account, but Trello is free for the version that would be needed by most potters or other small makers, and includes a LOT of handy features. Paid versions are designed with large organizations with more employees and outside contractors in mind. 
You want to start off by creating a workspace once you’re signed up and have your account confirmed. Within the workspace, you can create up to 10 boards on the free version.  You could organize these boards as production lists for individual shows, but I’ve got mine set up for quarterly production, and to track items that have been ordered by people. You could also make boards for things like planning your assorted marketing efforts, but I haven’t got that set up yet.
Inside my board for my quarterly production, I made lists that include Needed, Clay Prepped, Thrown, Decorated and Drying, Bisqued, Glazed, and Finished. I then created cards within those lists of the items I want to have made for the start of show season. Cards can hold a significant amount of information, including links, photos and notes, but for my production list I keep it very simple. Each card is just a quantity of an item that I would make in a day, or that I need in grand total. As each item card gets dragged and dropped through the production stages, I have a clear idea of what’s done, what’s in what stage of progress and what still needs to be started. 
For instance, I know I want to have 12 berry bowls made for the season. So the card starts out saying 12 berry bowls while it’s under the “needed” section. I would typically prep the clay and make all those bowls at once, but if they don’t all fit in the bisque, I can make separate cards indicating that I have 8 that have been fired and glazed, and 4 still waiting in the dried state. Depending on the quantity of an item you need to make, you could either make notes within the card of how many of what glaze job you want, or you could make separate cards for the different styles. After they’re all moved onto the “Finished” list, you can admire how much you accomplished!
It’s also very handy for tracking special orders. If a customer has ordered a piece, I can keep their name, order particulars and contact info on one card, and track its progress as above. Once the piece is made, I can attach photos to the card, and move it to the “Notified” list after I’ve emailed the customer. In the event the piece is shipped, I can add the tracking number to the card. That way if I need to process a claim, I’m not sifting through all my Canada Post receipts. 
I’m finding it a lot faster to update than a spreadsheet or a written list. I do recommend it!
 

Your welcome! They work well and don't cost much.

THIS IS BRILLIANT!
Thanks for the great tip! 

A motorized wheel is an incrediable time saver over a kick wheel even a motorized one .
Enjoy the freedom. And now your leg can be the same size as your other one.
I have thought a few things may happen in the future once the Governor (whom we pay attention to in this state way more than the anyone else) lets businesses on the non essential side open again as well as the restaurants .I have a wholesale account at a popular one.I know the shops and Galleries will all want pots all at once. I'm planning now for that time. No one knows when this will be so I have zero idea on timing -i just know that my consignment outlets who get pots for free will want more .Just before the closure of galleries I got a large consignment order from my locally biggest selling consignment outlet. If this happens during the summer time it will be more than say spring time-if its fall then its a xmas deal and they will be even more greedy on the orders as the potsare free. As to wholesale I'm thinking depeending on how flush they are feeling the orders could me meduim size.I'm doing some stockpiling now for this situtaion in the future.
I have a large  order now for a few months from now-Its all made in the green state(finiskhed today) but needs bisquing and glaze fired.Its a simi annual order for many years now. That gallery is closed and the open date is a unknown as is everything  else but he wants the pots in a few months either way.Locally I have 5 food/market outlets that are still selling pottery but at a reduced rate.Folks still need food and pots are hard to find elsewhere so they still sell ok there.With the slow down of the economy I'm planning on a long period of time selling very little. Its a time I plan on making pots for the future. They do not go bad.
I have a plate full of projects and our acre likes to get mowed  alot in spring and garden needs planted as well as all the projects that I put off that now can get done .
As of this week I have worked harder than most weeks-anymore free time and it will kill me.I'm staying isolated as its my age group although my health is great (bad wrist and hand )but good lungs and no disease except a type A workaholic. I have yet to see that the virus preys more on that condition than others . I do have blood Type A+ but its only a small uptick on death rate on what I read.Since I;m usually at home all the time this seems just fine now staying home  all the time.I shipped out some pottery packages this week via UPs which is normal here-just put my flag out on fence and they take the box of pots away.
I do not want to feel overwehelmed when orders pick up so I'm planning for this now. I'm box up pots like crazy soon and will be ready when they are needed
.My other thought is when the world is ready for travel once again I want to get back to being underwater in Bali with a camera like I was last fall. I have a few diver friends all with the same idea and If I have the stock it will not matter time wise as much when I can go. So thats another driver to box up work NOW.Travel is a long ways off I know but it will come back. We just canceled a long planned trip to Iceland  in June where you can fire pots with geothermal power.Nothing like fire and Ice .