The relationship with clients is for me one of hospitality, made of mutual respect and mutual obligations. I will do lots and lots for my clients: source specific goods, make special blends, prepare customized orders, share knowledge and practices that took decades to develop, and much more.
On the other hand, I do not relate one bit to the “customer is king” philosophy.
Well, unless we are all allegorical queens and kings, of course.
Therefore, the one thing that I will not do is accept any entitled behaviour.
A recurring such behaviour is pushy haste (of course it is totally fine to ask if a deadline can be met: if it is possible for me to honour it, I will gladly do so).
Aromatic materials may take years to decades, and in rare case centuries, to mature and find their way into our lives. If you are one of those hurried customers who wants everything immediately, simply, and respectfully, please go take your business elsewhere. There are lots of people selling natural essences, blends and raw materials, so in case you need all right now, you will find obliging providers, but please: be careful…
... the aromatics market in general is full of fake products and sellers (some are honest but not very competent, and tricked by their suppliers)
This is furthermore true for luxury aromatics such as oud, sandalwood, rose, saffron, etc where you might find much more adulterated then genuine products if you do not know where to look and are not "fluent" with such materials.
So, the advice in a nutshell is to make reputations checks before buying from new sellers, then order small quantities at first, and then, cultivate positive relationships overtime with the sellers you can trust.
