On Apr 11, 2014, at 3:36 PM, Freelance Traveller <editor@freelancetraveller.com> wrote:

> I'm not talking about the typical Traveller, who's read the Black Books
> and knows the difference between a Jump Drive-B and a Jump Drive-D and
> when to put one or the other into a ship. I'm talking about e.g., nobles
> who "have people who know that stuff; I just need...". Without going
> into fittings and decor, just figuring basic space allocations and
> performance, what does the Naval Architect's sales rep need to be told
> by the customer about the ship?
>
> Right off the top of my head, I see the customer as needing to bring the
> following info to the sales desk:
>
> 1. Jump performance
> 2. Maneuver performance
> 3. Number of staterooms
> 4. Required cargo space
> 5. Additional Common space
>
> Specialty areas (e.g., the animal holding areas of the Safari ship)
> would be classed as Additional Common Space for this discussion; things
> like the Bridge and fuel storage are automatic, and not specified by the
> customer unless the customer specifies (e.g.) "It has to be able to make
> two jumps without refueling."
>
> What else is Sales Guy going to need to know before handing a spec sheet
> to the Naval Architect for plans to be handed to the yard?

The noble’s bank account balance…:-) Gotta figure how much you can get away with charging.

SOme of these commissions will be on the order of things like Steve Jobs’ yacht. These things are done in an extremely personalized way, and so there would never be a ‘standard’, at least not for bespoke starships. It would be a constant back and forth between the designer and the client.

A step down from there would be how private/corporate jets are sold or how high-end RV’s are sold. (There’s a ‘Hows it made’ episode on those. They start with a bus chassis, and everything else, pretty much is customized.) Here the kinds of things you mentioned will really be all that’s needed.

Frankly, 90% of the customers will be concerned with the 10% of details, ie the living quarters: how large the common areas are, does the galley have a butler’s pantry, etc :-)

--
Bruce Johnson
University of Arizona
College of Pharmacy
Information Technology Group

Institutions do not have opinions, merely customs