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After eight years of brisk business, Wayne “Mick” McLellan, owner of
Sprocket Cyclery, had built up a profitable business. In addition to the
15,000 square foot shop on Main Street, Mick opened a second shop about
an hour and a half away in Oden, a small tourist community serving a
nearby national park.
In short order, the second location was generating more business than
the original shop. Cyclists from across North America would visit his shop
because of the numerous bike trails availble in the nearby park. To keep up
with demand, Mick decided to close his original store and concentrate on
the tourist trade.
Mick closed the
original shop and made plans to relocate near Oden to run
the smaller, more profitable store. Unfortunately, he
underestimated the importance of his original store to local customers. Sproket was the only
cyclery serving his hometown community of about 70,000. He was
overwhelmed with calls from customers who relied on his shop. They
persuaded him to keep the main store open business.
In response,
re-opened the first store in a much smaller (2,000 square foot)
facility located within a block of the old location. He downsized his
inventory significantly, relying on drop-shipments rather than a large
in-store stock. He also made one more change that he credits with
helping him to effectively manage both stores; he hired an answering service to
handle his calls.
The telephone answering service made it possible for every caller
to be treated with care by a professional telephone receptionist. No longer
was Mick forced to leave his repair projects to answer calls about store
hours. Instead, by routing all calls through the answering service, Mick
was able to concentrate his focus and energies on what needed his
attention most.
"That first week, I think I called in for messages
about four times a day, even though everything was being texted to my
cell phone. I was sure that it wasn't working. But after a while, I saw
that everything worked as promised. I was receiving every message.
And, as a backup I would have all messages for the day email to me every
evening.
"Now, I schedule all my parts ordering for the morning. Then, I do my
service work until afternoon. After lunch, I deal with everything for
the Oden store. In between I deal with the odd calls that come in and
walk-ins."
Just six months ago, Mick made plans to downsize his business and close
one of his stores. Today, he is making the most of his time and running
both shops more effectively than ever.
"It still is a lot of work," said Mick, "but everything
is getting done. My quality of life is better because I'm not feeling so
torn. Besides the few teenagers I've got helping out, I'm pretty much
the staff for the new store. I spend every other weekend in Oden
and business is really taking off. The answering service has made it possible for
me to gain some control over my life. It's been a great ride."
Learn more about telephone
answering services and discover how they might be able to help you.
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