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 visited his shop as they enjoyed the numerous bike trails in the nearby park. To keep up with demand, Mick decided to close his original store and concentrate on the tourist trade.

Mick sold the large shop and made plans to relocate. He planned to run the smaller, more profitable second store. Unfortunately, he underestimated own importance to his 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, Mick moved his shop to a much smaller 2,000 square foot facility located within a block of the old store. 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 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 blew me away. The first week, I think I called in for messages about four times a day, even though everything was texted to my cell phone. I was sure that it wasn't working. But after a while, I saw that everything worked just like they promised. I got my messages sent to me, every time.  Plus, for backup they email me the days messages 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 I'm getting everything done that I need to. 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 whole staff in the new store. I spend every other weekend in Oden and that shop's 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 the might be able to help you.