In the beginning of my bead and embroidery supply business, it was just me. I did everything and anything that had to happen. I took the calls from happy and unhappy customers, I placed the orders, I stocked the shelves of my tiny store in the tiny out of the way plaza. You name it, I did it. And there were times back then that I was so scared that I would never see a customer walk through the door. But slowly, very slowly, I built a client base of local hobbyists. My Saturday afternoon demonstrations started to fill up with eager students, and on one blessed day in August, I actually had to turn someone away: my little store couldnt hold another soul! My business grew nicely, but it didnt take off until I started my online store. Soon, I had orders, large orders, coming in from Bangladesh to Bangor, Maine and everywhere in between. I hired my very first employee (other than myself) right after that.
Fast forward five years and were now one of the largest suppliers of crafting supplies in the world. We have specialty wools from Spain and beautiful quartz beads from Indonesia, and let me tell you that international negotiations were the farthest thing from my mind when I first hung my ~open sign. To cope with the high volume of inbound calls, I hired one person to answer the phones. Then another. Then a third. My accountant had to sit me down and gently point out that my call center was now costing me so much that I couldnt expand otherwise. I couldnt afford any more success! We had to take action. I went to the local business networking meeting and picked the brains of everyone I could get five minutes alone with, and they each told me that if I wasnt seeing a return on my investment in running my own call center, then it was time to look at outsourcing. I gathered a list of potential vendors and I called each one of them up and asked them a million questions, until I found the right fit for me. They even took over my e-mail and fax services, which added to my savings in terms of infrastructure costs at my brand new warehouse. I saved enough money by outsourcing that I added an entirely new product line and created more than enough new positions to keep everyone employed.
About the Author:
Patty Sigmondsen is a successful entrepreneur, mother and grandmother who turned her love of crafting into an acclaimed and profitable enterprise. Her business continues to thrive today, and all of the staff who used to work in her inbound call center is all now happily employed in other roles within her prosperous company. She is very glad that she now leaves her call center services to professionals so she can focus on her business. She can be reached at 1-800-317-4567.
