Originally printed in eBiz Insider Magazine March, 2009

Chef Knives To Go Freed Up to Run the Business… Instead of Handling Order Entries

Mark Richmond of the Wisconsin-based Chef Knives to Go (ChefKnivesToGo.com) signed up for Solid Cactus Call Center’s Rapid Start program in October 2007. After several months of using the service, Richmond wonders why he “didn’t do it sooner.”

Richmond provided a quick training and a set of frequently asked questions for the customer service reps to follow.

“The nice thing about it is that we were able to give specific instructions on how much or how little we wanted the reps to handle the calls. It’s really great and flexible — we provide them with information about the products so they can be knowledgeable… but if they aren’t sure on the answer to something they simply send an e-mail with the question and the contact information for the caller and I call the customer back,” added Richmond. The process has also helped Richmond streamline the customer service operations at his location too.

“It’s freed me up to be able to do what I do best – running the business and marketing … instead of order entry for customers,” Richmond said. “We aren’t losing the human connection, though. People are more likely to place larger orders over the phone. The representatives clearly answer questions. In the time we’ve been on the program, the return has been huge. I’ll be keeping it after the initial agreement period! ”

The average order value that comes in from orders taken by the call center is typically two to three times that of standard web orders. Richmond attributes the increase to the fact that Solid Cactus’ reps are very good at explaining features, upselling, cross-selling, and closing the sale.

Solid Cactus Call Center takes on average 48 incoming calls for ChefKnivesToGo.com on a weekly basis. Of those, less than 1% are service inquiries, 40% are orders or product inquiries that convert to orders, and 29% are policy inquiries. The remaining 30% of calls consisting of product inquiries did not result in purchases.

Prior to using call center services, customers would call Richmond’s office and, if the line was busy or he was unavailable, leave a message. By the time Richmond could call them back, many had purchased elsewhere.

Richmond is no longer on the phone all day. December 2008 was ChefKnivesToGo.com’s seventh holiday season and call center services provided him the chance to really focus on his operations and keep holiday shoppers happy. After all, a happy customer is a repeat customer!

Mark Richmond of ChefKnivesToGo.com wonders why he didn’t sign up for Solid Cactus Call Center’s Rapid Start program sooner.