Exciting Changes to Ornament Trees.com

If you were our customer in 2007 and returned to purchase in 2008, you undoubtedly noticed that we have upgraded our site. The new format makes it easier for customers to find relevant pre- and post sales information. It was a huge undertaking and almost but not quite finished in time for the holiday season. We love it and are adding as much helpful information as we can find, as quickly as we can. If you are not shopping for a display tree, home decor accessory or gift right now, be sure to bookmark our site and come back later.

The speaking characters on our Home, Decorating Center, Contact Page, Customer Service, the FAQ and the Need Help Ordering? pages are the most recent additions. Our intention is to "warm up" the site and hopefully make you feel welcome. Plus, now we can share with you brief bits of information that I wish we could tell you in person. :-)

Also, the Decorating Centre is now finished. It has lots of ideas for ways that you can decorate with our products, craft ideas, project sheets and use and care tips for our products and your valuable collectible ornaments. We add to this area as we find (or customers submit) information that will be helpful to you.

The best part of the change is that you now have access to your order from our site. You can create a wish list, add a review of a product that you purchased, ask to be notified when a product is back in stock, and pre-order items that are custom made for us. You can save your cart, use our payment plan to layaway a floor height tree or a large order. You can also log-in and check your account for shipping info or notes that we've added to your order.

Our current promotion is 5% off any order over $100.

There are still a few more changes to be completed. Like most websites, ours is a work in progress. But so far, so good. :-) If you've visited our site and have a comment you'd like to share, please do so. We appreciate constructive criticism and helpful ideas.

Hiring an Order Taking / Order Entry Service

It's hard to believe it has been almost four years since the first entry to this blog!! This time, I'm updating the blog with information that I hope will be helpful to other Internet-based small businesses like ours. I bet things like this happen all the time - but no one talks about it. High time someone did.

Last season we hired an order taking service to take telephone orders. Their website said "order taking service". The salesperson assured us of the excellent customer service our customers would get along with their order taking skills and, provided references. Then, at the height of our busy season, we were horrified to discover they were really just a telephone answering service. Contrary to the info on their website, they could not process a single order from our website or take an order by hand. We finally found another on-line order taking service. Turns out their incredibly low price was accompanied by an astonishing lack of professionalism.

QUESTION: What type of "Order taking service" or order entry service can not take an order from your website or over the phone? ANSWER: None. Run as fast as you can and take your checkbook with you.

If your Internet-based business is expanding and you are thinking about hiring an order taking / order entry service, take a tip from our experience. (1)This service is being offered primarily by call centers whose primary function is to take messages. There is a conflict between the configuration of the software they use to access the Internet and Internet shopping carts. This means, no matter what they tell you, there is a very good possibility that the order taking service or call center will not be able to process an order directly from your website unless they modify their system (at your expense - 2K+). Last year, we hired three "order taking services." None of them could process an order from our site. Suggestion: Insist that the call center do a test order and send you a copy of the confirmation by e-mail. If they can not complete an order from your site or take an order by phone and fax (or e-mail) you a copy of the order, look elsewhere.

(2)Don't be fooled when they tell you the problem is "with your website." If you and your customers are successfully using your site the problem is not yours. Suggestion: create a dummy account in your cart and process a test sale from your website just to be sure that all is working correctly.

(3) Beware of any answering service or "order taking service" that bills by the minute or by the hour. I promise you, the first bill will curl your hair. Yes, they offer a variety of low cost call packages with a modest fee for calls over that rate. But, that is how they make their money. Your customers will be kept on the phone or in the chat queue as long as possible in order to rack up the "per call" minutes. We've experienced this with call centers and managed chat services. Suggestion: look for a service that bills on a per call basis. Most of them also charge a flat monthly fee and it will not be cheap. Also, look for online real-time documentation of each call and a transcript or voice file so that you can know how your calls were handled.

(4) Do not use the toll-free number assigned to you as your main number. If you have to change, it will be expensive. Suggestion: forward your toll-free phone number to the one assigned by the order taking service. That way, you can track the actual number of incoming calls.

(5) Check verbal assertions against the language in the contract. Increasingly, call centers are offering order taking services as a way to extend their business (or rip off the unsuspecting - I'm not sure which.) Unless the contract specifies how orders will be taken, your already overwhelmed staff will very likely be handed a pile of "this customer wants to place an order" messages from the company you hired to take orders! :-( There is nothing more disheartening than being forced to pay thousands dollars for "messages" that should have been orders. Suggestion: If the contract does not specifically say "order taking services" do not sign until after it is amended and initialed by both parties. If they will not do so, walk away. Also the contract should be cancelled without penalty.

(6) Do not compromise on professionalism. Customers always assume the agent answering your phone number is your employee and therefore, the face of your company. If they are treated poorly by the agent, is a reflection on your business. Messages with misspelled, or grammatically incorrect words, agents that ignore your instructions, company running your payment card without sending an invoice first, agents making negative comments and being impatient with your customers, agents not passing on messages for you, and the list goes on. Suggestion: You can not know how professional the operators are in advance. But, if you experience the first three, go elsewhere.

(7) Don't wait until October to bring on extra help. If your business peaks unexpectedly you will be overwhelmed and short of the help you need. Suggestion: If your business is seasonal and you plan to hire an order taking service, plan to add customer service help well in advance of your busy season. Bring them on board in August so you'll have time to train and hire someone or find another service if needed.

We hope that other Internet-based businesses will benefit from the info shared above. Yes, we were burned. It will take a bit to recover from the $$ loss and dings to our reputation for excellent customer service. But, God gives grace... :-)

Although we ship all year around and all over the world, our products sell best between October and January. Finding a good customer service agent or order taking service just for that period is difficult. In the past two years, we've been disappointed by numerous services including independent contractors, managed chats and call centers. For a seasonal business, e-mail is still the best, fastest, most reliable way to serve customers.

Small or seasonal Internet businesses need professional quality, reliable, reasonably priced customer services. Say, maybe someone reading this will "catch the vision" and develop this idea. What with just about everyone using the Internet and folks looking to make a honest money working from home, this could be a lucrative idea. Call us if you do! :-)


Copyright 2009 - present. Ornament Trees.com/ KCIC Christmas Ornaments.com

An apology to our customers

January 1, 2009

We offer our deepest apology to each and every customer or potential customer who was not properly served this past Christmas season (2008). Our holiday staffing plan was disrupted by an unanticipated customer service issue and we truly regret the inconvenience this caused.

Although we ship all year around, all over the world, our products sell best between November and January. Finding good customer service agents for our unique seasonal business has been difficult. We ask your forgiveness and extend an invitation to shop with us again.


Copyright 2008 - present. Ornament Trees.com/ KCIC Christmas Ornaments.com

Getting started...

I agree with Andy Williams - Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year. Aside from the spirit of love and giving which usually prevails at this time, the stark beauty of the winter landscape, the lights, the music and the decorations combine to make this season the time of year that I enjoy most.

We have new and exciting changes in store for all of our sites this year - but, especially the site selling metal and artificial Christmas ornament trees located at ornament-trees.com ( http://www.ornament-trees.com) . We are in the process of moving some of our stock to a facility that will handle orders by phone and order fulfillment. This will make for faster processing of in-stock ornament tree orders. And an upgrade of the site is in progress - improving product descriptions, lowering prices where ever we can and adding more features to serve our customers better. We are also adding new ornament trees for Halloween and as many beautiful metal ornament trees as I can find for the upcoming Christmas holiday.

I would also like to build up our link section by exchanging links with ornament makers, craftspersons and other entrepreneurs offering top quality products and services. Interested? Just drop me a line using the contact form on our site.

As for KCIC Christmas Ornaments, ( http://www.KCIC-christmas-ornaments.com ) I am planning to produce a new Bible verse this year and to introduce a Spanish version of the first ornament in the Prophecy series. The Renaissance ornaments have been a disappointment because I've not been able to find an inexpensive way to permanently affix the images. But, even after four years of trying, I am not yet ready to give up. I think the technology has not yet caught up with my dreams. :-)

This being my first foray into "blog-land" I am not sure that I will have the energy to keep it up. But mainly, I want a way to communicate with our customers and keep you abreast of changes in the works. If you have a comment or a question about our products feel free to add it here or use the comment form on either web site to e-mail us directly. Thanks!