Broken Arrow Wear is an online custom screen printing and embroidery company headquartered in Des Moines, Iowa, and operates production from a second location in Polk City, Iowa. Established in 1989, and now printing an average of 2,500 shirts a day, Broken Arrow Wear is an Iowa targeted small business and is a leader in providing quality custom printed designs on garments.

Problem:

As an online retailer, Broken Arrow Wear’s revenue is completely based on phone orders. However, the online retailer lacked a call routing system to allow customers to easily connect to specific representatives. This often times resulted in two things:

Since Broken Arrow Wear offers creative design services as part of the customization process, oftentimes customers want to speak with the representative they were working with during their previous interaction with the company. So customers usually want to speak to their designated representative and not a new person each time they call. However, since Broken Arrow Wear lacked a call routing system, the tremendous amount of manual call routing employees were having to do with their original phone system was not only tedious and inefficient, but many times calls would get unreturned and even lost.

With strong competition in the online retail space – and a busy peak summer season just around the corner – Broken Arrow Wear needed a way to maximize staff availability to handle its increasing number of incoming calls despite its limited resources as a small business. They required a communications system that was not only simple to deploy, but also enabled employees to be more responsive to customers for an improved customer experience. A missed call or unreturned call could easily mean a lost sale, and that’s not something a small business can afford.

Solution:

Broken Arrow Wear found its solution in Avaya IP Office, a business communications solution designed for small businesses looking to not only increase efficiencies through advanced call routing capabilities but also to better manage, respond to and track calls. Combining advanced, big business functionality with the ease of use and simplified management that small businesses require, IP Office helps small businesses use communications to differentiate them from their competition. The solution was able to solve Broken Arrow Wear’s call handling issues and provide a better customer service experience with just one integrated system.

Avaya IP Office provides Broken Arrow Wear with one call-in number, making it easier for customers to access customer service. Also, call-menu options help direct customers easily locate the appropriate departments within the company, whether that contact is in headquarters in Des Moines or at the production site in Polk City. The solution also provides direct lines for each representative, so customers can be sure their messages directly reach their intended destinations and eliminating the need for employees to manually take down messages that can be easily lost or forgotten. Not only did the solution free up time from staff so they could work on more strategic activities instead, it also eliminated all further customer complaints of missed and unreturned calls.

Furthermore, this solution also will enable Broken Arrow Wear to more easily ensure appropriate staffing to take calls during busy seasons. The company currently uses Avaya IP Office to telecommute on an as-needed basis, but since the solution allows the small business to scale up as it grows, Broken Arrow Wear will be able to obtain and retain quality employees without being limited by office space in future as well.

Results:

Since Broken Arrow Wear deployed Avaya IP Office a year ago, the company already has achieved a 20 percent increase in sales. “With Avaya IP Office, we have been able to eliminate customer complaints about unreturned calls due to lost or delayed messages,” said Kortni Stocker, sales manager, Broken Arrow Wear. “This improvement, along with other Avaya IP Office capabilities, boosted customer satisfaction and employee productivity.”

From a growth standpoint, Avaya IP Office’s streamlined technology enables Broken Arrow Wear to expand its reach outside its local vicinity, which has brought the company more business. Also, having one number that can easily route to both office locations and the correct department has led to better collaboration between the Polk City and Des Moines offices, while cutting costs by combining two phone lines into one IP system.

Despite the current economy, Broken Arrow Wear is happy to report that their business is actually still growing. The company is confident that they will be in business tomorrow and for a long time to come.