For homeware and furniture retailers
Chosen with care. Kept for years.
How it gets there, and how it’s looked after, is part of what they paid for.
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What we do
Customers want to know where their sofa has got to, which day it’s coming, and when the missing fixings will arrive. Each answer sits with a maker, a delivery firm or a supplier, and needs someone to go and get it.
Which parts we take on is up to you
It could be the updates through a long lead time and the delivery bookings. It could be the damage and missing parts to put right, the claims against carriers and suppliers, or your phones, email and social messages.
We can also set up and plan
If you need it, we can set up what the work runs on, for instance your helpdesk, your reporting, or your processes mapped out end to end, improved and written down. And we can work with you to plan how your operations should run, now or in the future.
Who gets in touch, and why.
A sofa made to order, a wardrobe to build and a mattress on trial each bring different questions.
Waiting for a sofa
Made to order, and weeks away
- “Is there a delivery date yet?”
- Changing the fabric, or cancelling, once it’s being made
- Will it get up the stairs and through the door?
- Booking the delivery day, or moving it
- Nobody came, or they missed it
- A fault after months of use, such as a sagging cushion
Building a wardrobe
Delivered flat, and half-built
- Fixings or a panel missing from the box
- Stuck part-way through the instructions
- Booking someone to build it for them
- Sending back something that takes two people to lift
- Taking the old one, or the packaging, away
Trying a new mattress
Delivered, and on a trial at home
- “Can you take the old one away?”
- Swapping it for a firmer or softer one
- Booking a collection within the trial
- A refund once it’s been collected
- A dip that appears after a year, under the guarantee
What we’d take on.
Pick one job or a handful. Each is done in your name, in the systems your orders already live in.
- Updates through the lead timeCustomers told where their order has got to while it’s being made, and when a date moves.
- Deliveries booked and rebookedThe day agreed with the customer where that falls to you, a booking moved when plans change, and a missed delivery booked again.
- Damage, faults and missing partsPhotos collected and your rules applied, then the part, the repair visit or the replacement arranged.
- Carrier and supplier claimsDamage in transit claimed from the carrier and faults taken up with the maker, with the evidence each asks for.
- Customer servicePhone, email and chat, from swatches and sizes before the order to care questions long after it.
- Social messages and comments“Will it fit?” and “when is it back?”, asked under a post or in a message and answered there.
Order update · A made-to-order bed
Headboard fabric held up at the supplier
- New date confirmed by the workshop
- Customer rung, and happy to wait
- Expected week changed on the order
To you
The product page still offers this fabric at the old lead time. People ordering today are being given a date the workshop can’t meet.
On the order, with the new date
Behind the orders as well
And the things you hadn’t thought to ask for.
You might only have been looking for cover on the phones. Each of these is something else we could take on, set up or plan with you.
- We set it up
Part, repair or replacement, decided once
Your rules for damage and faults written down, with what each case needs and what has to come to you first, so two people give the same answer.
Processes and knowledge base - We set it up
Every call and photo kept with its order
One place for the conversations, the photos and the notes on each order, so whoever picks it up next doesn’t have to ask the customer again.
Helpdesk set-up - We set it up
Which pieces arrive damaged, and why
Damage and faults counted by product, by supplier and by carrier, so you can see whether it’s the piece, the packaging or the van.
Reporting - We run it
Late orders chased with your suppliers
Orders running behind followed up with whoever is making them, and the customers waiting on them told what has changed.
Back office and admin - We run it
Sizes and lead times right on every listing
Dimensions, materials and the current lead time checked and corrected, on your own site and anywhere else you sell.
Product listings - We plan it with you
Where orders get stuck
A look at how an order moves from the sale to the room today, where it waits and who it waits on, and what to change.
Consultancy
Between the order and the room
They ask you. Someone else has the answer.
A piece of furniture passes through several pairs of hands on its way to the room, whether they’re your own people or other companies. A good share of what a customer asks has to be put to one of them first.
The question
Who has the answer
The team
One conversation with your customer. As many as it takes with everyone else.
“Is there a date for my armchair yet?”
“We’re away that week. Could it come the Friday after?”
“One of the sideboard doors won’t close.”
The team behind it.
Whoever your customer speaks to gives your name, and works from your orders, your policies and your rules.
We employ them, and we lead them
Trained on your range and your delivery and damage rules before they speak to a customer. Their team lead’s job is coaching.
How we workA single location for your work
The Philippines, Portugal or Ireland. We choose which with you at the start, by the hours, the languages and the kind of work.
Where we workNames, addresses and orders
Each person has a named login and sees only what the work needs. One client’s information is never visible to another client’s team.
Security and data protection
Questions, answered.
The things homeware and furniture retailers are likely to ask first.
What kind of work can you help us with?
It could be updates through a long lead time, delivery bookings, damage and missing parts put right, carrier and supplier claims, customer service by phone, email and chat, or your social messages and comments. We can also set up what that work runs on, and work with you to plan how it should run. Whether that’s one part or several is up to you.
How do we get started?
With a conversation about your operation and what you need. From there, we work out together where we can help and what comes next.How we work
Is there a minimum team size?
No. It can be a single person or an enterprise-scale operation. We build the structure around the work, whatever its size.
Can you cover just evenings, weekends or a sale?
Yes. It could be the hours your own people are offline, or a sale you can see coming, planned with you ahead of the date. With made-to-order furniture the plan covers the weeks afterwards too, while what was ordered is made and delivered.
Does the team decide what to offer for damage, or bring it to us?
That is yours to set, and it is written down before the team starts. For instance, the team might arrange a part or a repair visit to your rules, while a replacement or money off comes to you. Or you can decide every case yourselves.
Will the team work in our own systems?
Yes. That might be your order system, a helpdesk and wherever your delivery bookings are kept. The team works in whatever you run on. Each person needs a login of their own in each, which is yours to give, because we don’t work from a shared password.
How does the team learn our range, with its sizes, fabrics and finishes?
Through training, before anyone speaks to a customer. How that training happens depends on what material you already have, how soon you need people, and how much of it you want to run yourselves. New ranges are trained in as they arrive.How we work
How do we know how it’s going?
Real pieces of work are reviewed against your process, and what the reviews find goes into each person’s coaching. You get regular reporting on how the work is going, what we’ve found and what we’re doing about it.How we work
Can the team book and change deliveries directly with our carrier?
Yes, where your carrier gives you a way to do it, or the diary is your own. Many carriers send the customer a link to choose their own day. The team picks up the customers that leaves behind, such as the ones who never booked, can’t make any day offered or need one moved. Each person needs a login of their own to wherever the bookings are kept.
What if the work I need help with isn’t listed here?
Tell us about it. This page covers the work homeware and furniture retailers are most likely to need, not everything we do. If the work follows a process and happens on the phone, in an inbox or in your order system, there’s a good chance we can take it on. If it isn’t one for us, we’ll say so.Tell us about your business
How much does it cost?
It depends on the kinds of work, the hours you want covered and the languages you need. We work it out with you once we understand your operation.
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