What does a live 24/7 order desk REALLY mean?

Do we really answer the phone 24/7 at Simon Says Roses Florists?

Really??

Yup, actually we do.

We created our website in August of 1998. We didn't have a shopping cart to begin with, so our customers couldn't order online. They had to phone to place a flower order.

But we want our customers to have access to us any time, day or night. We want to be TOTALLY dedicated to customer service. The customer decides when they want to place an order, so we better be there.

So we promoted a live 24/7 order desk on every single web page, on our letterhead, and of course on our business cards. And we have the catchy phone number of 1-800-705-ROSE(7673) which is great to have as a florist.

But we didn't realize what 24/7 meant in the internet age.We thought the majority of orders would come between the hours of 9:00 am and 5:00 pm Pacific Time. But that didn't always happen.

The internet is global. So when our customer wants to place an order going at 4:00 pm on Friday from Singapore going to Toronto, it's actually 1:00 in the morning my time. Germany going to Vancouver? They're 9 hours ahead. When it's 5:00 in the afternoon in Berlin, it's 2:00 in the morning for me.

The problem was without any answering service, 24/7 meant me!

For years, calls were forwarded to my cell phone. I had a "mini-desk" next to the bed, which had the phone, pen, order pad, and lap-top.

When the phone rang I had three rings to wake up, give my head a shake, and sound halfways intelligent in the middle of the night.

When I went to the washroom, the phone, pad & pen went with me. The plastic garbage can made a great desk.


I did that for the first seven years, until we finally decided the online shopping cart had to be implemented.

Although the cart did take some pressure off of early morning calls, there were many customers who still preferred a live body to an online order form.

I can remember watching my daughter's softball game. I tethered my smartphone to my laptop for instant wi-fi. Taking calls AND processing orders from the stands. Other parents thought I was nuts.


It was only two years ago that we hired an answering service for "off-peak" times. The lack of sleep was literally killing me, having a heart attack at 43.

I just couldn't do it any more.

So we schedule some down time. Dale & I want to Las Vegas for a week at the end of August. Although the answering service was available to take calls and orders, we still have to process credit cards and verify addresses & card messages.

Up at 7:00 in the morning, process until noon. Only then was there time to relax at the pool.

 Are we still customer responsive? You bet!

But at least now I get a solid six hours of sleep every night, even in Vegas...