How I Became The Ironing Board Cover Lady

Look At This Family Tree Grow!

Every time someone places an order for The Fitz Like A Glove™ Ironing Board Cover, I scour my database to see if they’ve ordered before. Since 1994, I’ve looked at names of customers on a daily basis. Sometimes I think I know them by heart.

And what do I find?

Family trees. Both personal, geographical and corporate.

Because I give an undertaking to keep personal details confidential, I’m not able to reveal the full personal names in our family tree. But when I get emails telling me this order is going to the 3rd and 4th generation of a particular family, I can tell you I get a buzz.

A recent order goes like this. Robin is ordering for her daughter. “Can you believe you now have 3 generations of my family using your cover?” Robin’s mother purchased one for herself and then gave one to Robin as a gift.

I have quite a few unusual last names on my database. Some time ago I decided to ring to find the source of their orders. Yes, it was a brother, sister, mother or father who placed the original order. Sometimes an auntie, sometimes a grandparent.

Then we have extended families of friends. Lyn’s referred 4 friends to us who purchased the cover. How did Lyn find out about us? From her sister-in-law, Jane.

Teo’s referred at least 5 friends who have purchased. Three of her friends have gone on to order covers as gifts for their friends.

Margaret’s lost track of how many of her friends have The Fitz Like A Glove™ Ironing Board Cover because of her.

Trish has given the cover to all her children, packed a suitcase full of them for a trip to the UK and her son gave one as a thank you present to a family he stayed with.

Then there are street addresses only a few numbers apart. Neighbour telling neighbour.

Who are the best at referring? Men! Men recognise a good product when they use it and are the first to tell their friends. Stan is a champ. We’ve got many men on the North Shore of Sydney ironing on their Fitz Like A Glove™ Ironing Board Covers because of Stan. And Harry isn’t slow either.

But the most revealing are the corporate addresses we mail to. Because we send all parcels Receipted Delivery, they must be signed for. So busy executives want their cover mailed to their place of work for ease of delivery. No last minute rush home to rescue the parcel from their local Australia Post post office.

And our customers come from a wide spectrum of the corporate world. It’s co-worker telling co-worker. During a coffee break or those odd moments when they can indulge in some personal time rather than corporate time.

Perhaps you recognise some of the corporate names. Perhaps you work for one of these companies. But let me assure you these co-workers and their word of mouth are vital to the future of our business!

ABC
ABC Science Unit
Adams Jewellers
ADI Limited
Airlie Vails Pty Ltd
Albany International
Alfred Hospital
All Saints College
AMCHAM
AMP Workspace
Amrad Corporation Pty Ltd
API Limited
Astra Pharmaceuticals
Attache Software
Australia Post Marketing Dept
Australian Bridal Service
Australian Business
Australian Chocolate Pty Ltd
Australian Securities & Investment Commission
Baraque School of Sewing & Style
Bayer Healthcare
Bishop Druitt College
Borland Australia
Blue Mountains Funerals
Bowring Macaulay & Barrett
Burra Heritage Cottages, Tivers Row
Canon Office Systems
Capitol Records
Cheney & Wilson
Chief Minister’s Dept; Corporate Services
Choice Personnel Services Pty Ltd
Cisco Systems
Clayton Utz Solicitors
Cleworth & Barini Optometrists
CMRI
Communications Direct
Connect East
Coober Pedy Hospital
Corporate Public Affairs, Australia Post
Count Wealth Accountants
Cowley Hearne
Dairy Farmers
DCB Advertising and Communications
Deutche Bank AG, Sydney
Dimension Data
Dome Books
Dominic Taranto
EGO Group
Empire Film Services
Enterprise Marketing
Ernst & Young
Fanatik
F B Rice & Co
Federation Press
Fins Restaurant
Fintechnix Pty Ltd
FOXTEL Management
GHD
Gilbert & Tobin Lawyers
Goddards Pharmacy
Grant Samuel
Grazing Management Systems Pty Ltd
Green Gables
Harbour View Hotel
Hi-Fert Pty Ltd
Hunter Valley Cheese Co
Hunts Leather
Illy Caffe
Inside Out Interior Decorating
Integral Event Management
Intentia Australia
Int’l College of Tourism & Hotel Management
IPEC, Level 28, Grosvenor Place
James Hardie Industries
J I Moore and Partners
JL Lennard
John Heine & Son Pty Ltd
John Holland
Kalari Vineyard
Kaps Patchwork
Kerry Price Designs
Kiola Wines
KPMG
Laing O’Rourke
Land McKaig Accountants
Lawler Partners
Leading Pacific
Limon Financial Services
Liverpool Local Court
LJ Hooker
Macquarie Bank
Macquarie Graduate School of Management
Masson Wilson Twiney
Mercedes Benz Airport Express
McCoy, Grove & Atkinson
Melbourne Symphony Orchestra
Moneypenny Business & Tax
Musica Viva
National Bank
Nationwide Promotions Pty Ltd
New Zealand Symphony Orchestra
Nine Network Australia
NNTT
North Shore Private Hospital
NSW Dept Of Agriculture
Numsbar Business Solutions
O2 Networks
Office Of The Governor
Ord Minnett
Orica
Osman Insurance Brokers
P&O Ports
Peter Cohn
Peter Hill Media Sales
Peter Shipway Real Estate
Phillips Fox
Pioneer Studios
Poet’s Corner Winery
Port Melbourne Paints & Wallpaper
Premier Cork & Timber
Prime Television
Pussy Foot Shoe Boutique
Quay Restaurant
Rabo Bank
Radio 2CR
Ray White Real Estate
Reiter Tooling
RM Williams
RNCAS
Rock Around The Block
Rock Lily Cottages
Royal Adelaide Hospital
RPR Consulting Pty Ltd
Rural Press Limited
Saab Systems
Salgo
SAS
Seven Wentworth
Shell Company Aust
Sime Darby Automobiles Pty Ltd
Smart Presentations
Spencer Stuart
Sporte Leisure Pty Ltd
Spring Hill Wines
Spring Search & Selection
SSASS
Standard & Poors MMS
Stewarts
St George Bank
St John Ambulance
Sun Studios Australia
Superpartners
Sydney Film Company
Sydney Ports Corporation
Sydney Symphony Orchestra
Tanner Menzies Pty Ltd
Teco Australia
Ten Capital
The Logo Works Pty Ltd
The Lonely Palate Winery
The Marketing Store
The People for Places and Spaces
The Peninsula Group
The Purple Patch
The Spare Chair
The Westin Melbourne
Thiess Services
Thistle Hill Vineyard
University Of Tasmania
UTS Faculty of Design, Architecture and Building: Fashion Design Section
University Of Tasmania, School of Fashion Design
Venture Creek Pty Ltd
Vero
Village Roadshow Ltd
Vision Super
Walgett Police Station
Weekly Times Advertising
Wellbeing Pharmacy
Westpac Banking Corporation
Westview Apartments
Willoughby City Council
WIN Television
Woodhead Architects
Woodley’s Motors
Worley Parsons

We’re very proud of our customers and are always in awe of the help and encouragement they give us. They allow us to develop personal relationships with them and tell us their stories. We wouldn’t have this rich tapestry of family history if we sold only to retail stores. This is our reward for staying small, friendly and personal. Nothing beats this!

Take care,

Carol

Wow! It IS A Small World!!

Clip clop. Clip clop. The sounds of the footsteps hitting the footpath are brisk and definitely feminine. Short, light steps. Almost musical in their cadence.

It’s a balmy, early November morning. We’re at our monthly event in Mosman NSW, which is on the North Shore of Sydney Australia.

The morning sun is gently kissing our skin and we’re enjoying its warmth and promise of a beautiful spring day. The surrounding trees are already in early leaf and fragrant spring blossoms perfume the air.

It’s a blissful morning and you feel ecstatic at being alive!

The footsteps are getting closer. But still brisk and snappy. This woman has a purpose and knows where she’s going. And we aren’t her destination.

I see her come round the corner of our marquee and come to a sudden halt. Almost like a car quickly braking to avoid hitting something. She stops so abruptly, she almost loses her balance.

She looks at our signage, looks at our products on display, reads the sign again, and then looks at Victor, my partner.

“You’re an architect”, she says. “Yes I am”, he answers. “And you designed this ironing board cover, didn’t you”, she asks. “Yes, I did”, he answers.

Victor’s not a morning person. Early AM he’s a quiet man of few words. But seems able to participate in this conversation. Just answer yes or no. It’s simple and doesn’t stretch his conversation skills at this time of day.

She moves around to the front of the marquee and engages Victor in the most fantastic story.

Her name is Jennifer. She lives on the North Shore, not far from Mosman. She’s an architect too.

She has a friend, Olivia, who lives in the United Kingdom.

She’s just come back from a six-week visit with Olivia. While there, she irons every day on Olivia’s Fitz Like A Glove™ Ironing Board Cover. Jennifer loves this cover.

Olivia’s cover is a gift from her sister Catherine, who also lives on the North Shore of Sydney, a suburb away from Mosman.

And Jennifer is determined to find out where to buy this cover now that she’s back in Australia.

Victor, warming to her story, asks her about her architectural background. They discover they both worked for the same architectural practice, albeit at different times. And also discover that in the early 1980’s, Victor also worked with her husband, who’s also an architect.

Life is full of surprises.

What Jennifer doesn’t expect, is to discover The Fitz Like A Glove™ Ironing Board Cover so quickly. She’s been home only one day. Which is why she comes to a screeching halt when she sees our signage. She’s also delighted to discover how much she has in common with the designer of this product.

Victor, the man of few words in the morning, suddenly becomes absorbed in his new customer’s background and the architectural experiences they share in common.

He packs her order, chats a while longer, then she’s off. With a big wave and a smile.

A very happy lady who sprinkles even more sparkle and brilliance into our now perfect spring morning.

Her parting comment? “I have to travel to the other side of the world to discover some of the best products are made in my own backyard!!”

It IS a small world.

Take care,

Carol

This Service Definitely Doesn’t Live Up To Its Slogan

My background is marketing and I read voraciously about the subject. Slogans intrigue me, especially when there’s a fantastic promise in the slogan. And when the service lets the slogan down, there’s nothing the company can do to rectify its image in my mind.

This is a story about FedEx.

Their slogan ‘When it absolutely, positively has to be there overnight’ is revered in the marketing world as a slogan that built a company to greatness. It’s a fantastic promise and one of the reasons people use FedEx.

Unfortunately, that slogan doesn’t apply to regional Australia.

My customer, Poppy, lives in Tucson Arizona. She asks if we can send her Fitz Like A Glove™ Ironing Board Cover parcel by FedEx, lodged on her account.

This is what happens.

I ring FedEx Sydney. They give me the name of their agent in Bathurst, Mid-State Freight. So I email Poppy to say, “Not a problem. There’s an agent in Bathurst’.

On Tuesday, 20th November 2007, Victor and I have a reason to be in Bathurst, an hour’s drive from our property in Ilford, NSW, which is the base for our business.

We go to Mid-State Freight and are told by their receptionist they haven’t been a FedEx agent for 18 months. They ring FedEx on a regular basis to tell them that because they get daily visits from people like me wanting to lodge parcels.

Their receptionist graciously gives me the name, address and telephone number of FedEx’s current agent, which is Mid-Western Regional Express.

At 2:30pm we pull into their premises only to find the door locked and no notice on the door as to business hours.

I ring the number given me by Mid-State Freight. Michelle answers the phone. I ask her their address. She confirms I’m in the right place. I tell her the door’s locked. She tells me yes, it is. Brad only accepts parcels between 5pm and 6pm. The rest of the time they’re out making deliveries.

I’m infuriated! Especially as we have another appointment in Orange, 45 minutes away, and we’re now late for that.

As we’re pulling out, a Mid-Western Regional Express van pulls in. Victor gets out and tells the driver he has a parcel to lodge for FedEx. The driver refuses to accept it. Victor bullies him into accepting it and the driver reluctantly opens the office, fills out a docket, and gives it to Victor. Victor asks if there’s anything to be filled out for customs. “ Nope, mate, nothing”. He then puts the parcel in an Australian Air Express bag. Victor queries this and is told the bag will be picked up by FedEx that night.

It’s now 1:30 pm, Friday 23rd November 2007. 3 days after we lodge the parcel in Bathurst. David rings from Australian Air Express in Sydney. There’s no customs information with the parcel and we need to lodge a commercial invoice before the parcel can leave Australia.

In dismay, I ask why Australian Air Express is ringing and not FedEx. In complete surprise, David tells me there’s nothing on the bag to indicate it’s a parcel for FedEx. David then tells me to ring FedEx and complain.

He quickly washes his hands completely of the transaction and it’s left to me to sort it out.

I ring FedEx. Voice mail answers the phone. I choose service feedback as my option.

Kit is on the other end of the telephone and he’s a very professional man. He listens to my complaint and begins to take down the details of my experience. He asks me the postcode of Bathurst and keys in 2795. And sure enough, Mid-State Freight is listed as their agent.

He then assures me he’ll fix everything and make sure this parcel is treated with the utmost urgency.

And that’s what happens.

He emails me a commercial invoice to fill out and fax back. Then tells me that someone will ring me within the next 24 hours to give me a consignment number and date of despatch.

9am Saturday morning, 24th November 2007, Jenny rings. She gives me my consignment note number and tells me the parcel will be processed today, put on a plane tomorrow and will be in Tucson Arizona on Monday morning.

Then she ruins everything by telling me Mid-Western Regional Express has a right to establish their own business hours and they can choose to accept parcels at whatever time they find convenient for them!

I point out to Jenny that until yesterday, FedEx didn’t even know who their Bathurst agent was. And if their agent has restricted trading hours, they’re obligated to tell the customer (me) when I make an enquiry.

This goes right over Jenny’s head. She devotes even more time to telling me that their agent can choose whatever hours they like to be open.

I’m an ex-New Yorker and I don’t take kindly to being pushed around by someone when I’m the customer.

I abruptly tell Jenny she is irritating me with her defence of the inability of FedEx to know who represents them in regional Australia and to expect me to arrange my schedule to accommodate an agent.

I then tell her I’m hanging up because I can’t listen to any more defence of a shoddy service.

And do just that.

Hang up.

In a huff!

Smoke pouring out of my ears!!

Victor and I have had this business since 1994. We’ve driven an hour one way to Bathurst at 10pm at night to help an elderly customer put their Fitz Like A Glove™ Ironing Board Cover on their board. And get home at 1am. We arrange to deliver parcels to customers that are out of our way. We accept orders and postpone debiting the customer’s credit card until a nominated day so the customer won’t be over their credit limit. Overseas customers ring at 2am to place an order. Customers who are early risers ring at 5am to place an order. Night owls ring at 11pm to place an order.

We think this is part of giving your customer the service they want and expect. We run our business for the convenience of you, the customer. And I guess, in our naivety, we expect the same from others.

How true is this saying? When you have a bad experience you tell 10 people. When you have a good experience, you may tell 3 people.

Why?

Because in business, we expect a good experience.

And we’re so inconvenienced when we don’t receive it, we tell anyone who will listen.

And sometimes it just feels good to be able to get even for the irritation and annoyance caused by their lack of care.

Slogans are to be lived up to. If they’re not, you’re most certainly disappointing your customer.

‘When it absolutely, positively has to be there overnight’ isn’t worth two cents in my neck of the woods.

FedEx allows itself to be run like a business in a third world country. Open only for 1 hour a day, at a time when other businesses have closed for the day and when most people go home to spend time with their families.

Poppy will receive her parcel a week after I lodged it. It’s taken more than 4 hours of my time to drive from one agent to another plus the telephone time to make my complaint and sort out the problem.

Australia Post gets an Air Mail parcel to the West Coast of America in about 5 days. It takes me 5 minutes to lodge it over the counter on my account. I will never again accept a request to use FedEx.

Being in business is like looking after a small child. It always needs attention and if you take your eyes off the business, it can fall over and hurt itself, just like a small child.

Postscript 6th December 2007 3:30pm

I live by my own golden rule. To treat others as I wish to be treated isn’t always good enough. I also have another rule. If I publish a criticism on the internet for all to see, it’s crucial that I check back to see if that criticism still stands. That’s only fair, isn’t it?

A happy ending with Poppy’s parcel arriving on Monday, 26th November 2007, in Tucson Arizona. As promised by FedEx. And she was delighted to receive it.

And sometimes business gets in the way of good deeds. Our Christmas rush stopped me from checking with FedEx to see if Mid-Western Regional Express was still their agent in Bathurst. But the call I made today to FedEx at 13 2610 certainly did surprise me.

I enquired who the agent(s) are for my region of the Central West. I gave the postcodes for Mudgee (2850), Orange (2800), Bathurst (2795) and Lithgow (2790). Melissa graciously tells me Australian Air Express is their agent for Mudgee, Orange and Lithgow. But we come to a stumbling block at Bathurst. After extensive checking, Melissa informs me, in a regretful tone, that there doesn’t appear to be any agent listed for Bathurst.

Now I’m in a real dilemma.

Should I be smug that Mid-Western Regional Express was relieved of their status of inflicting inconvenience on the unsuspecting? Or should I feel contrite that they’ve lost a part of their business that perhaps helps to pay the mortgage on the roof over their heads? Woe is me, I’ve never been remotely successful at gloating over the misfortune of others.

And what do I make of FedEx? I accuse them of not caring. Now look at them! Do they care after all? Is this a case of David, or in my case – Davila! – making Goliath sit up and take notice?

Or should I keep my remorse in check by reminding myself that no one from FedEx has come within snapping distance since my tirade on Saturday morning, federal election day, 24th November 2007? That I had to ring them to discover a change was made.

Gosh, life can be so complicated at times!

Take care,

Carol

It’s 4am And America Is Calling

Before we connected to the internet and email, the sound of the fax purring at 4am was a semi-regular occurrence in the late 1990’s. The operative word here is WAS. I prefer IS, but some things are not meant to be.

My first ever international enquiry was from New York City. Anna Barton. She was a take charge woman from the beginning.

“How quickly can you despatch a cover to upper Manhattan?” she faxed.

I was so startled by her request, I read it and reread it several times before it sank in that she actually wanted to buy!! From us!!!

“Today”, I faxed back.

That was brave of me. Up until then, I had never sent a parcel overseas, other than presents to my family in southern Virginia, USA.

24 hours later, at 4am, another fax. “How much?” she asks.

Wanting to know how much is serious, I say to myself.

A phone call to the post office tells me how much postage will be in incremental weights of 250 grams. So I sit down, and with my Excel Spreadsheet open, work out how much each item weighs and how much it will cost, in postage, if she chooses item A only, A&B, etc.

I really can’t afford to make a mistake, so it takes a few hours before I can fax a reply with all her options.

Seriously. How long can it take to calculate a few items? Not long. But this was a big deal to me at the time and I think I went over each calculation at least a thousand times. That’s what lack of experience does to you, as well as being rattled at the thought of losing my first international order.

24 hours later, at 4am, she faxes me an order for one Fitz Like A Glove™ Ironing Board Cover and Superior Felt Underlay. Including her credit card details.

It’s in the post that day, before she can change her mind. I fax back her confirmation of posting. And ask her how she found out about us.

From her mother. She was given a cover as a present. And this order is for a co-worker.

Where does she work?

She’s a senior executive at NBC.

I’m star struck!

Shortly after her parcel arrives, so does another fax. At 4am. Another order. For another co-worker.

Then faxes at 4am for people in her apartment building.

Then faxes at 4am for orders for a little boutique shop in Soho that she frequents.

For about 6 months, the purr of the fax machine at 4am was both soothing and exciting. Suddenly, we were exporters. Just like BHP.

Then nothing.

Dead silence.

Not wanting to be pushy, but wanting to know why the orders stopped, I send a friendly fax asking how she was.

Only to hear a recording saying, “Sorry, this number could not be connected. Please check your number and try again”.

Maybe she was changing fax numbers, I thought. Optimistically.

A few weeks pass and still no 4am faxes. As I had her home telephone number, I decide to ring. This is a really big decision for me, because in the 1990’s, overseas calls from rural Australia were $1 a minute.

Only to hear a recording saying, “Sorry, this number could not be connected. Please check your number and try again”.

Anna disappeared.

Never to be heard from again. Just like those ‘Life’s Little Mysteries’ you read about in Column 8 in the Sydney Morning Herald.

The little boutique shop in Soho? Lost as well. We had no contact details for it. Everything was done through Anna.

We grieved over our lost opportunity.

We were no longer exporters.

Until February 2001, when we were connected to the internet and launched our first website. In an instant, we became a true global business.

There’s more.

Take care,

Carol

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