Behind the Scenes at Sports Corner

"My order will be an easy one. Nothing difficult about it at all"  That may be the typical thinking that occurs when an order is placed. Generally it all runs smoothly and the order is handled within the time-frame expected.  But what are some things that can go wrong that may go unnoticed by the customer behind the scenes?  I thought you might find it interesting to see the potential challenges that have to be overcome to get that order completed on time. Generally they are all handled appropriately, but it makes the path to completion interesting.

1. The UPS truck pulls up at the usual time and the driver delivers 6 boxes.  We quickly look to see if one of the boxes is from the manufacturer that is sending us the order that has the early deadline.  Oh, good, we notice that the box from XYZ is there.  What we find out later is that the box contains an order from another store in Jefferson City, MO. It's not our order! So there is a 1-2 day delay while the delivery problem is solved.
2  We are reviewing a large league order involving 8 teams with 12 players on a team, all with different color shirts and different color #s.  We first have to sort through every box to sort into colors and sizes.  We count each shirt to make sure that we have the exact number of mediums and smalls and XL's etc. for each color. We write up the instructions that are different for each team so the correct screen color is attached to the proper shirt.  We check to see if we have enough of the red 6 " # and blue 6" # for each of the digits we will be using on the 96 shirt order.  Assuming that we have it all sorted and checked and the #'s are in stock, we are ready to get it screened, right?
3. Wrong. As we were counting each shirt, we realized the supplier sent 8 - XL's in blue instead of 6. We are two shirts short of the order, so the entire order is held up until we have the entire order in our hands. That may be 1-2 days later, depending on what time of day we found the problem.
4. We re-arrange the print date so that we can still hit the deadline for this order. The extra shirts come in, we get the entire order printed, and we call the customer to let them know the order is completed on time.  We are then informed that because of the heavy rains we just had, the game is cancelled and will be rescheduled later!!! Oh my, nobody said it would be easy!
5. One thing I forgot to mention....Right in the middle of counting the sizes for the blue shirts, the phone rings and I take the phone call.  After the phone call, now where was I in the count?

So this was one order, and a small peek into what can happen and does happen occasionally. Fortunately, the order was delivered on-time!!

Life Behind the Scenes at Sports Corner -- Part 1

At Sports Corner, we love our customers, and we appreciate our customers.  With that in mind, I thought it might be interesting to share a peice of the action that occurred this weekend inside the store and at home.

Some of you know that we were blessed this week with a set of beautiful twin granddaughters.  Along with the joy and excitement of that event comes the realization of "What am I going to do with all these orders that have deadlines?"  Thank goodness for Teri and Tammy, who were able to be at the store Thursday and Friday.  They were able to check in UPS deliveries, they were there for the customers who came in or called in. They were able to leave notes about customer requests, detail on orders, and anything that could be vital to the completion of the order.

Karen arrived home Saturday evening from helping out with our daughter and the grandchildren and immediately went to the store to check on things. She did what she could Saturday night and brought home a load of paperwork to work on for Saturday night. Sunday morning she wakes up and heads for the store again to get every order to the point where it can be screened or embroidered. Do problems pop us that make this process seamless?  You bet.  Part 2 of "Behind the Scenes" will go into some examples of what can bring on stress in heavy doses. Deadlines? Oh yes, when you work in an environment that carries deadlines with virtually every order, isn't that when things go haywire?

I will conclude Part 1 by saying that we couldn't be more thankful that the babies are healthy and our daughter is healthy as well.  Thursday and Friday were filled with exhausting emotions as you can imagine when childbirth happens.  You generally come home and want to crash and to catch up on lost sleep.  But on this Saturday and Sunday, Karen did neither.  Instead, she did what a caring business owner does.  She threw herself into that store's pending business at the store and at home until nearly midnight Saturday and Sunday.  The crashing did not have time to occur.  But what did happen was that the orders were given the attention she knew they needed to make for a happy group of customers.  That's why they do their business here. They may pick up their orders this week, not knowing what all had just taken place inside and outside of Sports Corner. But now you know a little more about what does happen behind the scenes of a small business. And this Monday morning she is back at the store.