Nov 05
Here at WamBam Fence, we strive to offer the best technical support that we possibly can. In an effort to provide assistance to people outside of business hours, and to also make it easier for customers to easily search for answers, we are happy to launch our new knowledge base.
Our knowledge base is a no-nonsense, highly searchable repository of articles giving the answers to obstacles customers might encounter while installing their fence.
Have any suggestions for usability, functionality or article suggestions? Drop us a line- we’d love your feedback!
We’re excited about our new chat feature!
Come say hello!
This feature will only be available when we’re online–which means business hours (and some evenings and weekends)– but we hope it helps service our customers even better.
Stop by and let us know what you think!
We can barely keep up with our explosive growth around here, and we’re hiring! If you know of anyone who fits the bill, have them email a resume to stephen(at)wambamfence(dot)com.
Customer Service Representative
Experience Required:
1-3 years customer service strongly preferred
Job Overview:
We are seeking a customer service representative who will assist the Do-it-Yourself customer through their purchases, follow-up with them, and hold their hand through the order and installation process. You love people and enjoy helping to solve their problems. Your adaptable to change and a good listener and communicator. You should enjoy do-it-yourself projects and creative problem solving.
Hours:
9:00am-4:00pm with an optional ½ hr- 1 hr lunch break.
Application Process:
We encourage you to spend some time on our website and our blog. If you feel that you would be a fit, send us a resume with an email answering the following questions:
- The best personal growth book you have ever read, and why.
- An example of when you came up with a creative solution to a problem.
- The worst experience with a customer you ever had, and how you handled it.
- Why you are interested in working at WamBam Fence.
Our booth at the hardware show
Our booth at the hardware show
Our booth at the hardware show
Last year we introduced WamBam Fence to the world at the annual National Hardware Show in Vegas. This year we were back with a vengeance.
I ended up working the show solo, because things are just too crazy at the office to have had anyone else leave. It was a bit of a challenge to set up myself, but thankfully I was able to pilfer some help along the way thanks to our sister companies- Mayne Outdoor Products and New England Arbors. There was only one casualty when the showcase piece fell on top of me during tear down. I have an impressive gash and bruise on my back. I guess I should just be thankful that it didn’t land on my head!
The show was a success with some solid leads, even though it was a bit heartbreaking to inform several people that we’re pretty much all out of product. However, a lot of people broke out into a grin and said that it was a great problem to have. I’m not sure I share the sentiment as we are unfortunately turning sales away every day.
After a week in Vegas, the old saying “the best part about going away is coming home” rings very true.
The good news keeps coming!
Costco.com has beautifully merchandised some of our aluminum fencing on their site www.costo.com!
We’re thrilled to be partnering with such a powerful brand.
“What?! We’ve already blown through all that product just in the past week? Oh man, we’re screwed. Lights out until July at WamBam Fence.”
This is what Steve proclaimed after a recent conversation about inventory issues that seemingly have come out of nowhere. While he is being dramatic, the truth still remains: We are back-ordered on certain models of fence. And we don’t like it one bit.
We didn’t know how to project sales this spring because we had no history of product sales. While we thought we beefed up inventory enough to have lots of product (and figured we erred on the side of too much as opposed to too little), we didn’t expect it to go quite like this. We’ve ordered more containers, but since they come from overseas, they are going to take 6-8 weeks to get to us. We do have another container coming into our warehouse on Monday, but a chunk of the material has already been spoken for and will be shipped out the door as fast as it was shipped in.
People tell us that this is a good problem, and sure, we’d rather be dealing with these headaches than lack of sales. Still, it’s a tough spot for us to be in.
We’re working through this, and we just ask our customers to be patient with us. We still want to provide you with a WamBam Fence, and hope you can bear with us while we navigate these growing pains. We will have product by the third week of June if everything goes perfectly. However, things don’t usually go perfectly, so we’re saying July 15 to be on the safe side. If you still want a back-ordered item, email us or call us and we’ll put you on the waiting list. We’re working on a “first come, first serve” basis.
Things at WamBam Fence are happening fast and furious!
We’re excited to partner with Sam’s Wholesale Club who is offering some of our products on their website.
We’re thrilled to be partnering with www.homedepot.com! After about 7 months of hard work on behalf of both companies, they now offer our entire line on their website.
We’re very excited to have such a powerful brand carry our products!
Know of anyone who loves sales and people and has an entrepreneurial spirit?
We’re excited for what WamBam Fence has cooking for 2011. To help facilitate this, we need to hire an inside sales person to help grow our company. To see the job description, click here.
Candidates should email denise@wambamfence.com with a resume and answers to the following questions:
• The best personal growth book he or she has ever read, and why.
• An example of when he or she came up with a creative solution to a problem.
• The worst experience with a customer he or she ever had, and how it was handled.
• Why this person is interested in working at WamBam Fence.
Candidates are encouraged to spend some time on our website and learn all about our digless, easy to install vinyl fence.
So what’s with the blog, Twitter, and the WamBam Facebook page?
I get asked this question every so often, and my answers are weak. They vary from:
Everyone’s doing it.
The latest issue of Inc. magazine said it was the new rage.
I read a book on Social Media marketing and it made sense.
We’re trying (pretending?) to be a real business.
Ok, so I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t really have a clue about it. I’m just trying it out. I’m not a Harvard educated Marketing Mongrel. Not even close.
The blog is important to us for a few reasons. The most shameless is search engine optimization. But there are other benefits, too. We can log our story (and another marketing book said it’s all about the story…) and it’s a great container to put little tidbits of information in that would only clutter our site.
But Facebook and Twitter? Hmmm….I’m not convinced. But I’m not giving up, either. After all, I’m sure my 6 Twitter followers (mostly personal friends of mine) wait for updates with baited breath.
So would you help me out in my marketing efforts by becoming a fan of WamBam Fence on Facebook? I promise we won’t inundate you with marketing BS in your newsfeed. You can also follow us on Twitter. I can’t promise an endless supply of witty and clever tweets, but Clever Joe is kinda loveable, right? If you would do this to help us in our marketing efforts, I would be eternally grateful. After all, I can’t afford Harvard. And I’m pretty sure they wouldn’t accept me, either.
Click here to become a Facebook fan and click here to follow us on Twitter. And why should you? Well, we offer digless vinyl fence that’s fun and easy to install. It doesn’t get much better than that, right?
www.wambamfence.com is finally live!
Here are some stats:
1 scrapped website
3 stress-induced cold sores
9 revisions of the fence calculator
12 videos
38 SKUs
52 Clever Joe illustrations
69 PDFs
72 product images
89 web pages
146 images not pertaining to product
279 instruction illustrations
317 pages of instructions
Countless sleepless nights
We want to celebrate, but we’re so tired we feel like napping instead.
Plus, now I need to start selling our do-it-yourself digless vinyl fence.
“So what’s going on at WamBam?”
This is a question I get asked often by vendors, clients, friends and business contacts.
Without a public product line and a website, it’s a valid question. I guess one might suspect that we’re taking too much advantage of the nap room or gorging ourselves on Steve’s well-stocked cupboards.
Behind the scenes, a lot has been happening. The amount of work involved in a startup is mind boggling. We have more than 40 SKUs we’re getting ready to launch, and that doesn’t include our ornamental aluminum program. Each fence design needs more than just product design, development and testing. It also needs a 20+ page installation guide, line drawings, images, detail shots, box contents, UPC codes, barcodes, etc.
Then there’s the compilation of 50+ pages of web content. There’s 7 videos. I’m setting up customers which requires copious amounts of paperwork and copy to merchandise the product, not to mention vendor agreements with lots of red tape.
And of course, as in the nature of every startup, things don’t always go as planned.
The Product
Our first container of product arrived late July. The product was to spec and with the exception of a few minor issues, everything looked great.
But there was a problem that became apparent to us when the first container was on the water. Of our 9 fencing styles, 4 were not performing to our satisfaction in final testing. This was not our fault, and not our factory’s fault either. It was a calculated risk we took. Steve knew this issue might creep up, but it was a low risk—around 20%– so it was a risk worth taking. Unfortunately the 20% got us.
Essentially, it became apparent that a few of our vinyl fence panels had bottom rails that would sag (or begin to smile) over time. While some manufactures might let this slide, we couldn’t in clear conscience. Our vinyl fencing is Professional Grade with a limited lifetime warranty, so we want it to perform in 20 or 30 years like it did on the first day.
Back to the drawing board. Change the bottom rail of these styles. Test some more. Testing is good, thus the problem is solved.
However, we have 4 styles of vinyl fence that need upgrading and cannot be released for public consumption. Thus, we needed to order another container with the new products to replace the old. You can’t just order containers overnight- they take time. It is scheduled to arrive in early September so it won’t be until then that we have a full, rounded out line of product to sell.
The Website
The website is coming along slowly but surely. The reason it’s taking so long is that the old one was completely scrapped for reasons I won’t bore you with, and I subsequently hired new developers to redo the whole thing from scratch. So we’re on the second site–with the same design. I take full responsibility for this. I hired the guy who did the botch job on the first site, and in the end it was a big mistake. It slowly became apparent that if we wanted a tight site that we could work with well into the future, it had to be done properly, which meant scrapping a 2-3 month project and starting again.
Steve laughs long and loud at me every time I beat myself up over the site. “Looks good on you, Denise. I love it!” is what he usually says with a wicked cackle. I guess it’s better than yelling and screaming, right?
It’s never easy in a startup, but all things considered, while we’re slightly behind, in the grand scheme of a 24 month project, we’re really not doing too badly. It’s coming along, slowly but surely. And the great thing is that we don’t feel like we’re rushing things, which would mean releasing substandard product or a weak website. The motto around here is, “If you’re going to do something, just do it right.”
So in short, we’re busy. Some days we still feel overwhelmed and wonder if this fly wheel is ever going to get momentum on its own, because pushing non-stop for all these months (and for Steve, it’s coming up on 2 years) requires a lot of dedication, motivation, work, and patience.
But most days we’re still having fun, and that’s what matters.
Confession. I’m in charge of the website and it was supposed to go live tomorrow.
But it’s not. It’s just not ready. I’ve been working on the copy, content and design for months. I’ve gone through 2 contractors and am now working with 2 more who are working hard with me on the site. I’ve been working evenings and weekends and fiddling with copy and Photoshop images for what feels like forever, but it’s still not ready.
Sure, I’m a perfectionist, but there is just so much work involved that even if I put my perfectionism aside, we couldn’t release it in clear conscience. I underestimated–waaaay underestimated– the amount of work involved. I didn’t realize that my ideals were bigger than website code. What’s funny is when you finally get to see it, you’ll probably think it’s a nice site, but you will wonder what the heck took so long because it doesn’t look that fancy or revolutionary.
Steve always says that everything costs twice as much, takes twice as long, and requires double the effort for half the results. I wanted to prove him wrong with our website, but in some ways I think I’m proving him wrong the other way: twice as much, four times as long, and quadruple the effort- for most of the desired results.
Yesterday Steve asked me, “When you agreed to this start-up, did you realize how much work was involved?”
My response? “I knew there was a ton of work required, but no, I had no idea just how much.”
I just try to remember what my father always taught me: “If it was easy, everyone would do it.” After all, we intend to change the world of do-it-yourself vinyl fence, and things like that take time.
Provided my sanity doesn’t go first, the website is coming folks, but please be patient. I can promise you that we’re not sitting around here smoking stogies and drinking scotch. (And the napping is limited.)
Our booth at the National Hardware Show in Vegas
We showed our purple and blue colors to the world last week, launching our product at the National Hardware Show in Las Vegas.
The product was a hit, making the show a success. We had a lot of fun showing how our product works, seeing people’s reactions to our animated videos, and loved the positive feedback on our company name, branding, and literature hand-outs. We weren’t sure if we’d be too crazy for some, but almost everyone seemed to embrace the spirit of WamBam.
Our (admittedly unconventional) Show Handout
So world, meet WamBam, the first ever fence system to ship UPS, and the first digless fence system. It’s D-I-Y fence that’s fun to install.
Oh- and if you want your very own copy of The WamBam Journal, email me your address and we’ll mail you a copy. Warning: Don’t take it too seriously!
So we know WamBam is a zany, unconventional name. But it’s memorable and fun and since our product is digless, you do just sort of “WamBam” it into the ground.
I personally think it’s a great name and we wouldn’t have it any other way. (By the way, Steve gets all kudos for coming up with the name). But I realized quickly that there are a few minor problems with it.
For one, spam filters all over seem to be blocking our emails.
Two, trying to set up life here in the US as a Canadian is difficult on a good day. Getting credit, banking, utilities, etc. is a bit of a nightmare as we must deal with stuffy corporate businesses with so much red tape I wonder how they don’t strangle themselves. I am all professional when I talk to them. But when they ask the name of the company that I work at, there is usually a lull at the other end after I say, “WamBam Fence.” The lull is often followed by, “Excuse me?” I repeat myself and assure them it’s legitimate as I picture them flagging my file.
Three, it can get a little awkward in the social scene. I’m brand new here and trying to make friends pronto. Everyone here works for Lowe’s or Bank of America or other highly professional outfits. It’s a common question to be asked what I do for a living. “Sales and Marketing” doesn’t usually appease their appetite for my career-related information. The inevitable question that follows is, “What company do you work for?” I’ve tried the “Cough-cough-Wam-cough-Bam” approach but that doesn’t usually work.
Fortunately I don’t think I’ve lost any friends yet. And it is a great conversation starter.
Plus, the majority of people seem to like it.
So what do you think about this crazy name for a company that is changing the world of do-it-yourself fence?
(Bear in mind that our fence is easier to install than traditional fence, and a heck of a lot more fun. Forget digging holes and tearing up your yard- simply “WamBam” it into the ground. And yes, that was a shameless plug on some keywords for search engine optimization. At least I can admit it.)
Humble Headquarters
It’s a small and cozy office.
There are no desks. No offices. And certainly no cubicles.
There’s simply one huge boardroom table with some rollie chairs scattered around. Steve and I bring our laptops in the morning and set up camp.
Unconventional working space
I’m not going to lie. At first I didn’t love this idea, admittedly because I generally keep a messy work area.
One might think it's a day spa. Unfortunately it's anything but.
Steve loves this idea because he keeps a very neat work area, and I’m suspicious that he thinks this is one way of controlling my clutter (news alert: it’s not working, to Steve’s chagrin).
But I don’t mind it now. Sure, my stuff gets scattered around the table and Steve occasionally comes by and tries to be such a nice guy by asking if I need any help throwing anything out. (I usually politely decline. And sometimes not so politely.)
But our office is cozy and quaint. There’s lots of nice lighting and it’s peaceful. Steve has taken this ambiance to a new level with the purchase of a little fountain that sputters all day, leaking peaceful sounds of gurgling water.
He enjoys this, it drones me to sleep. But that’s okay because I plug in my headphones and get to work. It’s just that sometimes he has to wave his hands at me to get my attention.
Despite the unconventional bend, I like our little office and this is a good thing. After all, it is my home away from home.
And just in case you forgot what WamBam Fence is all about- we make fence of all kinds. Privacy fence, pool fence, vinyl fence, and aluminum fence, just to name a few. And our fence is fun and easy to install.
So here Steve and I are, sitting in a little office in Cornelius NC, new residents in a new country, trying to launch a start up.
It’s not really that ad-hoc. It’s been about 18 months in the making and there’s some serious R&D under our belts. The product concept is really cool and we believe in it, otherwise we wouldn’t be here.
But it’s fence. And fence is usually a snoozefest.
We kind of like to defy the norm and convention. And we want to spruce up fence. Our product is fun to install. We want our marketing to be fun. We want our blog to be anything but stuffy corporate.
Having said that, what does an “anti-stuffy-corporate” blog look like?
I really have no clue, but I’m going to try. Hopefully it will at least be a bit entertaining. And hey, it can’t help our search engine optimization efforts either, right?
Suggestions are welcome.
Our goal is to change the world of do-it-yourself fence.
It’s the world’s first digless fence.
It’s the world’s first fully UPSable fence.
See the product launch at the National Hardware Show in Las Vegas, May 4-6, 2010 Booth #11975.
