Thompson Caribou Concentrates is getting ready to celebrate its second anniversary and business is booming.
Which is partly due to the Kamloops-based cannabiz offering a wide range of kickass medicinal products, but also because they’ve been using a ground-breaking e-commerce software program called CannaHQ that allows them to handle all aspects of their business from inventory management to shipping, security, marketing and customer service.
“You need it all on one dashboard and that is exactly what this service provides,” said TCC team member Derrick Sim while back in Vancouver last week to appear in an episode of Expert Joints Live. “This is something we built with a group of really cool software developers to cater to the unique aspects and demands of the craft cannabis industry… Inventory is a massive thing when you are trying to grow and expand your business and exact weight measurements are one of the main problems that the current POS platforms have and this totally addresses that.”
He pointed out that, as the medical marijuana market becomes more and more mainstream, customers will expect the same level of professionalism and support as they would from any other industry. CannaHQ has basically allowed TCC to provide customer with better TLC along with the THC.
One of the services he said has been most beneficial has been offering a live chat service on their website that allows clients to ask any questions they have about products instantly answered.
And answered by an actual member of the Team Shatterboo squad rather than, say, some call centre worker in India.
“Basically, to speed up customer support and interaction and to solve real-time problems, we integrated a live chat between the hours of 9 to 5 PST so you can get on there and talk to a live agent who can answer a variety of different questions,” Sim said. “So far since we started were getting an average of 25 to 30 questions a day and they are being answered immediately and the customer is feeling reassured that ‘hey there is actually someone there to help me’ and not just sending an email off and hoping that maybe someone will get back to you soon.”
He added that his company also gets a lot of queries from people simply wanting to check if the live chat is for real since this level of service isn’t something most cannabis companies offer yet.
The software company behind CannaHQ is still putting the final touches before putting it on the market and their website is still under construction, but more information is available on their Facebook page.
“If it will work with us, it will work with anybody. It will work with someone who is starting off and trying to establish themselves or a business that’s already been around a while and are looking to step up their game.”