News from slightly behind the frontlines...

It was just a year ago when I was answering the phone calls of the last minute Christmas shoppers. I had already earned my present title, Director of Information Technology, but we were still getting our call center staff trained and up to speed, and I still had (have) an awful lot of knowledge about power tools kicking around in my brain (the kicking was mostly harmless). This year, I can gladly say I didn't have to take any phone calls, but knowledge is still valuable, and even asked for on occassion.

Looking back now, it is hard to believe we are the same company as when I started here 4-1/2 years ago. Back then, I did all of the customer service, product maintenance and the like single-handedly. I remember when we had a goal of an order an hour. That certainly has changed. As ToolBarn.com and ToolPartsDirect.com have grown and matured, so has our staff and our back-end technology.

In this, my inaugural blog posting (inblogural?), I just wanted to acknowledge the fact that without all of the people here stepping up to do their best, I'd probably still have to be answering phone calls while trying to keep our various systems up and running. In my estimation, that is one heck of a good Christmas present... Thanks everyone!

Tune in next time, when Matt shares his thoughts on ... hmmm, we'll I guess we'll all find out together.

Thanks for reading,
Matt G.