Background
Cowan’s Optical is an optical dispensary with 40 employees spread across 11 different locations in Newfoundland, Canada.
Angie Maher is Cowan’s Optical’s Operations Manager for 7 locations, having been a licensed Optician for 14 years and having been with Cowan’s Optical for over 4 years. Angie stretches herself each and every day in order for Cowan’s Optical to run smoothly. Her happy and uplifting attitude inspires both her staff and our Team at Coast to support and inspire small businesses like Cowan’s Optical.
Cowan’s Optical’s Challenges
Before Coast, Angie discovered that her business did not have an effective way to communicate across all locations. They tried different applications, yet they often proved to be unnecessarily complex or unreliable.
“It was exhausting with the number of apps I downloaded and deleted before I found Coast”
A Simpler Solution
Within the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, finding and implementing a successful communication system for all staff was even more important. Her search ended when she began using Coast.
Coast stood out from the other applications they had tried in the past due to its ease of use, Coasts different features were navigable for all people of all technology levels. With its simple design and user-friendly interfaces, Coast was able to integrate seamlessly with Cowan’s Optical operations.
“It was straightforward, everything you need was there”
Angie noted that not only is the grouping capabilities of the chat groups extremely helpful across the 7 locations she manages, but Coast allows for other staff members to communicate with one another when a manager is unavailable to answer their questions or requests. This has proven to be instrumental in the daily workflows of Cowan’s Optical’s businesses.
While learning the ins and outs of Coast, Angie found herself contacting the support chat. To her surprise, the support was run by real people and not a robot as she comes to learn to expect from previous application services. Angie states that the support channel was incredibly helpful and supportive in her journey in adapting Coast into Cowan’s Optical workflow.
“The support team has been very responsive and easy to deal with”
Eye-Opening Results
The chat proven most useful to Angie was her “All Locations” chat group, where she was able to communicate with the 7 locations of Cowan’s Optical she manages.
“All my staff are being connected coast to coast on the rock”
Additionally, Angie pointed out Coast’s task management capabilities and accountability features were other features that made Coast stand out from other messaging platforms. The task feature allowed an easy way to delegate tasks across multiple different locations, while the ability to see who has and hasn’t seen the messages sent on Coast allowed for Angie to know who has been informed.
Coast has allowed for less time spent on effective mass communication and more time for everyone at Cowan’s Optical to focus on their jobs.
“Instead of me sitting down, writing out emails, and wondering did they get that, I know right away they got it!”
Staff Show Their Support for Coast
Angie is not the only member of Cowan’s Optical that has noticed the drastic improvements amongst communication between staff.
“We never have been so connected before”
For all different levels of technology users, Coast was easily accessible for Cowan’s Optical’s staff and allowed them to feel connected to one another like never before.
Staff members took on the app themselves, messaging other coworkers with questions and conversations instead of always coming straight to one of Cowan’s Optical’s managers.
Advice to other retailers
When asked if Cowan’s Optical had advice for other businesses looking to improve team communications, Angie underlined the flexibility of Coast for businesses of all sizes.
“Coast doesn’t fit a particular business type. It fits all business types. From a small company with a few employees to large company with hundreds of employees, it will keep you connected.”
