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29 Dec

Trailer Blocks: Year in Review 2014

It’s the end of 2014!

We’re just a few days away from New Year’s Eve and we’re reflecting on all that Trailer Blocks has done these last 12 months. It’s been a very busy second year for us, as we introduced a range of new products and new initiatives. So before it’s time to commence the countdown, we’d like to reflect on the past year with you and re-examine some highlights from Trailer Blocks this past year.

The operation of an online business is equal parts challenge and reward. Innovative and traditional methods of running a company can often clash, then meld together in new and unexpected ways. Keeping both methods in mind, we took major steps towards our goal of offering a wide range of trailer performance accessories. We tested and added pressed steel tie plates as a kit option back in June. This new kit option was part of our continuing effort to make Trailer Blocks a leader in trailer performance endeavors. The steel plate kits received positive feedback and we couldn’t have been happier with the results of our first new kit addition. We have more kit options in development in 2015 and we'll have news for you soon. We’re looking forward to the continuing development of our inventory lineup and as always, your comments and feedback are greatly appreciated.

As the year began, we wanted to make it more of a priority to engage our readers via the blog and social media, as we wanted to share our knowledge and stories with you and vice versa. First, we launched our photo gallery in April to show you a range of scenic high-quality pictures from our performance voyages. A few days later, we announced our new blog format: multiple series of entries, each with a dedicated focus. Blogs in Motion allowed us to answer your questions and address some off-topic talk, the After-Action Report brought you the technical details and subjective analysis from our performance voyages and Updates kept readers informed on all our major announcements. A few months later in October, we began a Community Spotlight feature, focusing on user-submitted installation stories and photos through social media. Finally, we’ll be introducing a new series called TrailerTech to bring you trailer maintenance/performance tips and methods. We’ve got a lot of content in the works, including the first entry of the alternative energy series, so keep reading in the New Year. There’s more to come.

Our most ambitious project came in August when our team took to the road once again for our second open-road expedition. This year, we set our sights on the Robert Bourassa Dam in north Quebec, nearly 1,500 kilometers from our starting point. We chose our vehicle/trailer combo, accessorized it with our equipment and set-off, eager for the journey ahead. The expedition was a rousing success; a large amount of pictures and videos were recorded to share and we learned a great deal about our accessories’ strength on a rigorous voyage. Our tour of Hydro-Quebec’s facilities provided us with some interesting facts regarding hydroelectric power and other methods of alternative energy production. Ultimately, the Heavy Performance Expedition proved to be the most rewarding challenge our team has yet faced and we took satisfaction in knowing that our equipment can withstand harsh, vigorous journeys and that every step was documented so that you could share in our experience.

From all of us here at Trailer Blocks, have a safe and Happy New Year and we’ll see you in 2015!

29 Jul

Blogs in Motion: E-Commerce and Electronic Communication

Welcome back to the Trailer Blocks Blog!

It's time for a new entry in our Blogs in Motion series and while we do have a few different topics we want to cover, there's one in particular that's been standing out as of late. As you may already know, Trailer Blocks operates exclusively as an e-commerce business, a practice that has its upsides and its pitfalls, but one that suits our methods quite well. As a result, the bulk of our correspondence with our customers occurs via email and form submissions to ensure accuracy and efficiency in processing inquiries and orders. We also use social media channels to keep everyone up-to-date regarding our general operations. However, a trend has begun to form. A handful of people seem to asking us the same question:

"Why don't you guys have a phone number?"

It's a legitimate question as many businesses tend to communicate with their client base extensively via phone calls and voicemails as opposed to emails and social media. We thought we'd answer that question by first briefly outlining why Trailer Blocks uses e-commerce for our enterprise.

Online operations grant businesses a global platform for their goods and services that would've been unimaginable only a few years ago. More importantly, e-commerce allows businesses to essentially eliminate the traditional "9-to-5" method of running a business. Digital stores allow you to browse, compare and buy products at any time of day or night, from your desktop at home to your mobile devices on the go. Quite simply, e-commerce allows both customer and vendor to take care of their business at their own convenience in a direct, informative manner.

Trailer Blocks Mobile Interface

You are likely already familiar with e-commerce in some respect. Whether you're a small business owner yourself or if you've used sites like eBay or Kijijij, the digital realm of business is becoming more and more familiar to the general public with every passing day. Many online stores do indeed have a phone line or chat support, so why don't we? When it comes to specialized products like ours, the written word is far more effective than the spoken one at communicating the technical details that a customer requires. The products we offer here at Trailer Blocks have a very specific purpose and we've found that clients that reach out to us for more information tend to fall into one of two categories: one, those who know exactly what they need and simply want to confirm some details and two, those that are unsure of what they need and require a bit of assistance. In both scenarios, we've found that email correspondence and form submissions provide mutual benefit for us and our customers. A written trail of data is far easier to track down and analyze than a phone call or voice message that may get lost or miscommunicated along the way.

Additionally, with the advent of instant communication, digital correspondence allows our staff members to be knowledgeable about all our active orders and inquiries at all times, as opposed to only knowing about a critical issue Monday morning from checking the voice messages. In some cases, it takes the effort of the entire Trailer Blocks team to help a client, something that is almost impossible without transparent, written communication. We understand that the lack of a phone number may throw off some prospective clients, but "e-communication" at Trailer Blocks is critical to ensuring we are delivering accurate customer service.

We hope you've enjoyed this insight into our preferred method of communication and we'd like to hear from you about it. Please feel free to contact us anytime with your questions or feedback at: contact@trailerblocks.com and follow us on Twitter for the latest news and updates.

We have some exciting events in the works and more Blogs in Motion to come, so keep an eye on us here and we'll have more for you in the days to come.

10 Apr

Same Blog, New Focus

Welcome back to the Trailer Blocks Blog!

It's been a busy week for us here and we're not slowing down anytime soon. This week saw the release of our long-awaited Photo Gallery (see for yourself) and we've taken the first steps towards uploading our performance test footage (more news on that soon) for you to enjoy. It is our hope that these pictures and clips will show you the reliability of our products both in the workshop and on the open road. However, as we continue to move forward, it's also important to take a look back and there's a matter we'd like to address.

It's been awhile since our last substantial entry and it hasn't been without cause. Over the last few months, we've been brainstorming the best possible way to showcase our product lineup and our performance tests while also providing an insightful and entertaining dialogue between us and the community. Although we remain committed to both of these goals, the blog in it's present form simply wasn't allowing us to do both of these effectively. We ultimately decided that the blog needed a bit more focus and structure in its presentation in order to deliver informative, engaging articles on a regular basis. After much deliberation, we've come to a decision on how to proceed from here.

In the near future, the Trailer Blocks Blog will be returning on a much more consistent basis. From now on, new entries will fall under one of three categories:

Updates: For all the latest news on our product line, content uploads and site improvements. Updates will be uploaded as appropriate.

After-Action Reports: For the hard details on our performance voyages and equipment tests. After-Action Reports will be uploaded in the days following.

Blogs in Motion: For community-driven topics, opinion pieces and the occasional "odd topic". Blogs in Motion is a brand new, bi-weekly feature that will be premiering soon.

Blogs in Motion is a new series that will give us a chance to share some of our thoughts and methods with you in a more focused format and it's our intention to release entries on a much more consistent basis, so keep an eye out for them. Although the Updates and A.A. Reports will be drawn from our own operations, the Blogs in Motion segment will cover a wider range of topics that we intend to originate from both us and you. We already have a list of topics we plan to explore, but we'd also like to hear your suggestions for future articles.

If you have any suggestions for topics you'd like to see covered, please send them and any blog feedback to: blogsinmotion@trailerblocks.com

We're very excited to be moving forward with this new format and we'll have more for you in the days to come.

 




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