NewHaven Software - Inventory Management Software

Having built a successful publishing company for occupational health professionals over 20 years ago, Curtis and Cathy Vouwie turned a passion for tea-drinking in to a new web-based business.

As previous Mail Order Wizard users, the Vouwies transitioned the operation of their publishing business (OEM Health Professionals) to CMS in 2003. During a trip to London two years ago, Curtis had a chance encounter that moved him to launch a new business inspired by his love-affair with tea. I had the opportunity to interview Curtis over the phone last week, as he and his wife Cathy worked from their office in Massachusetts.

Hi there Curtis! So, tell me a little bit about both of your companies and how you got started with CMS.

Well, OEM Health Information started in 1987 with the publication of a newsletter for occupational health professionals. That grew into the publication of the first book in 1989, and by 1991 we purchased Haven Corporation’s Mail Order Wizard software to help streamline the operation of our expanding business.

When Haven closed up shop and Tom jumped in to salvage what he could and continue developing a Windows [as opposed to DOS]-based alternative, we were relieved. Like us, so many businesses depended on the program completely for the day to day operation of our business and wouldn’t have known what to do if Tom hadn’t stepped in.

We made the transition from Wizard to CMS in 2003, and by then the conversion process had been perfected and streamlined and was very easy. We continue to use CMS to run all aspects of our business, from inventory control to order fulfillment. In fact, we’re using it as we speak: I’m watching Cathy process orders in CMS right now.

"Committed to providing outstanding teas from specialist producers throughout Asia, India, and Sri Lanka"

How and when did you decide to get started with eCMS?

We purchased eCMS in 2005 because we wanted a web-based outlet for our business. It’s extremely stable, has worked very smoothly for us, and we’re very happy.

The beauty of using CMS and eCMS together is that they seem to work seamlessly. We’re able to modify our website through eCMS without having to always have to go back to NewHaven for assistance. We can do it ourselves, which is a big plus. We’re still learning a lot about what we can do with eCMS, but now that it’s up and going we can more than manage it.

That’s part of why we decided to get a 2nd site going as the vehicle for our new business: the seamlessness and ease of operation.

Tell me a little more about your 2nd business, what it’s about, why you started it, and how it’s been so far.

Well I’ve had a long time interest in tea, and have been drinking it for the last 30+ years. On a trip to London in 2006, I met a fellow named Alex Fraser of East Teas, Ltd.. We got to talking tea, and he agreed to supply me with tea to sell here in the U.S.

In 2007, I formed East Wind Tea Company with the purpose of selling tea and tea related items via the web, as a strictly web-based business, without any retail store front.

One of the reasons I felt comfortable starting a new business was the knowledge, history, and experience I had with CMS and eCMS. I knew there wouldn’t really be that much to it. Plus, the way that CMS is set-up makes it extremely easy to set up multiple companies with the Multi-Company module.

What was your experience like setting up the second eCMS site for East Wind Tea Company?

Well we started by working with our local marketing company to develop our website, but relied on Malcolm and NewHaven to implement the site and get it up and running. The "go-live” process went extremely quickly and smoothly because I worked closely with Malcolm and made sure I needed to do what was asked of me on my end.

I must say, my experience with Malcolm was AWESOME. He is fantastic at solving problems quickly and effectively, and got my site to look just the way I wanted it to.

When we first got started with the design and implementation, I had a picture in my mind of the way I wanted the site to look. But the reality of it is that this had to evolve. This is where Malcolm really was a great help. He would say, “Here’s the better way to make it look, here’s the better way to make it function.”

And you know, I’ve had people come back to me saying, “You have such an elegant website,” and that’s what I really want to hear. I want something that’s interesting and fun, and that’s what I ended up getting.

Malcolm brought my vision in to the realm of reality, with functionality, web design principals, and the customer interface in mind. This is where his experience with building other websites really came in to play. Malcolm made something that could have been very difficult seem easy - and I appreciate easy!

Wow, it sounds like you had a great experience working with Malcolm. Any other good experiences to rave about (besides this interview, of course…)?

You know, I worked with Malcolm the closest over these past couple of months so I know his name. To be perfectly honest, I don’t remember the names of some of the other NewHaven staff members I’ve worked with before, but all of the experiences have been positive. There’s a definite sense that there is a team working behind my experience, that there was a team effort behind getting my website up and running.

But Malcolm was clearly the quarterback. Very responsive, he answered my questions, was available, and even if he wasn’t available right away we’d make appointments to work on issues and good progress was always made over the phone.

Do you have any words of wisdom to the business owner that currently uses CMS and/or eCMS or may be considering either and/or both?

CMS and eCMS really are the life-blood of our businesses. Both have to be up and running in a stable way, every day, without failure. And they do. That’s not to say that there aren’t little glitches that happen every once and a while, but that’s true with any software. There was a fluke issue with importing web-orders the other day, but Malcolm responded immediately and it was fixed right away. We even got a phone call from Malcolm letting us know when it was fixed and we could go ahead with our import process. All within a very short period of time.

Also, the reporting features in CMS and eCMS make them more valuable as comprehensive tools for us. I’m a novice: I’m not a computer or software expert. I just want the darned thing to work. And it does. That’s the bottom line.

As an example, we’ve been using the system to send out email blasts to our EWTC customers as well as our OEM Press book customers. This feature works very easily, and it’s something simple we can do ourselves without any help.

HOW it all manages to work, I don’t have the slightest clue. But we’re able to send out mass emails and we see immediate results from that. We can use the reporting features in eCMS to track the results of these email blasts: how many are opened, how many aren’t, and that allows us to track the effectiveness of these campaigns.

That’s just one thing I’ve just started learning about, there’s so much more to go.

So, what’s your favorite tea?

Among the ones we sell, I really enjoy the Amber Oolong. Go to our website, you’ll see it there. But it really does vary with my mood.

What’s in store for the future of EWTC?

Well, right now phase 1 of our website is up and running. We are offering six boutique loose leaf teas through the site now, but eventually hope to expand that to about 2 dozen. Currently, we’re also working on phase 2 for our site, which will add tea-ware, i.e. teapots, tea-sets, books, etc.

We’re excited to continue working with NewHaven as we grow!

You can visit Curtis & Cathy’s East Wind Tea Company site at: http://www.eastwindtea.com/difference.

To learn more about how eCMS could revolutionize the way you do business, please call NewHaven Software at (425) 861-7120. We’ll be happy to work with you, assess your needs, and make specific recommendations for your company.