How can we do better?

[uniquecorals]

Hi everyone,

Thanks so much for your support here on Reef2Reef, and in general! You people are so fun to interact with every day...we love it!

We are really thrilled with the way things are going: We've got an excellent, growing customer and "fan" base, and we are seeing more and more enthusiasm from you, our customers, and excellent feedback...However, we're still not satisfied at that. Our goal is to continuously improve; to make our brand and our company better and better each day. We really want to create a distinct customer experience and feel, and your input is vital.

We're human, and we sometimes make mistakes. We like to correct them (actually, we love to PREVENT them!), and to improve our procedures, products, and ways of doing business, so that we can become your first choice for marine aquarium livestock.

Joe and I would love it if you could provide us with feedback, and when warranted- constructive criticism (or even a kick in the tail if required) about how we can make Unique Corals better for YOU - our customers! Without your support, we're just a couple of guys playing with corals and spilling water everywhere!

What are we doing right? What are we doing wrong? What are we totally ticking you off about? (Hopefully not too much). Just let us know - don't be shy, please. This is how we improve!

Thanks again...We'll get back to posting some cool coral shotsand the usual inane banter I post shortly...But for now, accept our appreciation in advance for your feedback!

Scott

and Joe

(And thanks to our dear friend, Tony Vargas for taking these sexy shots during his recent visit to our facility...LOL)

 

[Davesgt]

Well you can start by sending some zoas samples to my house for me to evaluate the colors of them followed by some of your amazing chalice you have, you know just to make sure they are as pretty in person as they are in pics lol. No really you guys seem to be really awesome and I've never seen or heard anything bad about your amazing livestock

 

[uniquecorals]

Well you can start by sending some zoas samples to my house for me to evaluate the colors of them followed by some of your amazing chalice you have, you know just to make sure they are as pretty in person as they are in pics lol. No really you guys seem to be really awesome and I've never seen or heard anything bad about your amazing livestock

Note to self: Independent quality control...Send corals to Dave...hmm.

Actually, this is not such a crazy idea! Food manufacturers have foucus groups, right?

 

[franklypre]

I personally like the frag packs I saw, it was my first visit to your website to be honest. Glad I saw this and took a minute to look over it as I definately appreciate the sustainability factor you seem to promote. Once I get through Xmas I'll definately have to make an order, kudos to ya'll for living the dream.

 

[Davesgt]

I do believe they do

 

[Michelle Lemech]

YAY for adding the website to the signature line!!!!! :bounce:

 

[Scoly]

I think you guys are doing a great job! And for that, I say thank you! I would still love to find a piece of your old school chalice( acid trip)! I kick myself in the rear every time I think about that thing! Should have bought it!

 

[uniquecorals]

I personally like the frag packs I saw, it was my first visit to your website to be honest. Glad I saw this and took a minute to look over it as I definately appreciate the sustainability factor you seem to promote. Once I get through Xmas I'll definately have to make an order, kudos to ya'll for living the dream.

Thanks for the kind words! We are doing our best, and it's been really fun so far! As we approach the Holiday Season, it's nice to look ahead and take stock of what we are doing, were we are headed, and how we can improve. So much to do!

 

[uniquecorals]

I think you guys are doing a great job! And for that, I say thank you! I would still love to find a piece of your old school chalice( acid trip)! I kick myself in the rear every time I think about that thing! Should have bought it!

If I had to kick myself in the rear for every coral and fish I hesitated on, I would not be happy sitting down at all!

-Scott

 

[Gambit]

Frag packs are neat and all, I hesitate on buying them if they are randomly done IE a Random LPS pack, you hope for this this and that on the list, but you get the stuff that you cant keep. I avoid them now because of that. Like everyone knows not all things are made for how each tank runs....

 

[uniquecorals]

Frag packs are neat and all, I hesitate on buying them if they are randomly done IE a Random LPS pack, you hope for this this and that on the list, but you get the stuff that you cant keep. I avoid them now because of that. Like everyone knows not all things are made for how each tank runs....

Excellent point, and well taken! When we came up with our frag packs, we tried to put pieces together that made sense (ie; required simialr lighting and flow conditions)...You are quite correct that random "this-is-what-we-had-extra-of-so-we-thought-we'd-throw-it-in-the-frag-pack" corals make no sense. Even then, there are still subtle differences that each coral requires to thrive, of course.

The other thing that is important to us is that the quality of the frags in the packs must be "UC Standard" grade; ie; they are the same quality and size as if you purchased them individually. And they are some of our most popular sellers, aggregated in a frag pack for one discount price.

Thanks for your excellent feedback! Oh, while we're on the subject of Frag Packs- what varieties is everyone looking for?

-Scott

 

[skinz78]

I'd like to see a bigger selection of fish, not so much WYSIWYG but what you have in stock. Also Michelle tells me that you have way more clams in stock than what is on the website:wink:

 

[uniquecorals]

I'd like to see a bigger selection of fish, not so much WYSIWYG but what you have in stock. Also Michelle tells me that you have way more clams in stock than what is on the website:wink:

Funny you should mention fish- we are definitely going to be having a larger and more diverse selection of fishes in our inventory very soon. What kinds of fishes is everyone looking for? We are trying to stick with a "bread and butter" type selection, but more geared towards the reefer...Not all things to all people; rather, fishes that generally work well in reef tanks. Of course, we'll see how long we can keep that up ("Ohh..let's get THAT one! It would be awesome on the site!")...We like variety!

As for clams- well, Michelle is right. We do usually have a few more than we show on the site. We like to only offer really cool and collectible clams on the site, so we tend not to have tons on their at once. On the other hand, we've kicked around the idea of having just dozens of clams of all sorts of varieties. It's a fine line- stocking for variety, but not going crazy with too many animals that can't sell...Ah, the joys of business!

Anyways, thanks for the great feedback- keep it coming!

Oh, and be sure to visit our Facebook page, which will become more and more interactive in coming weeks, with different contect and pics than you find here...We want to give you a variety of cool experiences, each one ahem.."unique"!

https://www.facebook.com/uniquecorals?ref=hl

-Scott

 

[jerwin]

Hey Scott

One suggestion is the website. under the sps, LPS maybe you can break them out some more. have them in group like some of the other sites do. So if I want to just look at all the acan I can seem them all in one click. instead of going through all the pages of other things to find them.

Also add lighting and water flow conditions, and maybe a easy, moderate or hard care conditions to the site for each coral.

 

[uniquecorals]

Hey Scott

One suggestion is the website. under the sps, LPS maybe you can break them out some more. have them in group like some of the other sites do. So if I want to just look at all the acan I can seem them all in one click. instead of going through all the pages of other things to find them.

Also add lighting and water flow conditions, and maybe a easy, moderate or hard care conditions to the site for each coral.

Great idea! Thanks for the suggestion..I like the idea of breaking down the categories further. We will check the feasability of doing this. With regards to the light/flow/care, you're thinking like a a little block or something for each coral? We do typically list this information in the descriptions, but if you think it needs to be separate, we can definitely look into it!

Scott

 

[jerwin]

yes. Something to make it easy for the customer to see if this coral is right for their tank or experties. yes a little box that could tell care/flow/light or special needs. Spot feeding/ Phyto plankton.

I think the more info you can give the customer up front to help them make good decisions the happier they will be in the long run and less problems you will have with customer complaining.

 

[Pkunk35]

Oh, while we're on the subject of Frag Packs- what varieties is everyone looking for?

-Scott

Just an idea but i like it when members here have "pick your own" frag packs for sale here on R2R. Maybe you could have a "frag pack" section: pick 3,4,5,etc. frags to make your own pack with a corresponding discount...obviously you guys are choosing which corals go into the frag pack section to ensure high quality and control but this also gives customers flexibility in choice.

 

[uniquecorals]

Just an idea but i like it when members here have "pick your own" frag packs for sale here on R2R. Maybe you could have a "frag pack" section: pick 3,4,5,etc. frags to make your own pack with a corresponding discount...obviously you guys are choosing which corals go into the frag pack section to ensure high quality and control but this also gives customers flexibility in choice.

Wow, Paul, we must be in telepathic communication! I was thinking about exactly the same thing...Need to work out the details, but a "pick your own" frag pack is something I've been thinking about for a while. Interestingly, back end programming of this type of thing is a bit trickier than you might imagine...But it's one that is in the idea "hopper", and If we can make it happen effectively, we will!

Thanks!

Scott

 

[uniquecorals]

yes. Something to make it easy for the customer to see if this coral is right for their tank or experties. yes a little box that could tell care/flow/light or special needs. Spot feeding/ Phyto plankton.

I think the more info you can give the customer up front to help them make good decisions the happier they will be in the long run and less problems you will have with customer complaining.

Agreed! We actually configured something like that when we had the site constructed, but our developer had some issues with the implementation...we should revist the idea. I agree that any information that helps a consumer become better educated is great!

 

[jerwin]

Sorry to kick off a big disscussion on the forum for you. I know this should not be a big deal. just have one database that pulls the frag that is link to that type of coral in the second Database that pulls the conditions and anything else for that coral. That way you would not have to enter that information again unless it is a new coral. This should be every easy for a web designer to do. The web designer would give you a log on page that you could enter a new coral and its information that would added it to the conditions database. Then it would be there to pull from when you are adding a new frag to the site. This database could also help with the organizing of the frag types and putting them under the right location on the forum for you also. I can easily see this being done.

Like I said. a Frag conditions database then a new frag database with the picture of the coral being sold with an ID that is linked to the Frag conditions DB by name.