Almost three years ago I joined a Yahoo Group for Errand Services, I have received lots of advice, direction and comradery from many of the members of this group. Recently, one of the members, and an established member of the concierge service industry posted a message, that I felt others could benefit from. So, I asked his permission to copy it here to my blog. The initial question was from a member wondering how much luck she would have trying to break into the industry as an intern for an already established company.However, this post was not just about internship it was also about the cooperative business model versus the competitive. It's a must read for entrepreneurs in the service industry.
This was his response:
For many years I offered internships to people. There is plenty of business out there and I believe the cooperative business model is much more powerful than the competitive one. It breeds cooperation, understanding and support between us and builds the business. Ours is still a very young and fragmented industry. Yes, concierge have been around for ever but as an organized business, we are in the early development stages. **(I think this applies to most elective service industries, party planning, interior design, anything that people feel they could do just as well on their own.) Even though I created management systems for our business, I constantly get push back from people that say, they just don't need it yet or they don't see the value. This is mainly because of the stage of development of our industry.
In early stage industries there is a lot of internal competition as people try to figure out what works and what works for them. There are no tried and true methods that have been solidified and used repeatedly. So people just keep looking for things that might work for them. It's like Stephen Covey's sharpening the saw concept (one of the Seven Habit's of Highly Effective People). You have to stop and sharpen the saw to cut through the tree without exhausting yourself over and over. Early stage businesses typically don't understand that sharpening the Saw (i.e., getting coaching, using technology or understanding marketing) can make all the difference in the world; from how successful you are to how fast you are successful. Most plod along and live in hopa-hopa land. Hoping they get clients that will actually pay them enough to make a living.
I would often get calls from people that pretended to be interested in my service but actually wanted to learn how we did things. It was pretty easy to tell who was really interested from a client perspective and those that just wanted to get information out of us. Most of the time when I busted them on their intentions they were too embarrassed to continue the conversation or the charade. While many of us are threatened, with the right understanding up front, I was not hesitant to bring people on. They had to pull their weight and do what was required, but we never had anyone try to take our clients. Our clients were organizations, businesses and individuals with whom we were contracted. Additionally, as I have said in this forum a gazillion times (that's a lot) this is a relationship based business. If you do not have a strong, open, honest, trustworthy relationship with your clients, then you need to re-think your business and why you are in the industry. It's all about trust. If your clients are going to jump ship because someone who works for you approaches them with a cheaper price, then you do not have a real relationship OR maybe, they shouldn't be a client.
So all-in-all, I have seen internships work very well and I have seen them be disastrous. It's all about understanding the objective, having clear expectations and knowing what results BOTH of you want - UP FRONT.
Thank you,
Todd Wheeler*
*Remember, the only people that you should ever try to get even with*
are those that have helped you.*
A friend hears the song in your heart and sings it to you when your memory fails.
todd@conciergeresource.com
[1]http://www.conciergeresource.com[2]
http://www.linkedin.com/in/toddwheeler[3]
http://www.facebook.com/people/Todd-Wheeler/1606749127[4]
http://twitter.com/toddwheeler[5]
My commentary**(I think this applies to most elective service industries, party planning, interior design, anything that people feel they could do just as well on their own.)**
This entire post was written by Todd Wheeler, please note all of his information listed above in case you want to contact and or follow him, he is a great resource, and very willing to answer questions, and offer advice. Thank you Todd, for giving me permission to repost this on my blog.
No comments:
Post a Comment