Concierge Service Business Plan

GCS will be aggressively courting corporate contracts. Administrative details, such as billing, are streamlined when we are performing on contracts with an entire company. With this in mind, we will structure our service for the corporate customer. This will be done through our investment of human capital. We will win contracts from corporations through our compelling quantitative analysis that will prove increased efficiencies through the use of a concierge service.

We will be attracting individual clients through our website.

Competitive Edge

Our competitive advantage will be based on two factors: our concentration on corporate/company clients, and our investment in human capital.  Since we are concentrating on the corporate market, we will be able to best meet the needs of this market. We will become aware of what these special needs are and offer them. These special needs are flexibility, monthly billing, and the ability to handle a decent number of transactions.

Our other competitive advantage is based on our investment in human capital. GCS will be developing a fairly extensive training program to provide employees with the tools necessary to perform at a level that the founder alone would otherwise be offering. It can be difficult to maintain a high level of customer service if you are relying on employees. This problem can be overcome and turned into a competitive advantage by providing employees with the tools to offer the same high level of service that GCS provides. While this costs money, and takes time up front, it will pay off in the long run. This is based on our mission statement that it is our goal to attract and maintain customers. It is difficult to expect a mission statement which demands high levels of service to become organizational behavior unless you provide the organization with the tools to achieve this high standard.

Sales Strategy

Our sales strategy will be targeted at obtaining the corporate/company clients. It is our belief that the individual customers will be obtained through word of mouth. It is likely that they will have spoken to a previous client about GCS and the referral of our services will speak for itself.

Our sales strategy will be to use a cost benefit analysis when trying to close the sale of a prospect. We will use quantitative information to illustrate the value the company will receive by offering a concierge service to employees. The value is recognized in different forms:

1. The attraction and retention of employees who are offered this service.
2. The value in keeping the employee productive at work instead of taking care of personal maintenance outside of work during normal business hours.

Additionally, we will provide the company with several different options in which they could offer this service to employees ranging as a no-cost-to-the-employee perk to a partially-subsidized service. The different options will be attractive to the company based on a number of different variables, from the cost they are willing to invest into the program to the amount they are willing to spend on the different employees within the company.

Our sales strategy for individuals will be based on our Web presence. Through our marketing efforts we will be driving people to our website. Once on our website, people will see the wide range of services that we offer and can then contact us for a service request. The website will be especially useful for out-of-town clients who are in need of a Eugene-based concierge service.

Please note that GCS will be accepting credit from the corporations. This is based on the assumption that the corporations would find this option a major benefit so that they only had to reconcile their account once a month, as opposed to every time a transaction occurs.

Sales Forecast

The first month will be spent setting up the business. It is unlikely that there will be much sales activity. In addition to dealing with legal and accounting issues for the business, equipment will need to be purchased and set up. Once the physical office is set up, we will then develop a manual for future employees. The manual will cover topics such as company policies and procedures, the training program (which covers ways to handle clients, tips on efficiencies, principles of empowerment, etc.), and other necessary kernels of information. This will take time so it is important to take care of this initially before the real business gets underway, otherwise the document would be likely produced under time constraints affecting the quality of the document.

The second month will begin to see some activity. The clients will be served by the founder, as there will not yet be a need to bring on new employees. During these few months, at least half of the administrative details (scheduling, answering phones, etc.) will be done from remote locations while serving clients. The remainder of the administrative details will be completed at the office. After month five, GCS will bring on another employee to serve the clients, and the founder will then be able to perform the bulk of the administrative details from the office. Month seven will see the addition of a second employee, and by month 12 we will plateau at three employees, allowing Taylor to remain in the office 95% of the time (of course there will be exigent circumstances requiring Taylor’s services in the field). Having the ability to operate the office remotely (with a pager and cellular phone) will provide the necessary flexibility to accommodate a wide range of needs.

The first employee will be needed by the fifth month, as GCS will be receiving at least six hours of jobs a day. This, coupled with required administrative time, will necessitate an employee. By month seven we will see an increase in our corporate program and will utilize a second employee. By month 12 we will likely be at a level that will plateau for the foreseeable future. Years two and three will be similar to the activity in month 12.

Milestones

GCS will have several milestones early on:

1. Business plan completion. This will be done as a road map for the organization. While we do not need a business plan to raise capital, it will be an indispensable tool for the ongoing performance and improvement of the company.
2. Office set up. This will done within the first month.
3. Training program. This will be the development of a training program for the employees. The employees will receive initial sessions of training all at once, and then training will become an ongoing process. Continual learning is key.
4. Quarterly training. This is basically a check up to make sure that the employees are still learning skills and developing.