Book
Excerpt
Chapter 1
In this chapter, we’ll explore the new trend
toward personal concierge services as well as the history of the
concierge profession as a whole. We’ll also introduce you to several
entrepreneurs who have started their own personal concierge services.
You’ll benefit from their experience and advice as we look into the
personal concierge industry.
Spreading Like Wildfire
Concierges have been around in one form or another
for centuries, but the personal concierge burst onto the scene only in
the late 1990s. Today, more people have less time for everyday tasks,
and many of them rely on personal concierges for everything from walking
the dog to getting dinner on the table. There are few tasks a personal
concierge won’t tackle, as long as the chore is legal, of course.
Although personal concierge services are a fairly
recent development, the number of companies that serve time-starved
clients is mushrooming, right along with customer demand for such
businesses. One San Francisco-based concierge business saw its client
base double in 1996 and continue to grow up to 50 percent annually for
several years after that. Some 2,000 miles away, a Chicago concierge
firm that began with 25 clients in 1997 grew to serve more than 85
clients in just a couple of years. Membership in the National
Association of Professional Organizers, which includes some
professionals who provide concierge services, swelled from a few hundred
when founded in 1985 to more than 1,100 members by the late 1990s.
Why the booming demand for personal concierges and
organizers? A big reason is that most people have accumulated so much
stuff—both in the workplace and in the home. Just glance at your desk or
kitchen counter, and you’ll probably see stacks of papers, bills,
correspondence, etc. In fact, in a recent survey by Steelcase, a leading
designer and manufacturer of office furnishings, 27 percent of office
workers described themselves as “pilers,” while 12 percent described
themselves as pack rats. Taking care of all that stuff requires time and
organization. Some people need help just to get organized; others could
manage the paperwork if they were not saddled with so many other chores.
That is when they turn to (or would like to be able to turn to)
professionals to help keep them organized, run errands, and see to it
that business and personal obligations are met.
Although it’s no secret that the personal
concierge field is booming, hard numbers are difficult to come by. The
National Concierge Association, founded in Chicago in the late 1990s as
a networking and resource organization for both personal and hotel
concierges, doesn’t yet track numbers or statistics pertaining to the
industry. Cynthia A., a former hotel concierge who runs her own personal
business in San Diego, estimates there are a few hundred personal
concierges throughout the United States, along with thousands of hotel
concierges. Several other personal concierges and concierge consultants
agreed with that estimate but said the number of personal concierges is
growing fast.
According to Sara-Ann Kasner, president and
founder of the National Concierge Association, “The concierge business
is exploding right now. There has been tremendous growth.” Personal
concierges and industry analysts say there is plenty of room for even
more growth.
Ancient Roots
Although more and more people are becoming
familiar with the term “concierge,” very few know where this
customer-service based profession originated. The word “concierge”
evolved from the French comte des cierges, the “keeper of the candles,”
a term that referred to the servant who attended to the whims of
visiting noblemen at medieval castles. Eventually, the name “concierge”
came to stand for the keepers of the keys at public buildings,
especially hotels. There is even a famous prison in Paris that is called
The Conciergerie, in honor of the warden who kept the keys and assigned
cells to the inmates.
Service personnel known as concierges first showed
up in some luxury hotels in Europe in the 1930s. Then, as now, their
duties were to welcome and assist guests throughout their stay.
Naturally, guests didn’t have as many options or services as they do
today. Traditionally, male concierges were mostly found in the better
hotels. Today, there are as many female as male concierges in the United
States, while in Europe the concierge industry remains predominantly
male.
Defining Moment
To fully understand the industry, it’s important
to make the distinction between hotel concierges, corporate concierges
and personal concierges (we’ll be focusing on the latter in this book).
Hotel concierges are employed by hotels to assist
guests by arranging tours, making dinner reservations, offering advice
on shopping or sightseeing, and taking care of other needs that may
arise during their stay. At this time, only hotel concierges may become
members of the elite Les Clefs d’Or (pronounced “lay clay door”), a
70-year-old professional organization of concierges all over the world.
To join, applicants must have at least five years of hotel experience
with at least two of those years as a lobby concierge. Applicants must
also pass a written test, submit letters of recommendation, and pass
test calls by examiners who pose as hotel guests.
Of the approximately 5,000 hotel concierges in the
United States, 160 applied to join Les Clefs d’Or in a recent year, and
only 25 were accepted. Les Clefs d’Or means “the keys of gold,” and it’s
the emblem adopted by the association of concierges founded in Paris in
1929. Hence the gold keys pins that you will see on the lapels of
concierges who are members of Les Clefs d’Or. If a hotel concierge is
ever found guilty of an ethical breach, such as accepting commissions
from restaurants or other companies, he or she is banned from the group
for life and must surrender the gold keys.
Corporate concierges are employed by a corporation
to serve the firm’s employees. The niche for corporate concierges grew
out of the desire of some corporations to keep their employees so happy
that they would never leave for greener pastures. In the quest for
worker satisfaction, some companies have hired concierges to help
employees, with planning business trips, picking up dry cleaning,
ordering dinner, running errands and so on. Dentists, psychologists,
massage therapists and others are even offering their services in the
workplace through concierges.
A personal concierge is not employed by a hotel or
a corporation. Instead, they market their services directly to clients
who pay them for running errands, buying gifts, making travel
arrangements, or myriad other tasks. Some of their clients may, however,
be corporations which contract with them to be available for employee
requests.
While personal concierges typically appeal to a
different market than those in hotels or corporations, their markets
sometimes overlap. For instance, a businessperson may use the services
of a hotel concierge while traveling and the services of a personal
concierge after returning home.
Typically, a personal concierge builds up a client
base that uses his or her services on a regular basis. Clients might
mostly be individual consumers, or predominately small businesses. It
could even be a combination of the two. The personal concierge business
is so new and evolving so quickly that no hard and fast rules exist.
Again, this business is definitely what you make it. (You’ll read more
about defining the personal concierge market in Chapter 2.)
Striking While The Iron Is Hot
Whether it’s because of time constraints or just a
need for convenience, more and more consumers are turning to personal
concierges in an effort to streamline their lives. Again, no official
numbers are available on just how many people work as personal
concierges, but consider these facts:
More and more hotel concierges, after learning
every aspect of the trade, are walking away from their jobs to start
their own personal concierge businesses.
The Internet has made it easier for entrepreneurs
to succeed in far-flung fields. For example, the Internet allows a
personal concierge in Idaho to target potential clients in Louisiana—or
even Paris.
Personal concierges who live in small towns or who
reach out to clients in remote locations generally have a support staff
and the resources to handle the logistic. For instance, Cynthia A., the
San Diego personal concierge, frequently handles requests from
out-of-town clients because she has contract employees all over the
United States to help her fulfill requests. Perhaps Cynthia has a client
in Dallas who wants tickets to an upcoming concert in that city. She
phones her sources in Dallas or engages one of her contract employees
there to secure the tickets. She also has employees at her office who
can hold down the fort if she needs to travel to meet long-distance
clients.
Concierge businesses can offer a smorgasbord of
services or specialize in one or two areas. For instance, some personal
concierges organize clients’ cluttered desks, set up their offices, and
help them manage their schedules. Others offer to do everything from
standing in line at the Department of Motor Vehicles (no joke!) to
helping set up an elaborate marriage proposal. Some concierge businesses
specialize in tracking down tickets for concerts or other events,
shopping for gifts, and locating hard-to-find items and collectibles.
Some offer pet-sitting services. The list of services is endless, and it
changes every day.
One reason more people are using the services of
personal concierges is that their free time is fading away faster than
ever. As a rule, most of us have less personal time than in years past.
How many times have you heard the refrain “There just aren’t enough
hours in the day”? Hence, the demand for helpers to run errands for us.
More than ever, families include two full-time wage earners, and even
many teenagers hold down part-time jobs. Who will get dinner on the
table, pick up the dry cleaning, get the dog groomed, and make sure the
lawn gets mowed on a regular basis if everyone is at work? Can you say
“concierge?”
Jim P., a personal concierge in Los Angeles, has
encouraging words for those looking to get into the business. He started
his service a couple of years ago because he saw the Internet as an
opportunity to provide worldwide resources quickly. “Anyone can start
running errands in their little hometown,” he says, adding that the best
concierges train in four-star hotels for several years.
According to the concierges interviewed for this
book, people who make the best concierges share certain characteristics:
They’re patient, calm, resourceful, have good contacts, and enjoy
people. If that sounds like you, and you like having a different routine
every day, juggling multiple projects and making people happy, this
could be the business for you. We’ll talk a lot more about what it takes
to be a concierge and explore a typical day in the life of a concierge
in Chapter 5.
Some personal concierges say the field was so new
when they started their businesses that there were few experts to turn
to for advice. The few people already established in the field were
often reluctant to give away any secrets for fear of competition. As the
field grew, more resources became available to anyone looking for ideas
about setting up a personal concierge business; you can find some of
these listed in the Appendix of this book.
You Need That When?
A personal concierge’s duties can be as simple as
gift-shopping for a client or as elaborate as arranging to have a Rolls
Royce waiting at the airport to whisk a client and his girlfriend to a
hotel room stocked with six dozen red roses, chilled champagne, a
catered prime rib dinner, and a camera to record her reaction when he
proposes.
Personal concierges are people with connections.
They know how to get front-row tickets to a concert that has been sold
out for weeks. They know who to call when a client isn’t happy with the
color of his rental car and wants a fire-engine red convertible
delivered now. They don’t panic when a client calls with a last-minute
request for a private jet. They have Rolodexes that read like a who’s
who. And most important, they perform well under pressure and almost
always get the job done—politely and with a smile.
Still there are certain requests even the best
personal concierge can’t fill. When Angela L., a personal concierge in
Austin, Texas, first received one unusual inquiry, she had to ask the
client to repeat the request. “She wanted me to find her a husband,”
says Angela. But not just any husband. The woman wanted to marry a rich
oil sheik! Angela politely informed the client that a dating service was
one of the few things her company did not provide. However, she then
compiled a list of dating services and wished the client well in her
marriage quest.
Personal concierges aren’t just for people with
deep pockets. Time-saving perks are enjoyed by all sorts. A personal
concierge’s clients might include everyone from corporate millionaires
and hot-shot celebrities to couples with two incomes but zero free time
to single moms holding down two jobs. One client may require the
services of a personal concierge only a couple of hours a month, while
another client may insist that the concierge be available at all times.
Well, Isn’t That Convenient?
Jim P., the Los Angeles concierge, says most
people don’t have a clear picture of what a concierge is. “The
individual concierge physically sitting at a desk is largely an
anachronism,” he says. “People want the discriminating judgment and
knowledge of a concierge, and, I believe, would appreciate the
convenience of being able to contact them 24-seven [24 hours a day,
seven days a week] from wherever they happen to be.”
Angela L. echoes those sentiments, adding that
it’s also important to anticipate clients’ needs before they even voice
them. She tells of one client who was recuperating from back surgery.
“We did a lot of extra things for her without her even asking us. We
sent someone over with meals for her and we’d drop by sometimes just to
check on her. Of course, now she thinks we hung the moon. She’s probably
a client for life.”
Even though being a personal concierge is, by all
accounts, a rewarding job, it can also be a stressful one. “The hardest
thing about the job is keeping all the details straight,” says Cynthia
A., the concierge in San Diego. “You have a lot of balls in the air; the
more successful you are, the more balls you have in the air.”
Think of a concierge as someone who can attend to
the little—and the big—details of life for people who don’t have the
time to attend to the details themselves.
Bringing Home The Bacon
Personal concierges can expect to make anywhere
from $40,000 to $60,000 a year, conservatively. However, businesses with
annual incomes of $125,000 or more are not unheard of, depending on
their location, the clients they take on and the range of services they
offer. In addition, concierges often receive tips or gifts from grateful
clients.
Concierges bill their clients in a variety of
ways. For instance, some charge membership fees based on how many
requests are usually made per month. Others bill on monthly retainers,
while others charge per service or per hour. It’s your game, and you can
tailor it to meet your needs.
When asked to put numbers to their fees,
concierges say their typical charges work out to be anywhere from $25 to
$125 an hour, depending on the particular task. If concierges dip into
their own money to purchase something for a client, the client is billed
for the item later.
Some personal concierges also receive what are
known as referral fees from various companies when they steer business
to them. Companies that often pay referral fees include wedding
planners, caterers and florists. Many concierges will pick up extra
income via this avenue.
Start Me Up
By now, you must be wondering what kind of hard
cash it takes to get started in the personal concierge business.
Start-up costs for a personal concierge business
are estimated to be between $2,000 and $4,000, if you already have a
computer and other office basics, such as a printer and fax machine. If
not, the figure could be considerably higher, depending on what kind of
computer system and other office supplies you choose to buy.
Since it is a service-based business rather than a
product-based one that calls for inventory, starting a personal
concierge business doesn’t require a large financial investment. In
fact, much of what you’ll need to be a good concierge can’t be
bought—for instance, the contacts that come from long-term business
relationships with the right people. You can’t put a price tag on those
contacts, but having them puts you well on the way to success.
You’ll still need all the basics, though. In
addition to a computer, items such as office supplies, reference
materials, postage, stationery, business cards, phone, voice mail and
Internet access are vital. We’ll have a lot more on equipping your
office in Chapter 4. Also, you’ll want to be sure to check out
Entrepreneur’s Start-up Basics for very important details regarding
every aspect of starting a new business.
Ready for the next step? In Chapter 2, we take a look
at just how hot the personal concierge market is and why personal
concierges are popping up just about everywhere, including the corporate
world.
