Virtual Concierge

Monday, June 18, 2007

Virtual Concierge

"Hi, I'd like to track down the dress Julia Roberts wore in Ocean's Eleven." This was an actual incoming request to a virtual concierge. Hey, who could blame the caller? The dress rocked & the concierege came through.

Ispoke with the founder & CEO of www.vipdesk.com, Mary Naylor. She's fantastic & so is this concept. If you're resourceful, have exceptional customer service skills, attention to detail & are ready to move mountains, the role of being a virtual concierge for VIP's who phone or email in, may be your dream job.

According to Naylor, they went down the virtual path to attract the highest caliber candidates. Understandably, the folks best suited for this work, want to apply their life experience while maintaining a balanced lifestyle. So far, the new model is working. The average age of VIPDesk.com participants is 38 (vs. 19-23 for traditional customer service call centers), 95% are college educated, many have traveled internationally & 40+% speak a second language. The work is so appealing, Naylor brags -- rightly so -- of an 85% retention rate. Impressive by any measure.

If you decide to become a virtual concierge, you can expect to do everything from arranging dinner reservations to planning European getaways. Beyond the Julia Robert's dress request, some off-beat requests filed at the VIPDesk include: a request to rent monkeys for a birthday party, and assistance with writing a speech for a best man.

VIPdesk's clients are executives & the very best customers for some of the top companies in the world, all of whom are willing to pay for convenience on behalf of their highest performers -- lawyers working round-the-clock, "platinum" credit card holders, etc. Note to self: check credit card or car purchasing agreement. You may be eligible for these services & not even know it/be taking advantage of it.

If you think you've got the concierge gene, you've got to be resourceful and it helps to have prior experience in high-end customer service, travel and/or hospitality, pay runs approx $20.00+ per hour. Apply online at vipdesk.com.

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