TECH HAS BECOME AN INTEGRAL ASPECT OF OUR BUSINESS
Our approach to technology began as DIY. We built our own systems, software and maintenance protocols. But technology has become an ever more integral aspect of business — both our own and those of our members. It needs to be thought of as a specialism. We are a flexible workspace company, and our focus is as much on services and hospitality as real-estate. About a year and a half ago we took a step back and realized that we, ultimately, are not a technology company. By attempting to do it all, we were not offering the best services possible to our members. That is when we made the decision to switch all of our phones, software platforms and tech support to essensys.
We are headquartered in Washington DC but have locations across America. Founded 15 years ago, the company is wholly owned by Oliver Carr — a DC real-estate legend. I started with the company 10 years ago and worked my way up from an account manager. Now I oversee all 28 of our nationwide locations as Chief Operating Officer. The question Mr Carr, myself and others ended up asking was — how much more efficiently can we run our business and serve our customers if we focus on our strengths?
MORE TIME WITH OUR COMMUNITY
Following the transition to essensys, we retained all of our staff, redirecting our IT team to focus their time on helping our clients. Their priority became improving the technology portfolio of our members, enabling them to take on more advanced services within our technology platform powered by essensys.
This transition was a brave decision for us, but it was not a fast one. I met David, Managing Director of essensys North America, following an introduction from my General Manager. IT can be both complicated and dull, but the vision and passion David had was a spark that started us down this road.
The essensys team stayed in contact with us and took the time to get to know our business — making it clear that their intention was to strike up a partnership rather than a quick sale. That commitment is really what allowed this project to work. The phones and data are just one piece of a larger technology picture that we need to provide to our clients. We use essensys for our billing platform and our sales CRM system, all of which integrates with different vendors that operate with them for key systems — it is a holistic, streamlined process.
Our clients want an IT system that works. They want to be able to come in and do their job and then go home to their families. That is what we have been able to get from essensys — a system that is reliable and does exactly what we need it to do without having to worry if the phones or internet will go down.