Janice Glatthorn, a financial services provider with ten years of independent practice, is on the leading edge of her profession. Outsourcing office services was only recently highlighted as a best-practice for financial professionals with high-margin businesses by a national magazine, but Janice has been outsourcing for six years already.
When asked why, Janice was quick to point out the benefits. "There were two reasons, really," she said. "I am a working mother myself and I found it was almost impossible to meet with other professionals during my free time. I started offering evening appointments one night a week, and the response was overwhelming. Now, I offer evening appointments three nights a week." After hours, Janice was without the help of her usual office staff. "The first thing I did was outsource all the evening phone calls. It was simply a necessity. I didn't feel it was professional to leave the phone ringing while I had clients in my office and then have the answering machine pick up while we were working." "I loved the service," said Janice. "Not only did I get fewer hang ups – and more appointments – but I also loved getting my messages emailed to me in a set electronic format. I also was able to get all the relevant background information from the service electronically. My receptionist simply imported the information into our office software. It was terrific. That's how we started on the path to a virtual office." High-margin financial service practices, according to a recent study, share four important characteristics. They are virtually paperless, with information being input directly into a software system that is instantly accessible. Second, they rely on outsourcing of many office services, from accounting to telephone reception. Third, they employ mobile technologies, allowing them to work at the clients' convenience rather than tying them to their own offices. Finally, high-margin practices use web-enabled services to provide a single point-of-entry for information and data retrieval about client services. "I don't feel like a pioneer," said Janice. "Outsourcing those evening phone calls is what started it all. I started with a practical problem and the solution changed the way I do business! In addition to having well-trained outsourced professionals greeting every caller, I now have our web-page linked to our client software which is hosted through another firm. They are responsible for all the hosting and backup. Anyone in my office or from the teleservice can login and provide us with the exact information we need to service our clients." "Today, we serve other busy professionals three evenings per week. I can access anything I need to know or input anything from my office, a busy restaurant, or even a client's home or office right on my laptop. No matter where I am, I have exactly the tools I need to provide the high-quality service my clients expect," said Janice. "What a difference a few years has made!"
