So is \"no\" absent from a concierge's vocabulary? It's an exception in the realm of \"anything goes\", with leading private concierge John Paul boasting a failure rate of 0.6 %... \"We may not be able to comply with certain requests.<\/em>\"confesses Ol\u00e9na Rupcheva, head concierge at UUU, who adds: \"we know the profile of our customers, and this may lead us to advise against the restaurant requested if we know full well that it would not be suitable for the person concerned. In all cases, we offer an alternative solution that is at least as good, if not better.<\/em>\".<\/p>\n Well-stocked address book<\/strong> The most advanced private concierge services have enriched their services with Customer Relationship Management tools, so that they know every detail of each customer's profile.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n Alongside these private concierge services, other traditional players in the business travel industry have adapted their offer to develop a top-of-the-range, made-to-measure service, provided either in-house or in partnership with specialists in the sector. This is particularly true of American Express Business Travel and its VIP department. \"Over the years, we've had more and more specific requests, ranging from the possibility of opening a shower in a private lounge at the airport when a customer arrives, to organising a birthday party on board a Paris-Tokyo flight or providing a limousine within 15 minutes.<\/em>\"Catherine Hillenweck, head of the VIP department at American Express Business Travel, recalls. \"That's why we developed a concierge service five years ago to satisfy our most demanding customers.<\/em>\"she explains, before adding: \"the business travel agency has real advantages thanks to its position as the control tower for all a company's travel expenditure<\/em>\".<\/p>\n More recently, concierge services have moved into another key area of business travel, air transport, with the launch of La Conciergerie A\u00e9roports de Paris in December 2010. The service is offered at Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Paris-Orly and even Le Bourget, and is provided by a specialist service provider on behalf of ADP. \"Arriving at the airport is often just the beginning of a working day<\/em>says Andr\u00e9 Lormain, Head of Business and Customer Relations, who is in charge of the airport concierge service at ADP. Our ambition is to provide the best possible support for these business travellers. We are not a carrier, but we are an integral part of the process and we want to be truly involved in the journey. Passengers need to feel that we are not just an airport infrastructure, but also a service integrator.<\/em>\". While \"pure\" concierge services remain marginal (5 %), the form of the A\u00e9roports de Paris Conciergerie should soon evolve, since the bulk of its activity concerns the limousine service and accompaniment within the airport to simplify and accelerate control procedures. \"We have plans to develop a concierge service integrated with a more comprehensive VIP arrival service.<\/em>\"says Andr\u00e9 Lormain.<\/p>\n This same type of approach was initiated by Orange, which in 2008 became the first telephone operator to set up a top-of-the-range service with Parnasse, a partner of John Paul. This very select club - a numerus clausus limits the service to 3,000 members to ensure a personalised offering - brings together a clientele of demanding professionals recruited by Orange teams or its partners such as Jaguar and Visa, or by co-optation and sponsorship between members. A sort of \"techno concierge service\", it has just inaugurated a stylish private lounge at Place de La Madeleine in Paris, where a team of professionals in the style of luxury hotels welcome VIP members of the programme by appointment, offering them personalised coaching and technology previews. In addition to packages tailored to their mobility and dedicated events, business travellers also benefit from a 24\/7 hotline to deal instantly with any technical problems.<\/p>\n If the market is attracting so much interest from these various players, it's because the demand is there. France is catching up with the Anglo-Saxon and Asian countries. \"When I arrived at UUU, the requests came from foreign customers passing through France.<\/em>recalls Ol\u00e9na Rupcheva, head caretaker at UUU. Today, French customers account for the majority of demand.<\/em>\". Does this new craze reflect a certain 'trivialisation' of the service? Not necessarily, and in any case that's not the stated aim. \"We're not looking to democratise concierge services: there's no point in that.<\/em>\"says Zakary Chanou, President of UUU. \"There are a lot of offers out there these days. That's great, because it shows that the service has become indispensable. But we have no interest in offering the same<\/em> level of service: we are a top-of-the-range, premium company<\/em>\"he insists. The American Express Business Travel survey highlights the fact that less than 10 % of a company's workforce has access to concierge services in most cases, with executives and managers making up the bulk of demand (83 %).<\/p>\n But the spectrum is widening. And certain elitist clich\u00e9s are gradually falling out of favour. \"We're looking for solutions that work for as many people as possible<\/em>says David Amsellem, Chairman of John Paul. The majority of our customers are like you and me: they are looking for the best price, the most attractive package with the best conditions.<\/em>\". In fact, this is one of the market's growth drivers in times of budget restrictions. The status aspect of these top-of-the-range services goes hand in hand with a pragmatic argument. \"Our rates are all the more competitive because when we book a hotel room for a customer, we often obtain a discount of 20 to 30 %, in addition to the upgrade and personalised welcome.<\/em>says Zakary Chanou at UUU, we generate savings for our customers, and taking out a subscription to our concierge service is ultimately less expensive than bringing it in-house<\/em>\". For his part, David Amsellem is delighted: \"it's profitable!<\/em>\".<\/p>\n The prime target for this pitch is SMEs, who are reportedly increasingly receptive to these \"life-enhancers\" that allow them to focus on their business, saving time and, above all, improving efficiency.<\/p>\n According to a study published by the VIP department of American Express Business Travel, eight out of ten French companies use a concierge service.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n
The address book also includes the customers of the various players. Their prestige more or less directly underpins the top-of-the-range, even exclusive, positioning of the service.
This is the logic behind the contract signed by John Paul with Paris St Germain in 2012. UUU, the other major player in the market, is following in the same VIP vein with the launch of its Ultimate Player service dedicated to top-level sportsmen and women, in collaboration with former footballer Ludovic Giuly. However, this customer base remains marginal, with the bulk of demand coming from businesses. In fact, they account for 97 % of John Paul's customers, including 90 % on a B2B2C basis: the service is provided to a customer's customer, generally on a white label basis. And to make the difference with these demanding travellers, the most advanced private concierge services have greatly enriched their services thanks to CRM (Customer Relationship Management) type IT tools adopted, or even developed in-house, to know each profile in minute detail. \"We work for almost 400,000 people, and every one of them feels unique when they call us.<\/em>\"says David Amsellem, Chairman of John Paul. In this way, the concierge can reserve the aisle seat preferred by his client for transatlantic flights, or anticipate his eating habits once in the hotel, or even suggest cultural activities during his stay. All this without the business traveller having to systematically repeat his fundamental criteria and little idiosyncrasies.<\/p>\nWelcome on arrival<\/h2>\n
The figures bear this out: according to a study published in April 2012 by the VIP department of American Express Business Travel, eight out of ten French companies use a concierge service, and half of them have been customers for less than a year.<\/p>\nBeyond the statutes<\/h2>\n
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