Private Service Alliance believes that the private service industry revolves around solid professional relationships. And that those relationships need to be forged with ALL stakeholders within the industry – not just our peers.
For Private Service Professionals (PSPs) to perform their duties to the best of their ability, they need to network with Domestic Placement Agents, Educators, Business Partners, and peers. They need a digital ‘little black book’ of trusted advisors and Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) to call on a moment’s notice when their principal’s world starts to shift. It doesn’t matter if it is moving a grand piano from a penthouse on the upper west side of Manhattan to a sprawling estate in Los Angeles, running off to Europe for butler training, or interviewing for your dream job in the Caribbean. All Private Service Professionals need great relationships with Business Partners, Educators, and Placement Agencies.
Domestic Placement Agencies
Private Service Professionals first need a handful of trusted placement agents to find them a suitable position. Yes, there are a few other ways to land a new role, but there are fewer PROs than CONs to the longevity of jobs found outside agency placements. And, yes, you need to work with more than one agency. Principals seldom list their candidate search with more than one agency. Hence, to find the best role for you, you have to make yourself known and available with multiple agencies.
Principals and Staff
Once placed, Private Service Professionals need to develop trusted professional relationships with their principals and staff. We are in a relatively small industry, and eventually, you may meet these people again. Someone who was once your trainee may someday be your supervisor.
Educators
Most Private Service Professionals want (or need) to gain further training or education to hone their craft and move up the domestic ladder at some point in their career. Educational courses and seminars open the door to building more relationships with educators, mentors, and peers.
Business Partners
Since Private Service Professionals are generalists in a niche industry, they must rely on many Subject-Matter Experts (SMEs) to aid in fulfilling the wishes and whims of their principal. It is impossible for a PSP to do their job well without them. Private Service Alliance refers to all contractors, vendors, and artisans as Business Partners. Businesses that serve a particular city, state, or metropolitan area are called Regional Business Partners. Companies that serve clients across the United States are called National Business Partners. And those who have clients spread around the world are called International Business Partners.
Networking
Networking is a skill that everyone has to learn and practice. Since we are all human, we need to allow some grace to those who are shy, skeptical, inexperienced, or thoroughly hate networking. It is common knowledge that most Private Service Professionals strongly prefer to network with their peers over Agencies, Educators, and Business Partners, but mostly Business Partners. Why is that?
Private Service Professionals can smell a sales pitch coming from a mile away. They hate them. As gatekeepers to their principal, they are inundated with sales pitches on a regular basis and conditioned to avoid them at all costs. How can a business owner or representative side-step a skeptical PSP and begin to develop a meaningful professional relationship? By eventually teaching them something.
First, Private Service Professionals need to learn who you are, gain a basic understanding of the goods or services you represent, and how you do business. Then they need to decide if they can trust you. A PSP can quickly be terminated by letting just one lousy business deal through the front gates of the estate they manage. They are charged with protecting the principal and the property and won’t risk doing business with just anyone.
Once a business representative has gained the trust of a Private Service Professional, they need to teach them something. Why is that? Because that can make the business representative a SME = Subject Matter Expert. What should they teach a PSP? The answer varies widely, but the basics on your top goods or services is a great place to start. Teach general cleaning methods and favorite products for textiles. Offer an electronic service log (and how to implement it into their records) for something mechanical. Details on what sets your business apart from competitors serving HNW clients are beneficial when a PSP has to articulate why they should hire you and your firm to their principal.
To Private Service Professionals who are inclined to avoid networking opportunities because “vendors will be there,” we strongly encourage you to step outside your comfort zone. Step up to a new business partner and ask questions. Please get to know them as humans. Understand the value they bring to your estate and the lives of your principals. Realize that you need trusted contacts to call at 2 am when the water main breaks before it floods the electrical room and shorts out all communication and appliances on the estate. People will jump out of bed and race to the estate because they know you treat them well and refer them to other PSPs.
Referrals
It is a simple fact that all businesses need a steady flow of customers to grow and become self-sustaining. Word of mouth is the best referral a company can receive. The second-best referral is through a membership organization. Business Partners join membership organizations like Private Service Alliance to put their name and contact information before the PSPs who need their services.
Private Service Professionals dread finding the right businesses to hire for their never-ending lists of projects. Utilizing a membership organization that includes members from all sectors serving HNW estates is a great way to build relationships AND find trusted Agencies, Educators, and Business Partners to call on when their principal needs something NOW. And they promise to return phone calls and emails promptly. Please check our member roster the next time you need a referral before running a Google search and coming up with 100 pages of mediocre options. Speaking of online searches, updating your membership profile is the BEST way for people to find you within our membership portal, and it is super easy to do.
