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The First Step for New Business

Demand for serviced offices in Beijing has tripled in the past three years. With more than 10 companies now providing flexible serviced offices in the Chinese capital, sector leader The Executive Centre (TEC) is under more pressure than ever to maintain its cutting edge, says Lucy Liu, TEC Group general manager in Beijing.

“Our clients are all people who may live in five-star hotels, therefore TEC has to meet their expectations,” Liu said. “Our facilities are the most up-to-date, and we are always updating to new-generation equipment.”

TEC’s three Beijing centres are part of a network of 17 on the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong and Macao. Another 13 centres around the Asia-Pacific make TEC the leading “five-star” serviced-office provider in the region. In Beijing, its main clients are big foreign investors entering the Chinese market for the first time. Said Liu: “It's very convenient for companies like this, because we can help them sort out issues very quickly that might take them more than three months to resolve by themselves.”

The serviced office also provides great flexibility for companies testing the water. “It can be difficult to be sure of timing,” says Liu. “Even if the product is really good, it might not work straight away. Taking a serviced office is therefore a very flexible option and only requires a two-month deposit. Although it might seem expensive at first, once the decorating and set-up costs in a regular office building are taken into account, a business could have rented TEC for several months, by which time the business situation could be clearer.”

The price of success can also be high. “What if your business grows quickly after you have spent a lot of money setting up in a regular office building?” asks Liu. “The costs of another move are a major burden.”

Using a service like TEC eases a lot of pressure during a company’s first days in Beijing. All the centre’s reception staff and secretaries effectively “belong” to every client, and therefore clients don't need to be in a rush to hire their own secretarial staff. And despite being a “temporary” location, the space at TEC is highly personalized for each individual client. TEC's own logo is nowhere to be seen: the reception is a clean, bright space that belongs to no one and everyone simultaneously. When clients book meeting rooms, the screens on the conference phones display the client’s own logo, as do all the phones in each particular client’s work space. Every incoming call is answered as if by that company’s own reception, while the sophisticated telephone system can re-route calls according to the most detailed and demanding requirements, right down to recording voice mail and then e-mailing it to absent clients as a digital voice file.

Attention to detail is also a feature of the working environment at TEC. The cutting-edge interior design comes courtesy of respected Australian designer Fiona Hardie. Every item of office equipment and furniture is imported unless local goods can meet the designer’s requirements. The chairs, for example, are by Herman Miller, guaranteed for 12 years. As Lucy Liu says, "TEC does not cut corners when it comes to quality."

“The biggest requirement these days is for fast Internet access,” said Liu. “TEC uses a different kind of connection than most other office buildings; it’s not only much quicker, but more reliable. For example, after the Taiwan earthquake in December 2006, Internet connections from China to the rest of the world were badly affected for several days. The connection used by TEC recovered much faster than others, so that we had business people from other places bringing their laptops over here to work.”

More than 70 percent of TEC’s business results from personal referrals from former and existing clients and business associates. Clients stay with TEC for 29 months on average, which Lucy Liu says is not far short of the average term for an ordinary office building.

“TEC is not a ‘business space renter’ but a ‘total business solution,’” says Liu. “The reception staff are all English-speaking university graduates with a minimum of three years' experience in the service industry, plus the special training they receive after they join TEC. Since the first Beijing TEC center opened in April 2005, there has not been a single complaint about the staff. They are trained to “never say no.” They always find solutions to clients’ problems, even if it’s something as simple as going downstairs to buy them an aspirin for a headache. They make clients feel comfortable and respected, and this helps maintain great relationships all around.”

Staff development and a harmonious working environment are key concerns for TEC. Staff from the Beijing and Tianjin centres have a big get-together once a month, while staff often swap between centres to give them more experience and let them get to know a wider range of clients.

“Everyone contributes,” Liu said. “We take suggestions from all our staff…TEC develops through the contributions of all its staff.”

TEC already has the best network of any serviced-office provider in China. One client is in five locations simultaneously. More centres are in the pipeline, but TEC's development scheme is very carefully planned.

“There is no rush just to open more and more centres; quality is the first, second and third requirement for TEC.”

The Executive Centre

亚太地区极具实力的服务式办公室

文/赵迪迪

The Executive Centre （TEC）商务中心1994年在香港成立，现在亚太地区15个大都市、30个中心开展业务，其中有17个中心分别设在中国的北京、上海、天津、广州、深圳、香港和澳门。TEC定位高端，目标客户为投资中国市场的外资公司，主要集中在银行、保险、投资、服务、IT等行业，且以刚刚涉足中国市场的公司为主体。这样的客户对中国不甚了解，无论从中国市场情况、硬件设备，还是人脉方面都需要帮助，TEC的“服务式办公室”正是可以提供这样服务的商务中心。

节约成本的精明选择

“服务式办公室”起源于美国，是以服务性为主的全新办公出租方式。TEC属业内的“五星级”水准，月租金看似比传统办公室高，“我们会为客户算一笔账，他们自己会得出结论——租用我们的办公室是很划算的。” TEC集团总经理刘春月说。

企业租赁写字楼的传统办公室要交不菲的押金，并且需要在实际业务开始以前进行装修、网络和电话线等布线工作、购买办公设备和家具等，这就无形中增大了企业前期的投资风险。“服务式办公室”是一种集商务中心、行政、酒店于一体的办公模式。TEC为客户提供精美装修，配有全套现代化的办公设备和用品，客户无需携带任何办公用品就可入驻办公。客户可以享受TEC提供的前台接待服务、管理服务、行政秘书服务、电话系统、网络支持、日常清洁等服务，日常饮料和水电杂费也包含在租金里，这样大大节省了客户在非核心业务的时间成本和投资成本，增加了企业资产的流动性，降低了企业投资风险。

对于为少数员工提供小规模的行政场所的客户，或为临时组建的项目团队在最快时间内提供短期、且装修完善、设备齐全的办公室的客户，TEC更是一个理想的选择。

高科技保障客户利益

TEC提供的“服务式办公室”拥有全亚太地区科技含量最高的办公设备。TEC采用思科以IP为基础的电话及数据网络，支持客户综合语音及资讯服务的需求。TEC的客户都拥有各自独立的电话号码，总机系统可以自动识别来电，接待员可透过系统的弹出式屏幕在接听电话前得知来电的客户，确保为客户提供最体贴的服务。

TEC的客户大多都需远距离管理业务，TEC可提供e-Voice有声电子邮件服务，透过电子邮件直接以.wav档案形式接收语音留言信息，减省了透过电话收听留言的时间和费用，提升了工作效率。

TEC拥有4兆光纤宽带网络和不同于其它商务中心的网络供应商，刘春月介绍，很多客户因为其高速度、大容量、稳定性强的网络支持而选择了TEC。

周到服务打造舒适空间

在TEC，“时刻为客户着想，为客户彻底解决问题”的理念是赢得市场的一大法宝。刘春月介绍，从TEC在北京设立第一个商务中心至今3年多的时间里，没有收到客户投诉，正缘于TEC员工对客户“从不说不”的服务宗旨。TEC作为客户的“管家”，为客户提供最贴心的服务和最周到的后勤保障，为客户打造最舒适的办公环境。

TEC在员工素质培养上要求严格，每月组织区域内各中心的员工聚会，以分享工作设备的用途和使用技巧，列举工作中遇到的问题，大家共同探讨解决方案。TEC要求员工有过硬的工作能力，并针对不同的岗位设置专业培训，为客户企业减少了雇用、培养人才的资金与精力，帮助企业提高工作效率。为了把关注点完全集中在客户身上，在TEC商务中心，没有TEC的LOGO，可以忽略掉它的存在，而TEC“一切为客户”的理念却留在每一个角落。