Servcorp and Regus

Dear Alf Moufarrige and Mark Dixon,
I just invented positions for your company. May I have them? Or, one of them. That's probably a more realistic request. Seeing as how your corporations, Regus and Servcorp, are in direct competition with one another, it wouldn't make much sense for me to work for both of you. But I should like, very much, to work for one of you. Both Regus and Servcorp provide a service that is extremely important to a group that's near and dear to my heart: the Startup Community. It would absolutely be my pleasure to help you help them more effectively, and to help spread the word about who you are, and what you do.
As an added bonus, hiring me will count as your good deed for the day, because I'd like for you to give a significant percentage of my salary to the Teen Entrepreneur Boot Camp.

Very Interesting

What phenomenal companies you gentlemen have. Really, I absolutely love what you do. What would you say is the most interesting thing about the business? The business owners and the employees from all the different businesses that rely on you for their office solutions are more fascinating to me than any other aspect of your business. It's all about them, isn't it? Or it should be. If it's true, that it's all about them, I don't know that you always reflect that.

If you make your external customers your first priority, your internal customers, the folks that work in the business centers, should probably be next on the list. As your new Chief Ideas & Innovation Officer, one of my prime objectives will be to make sure our external and internal customers know how much we value them.

the Innovator's Job Description

Worldwide Customer Showcase
The Chief Ideas & Innovation Officer position is not a desk job. My wife, who actually works for you Mark, and four children are not going to be thrilled when they find out I've accepted this offer to become a managed office road warrior, but they'll understand, because it's an important job. It will be my job to travel to Regus or Servcorp business centers across the world to visit with entrepreneurs and big thinkers, paying special attention to those who utilize our services, but also recognizing those who may not yet be clients. Why should you have someone on staff with this mission? Because the people I'll be meeting with matter. They're important to the communities in which they reside, they're important to the economy, they're important to the families that they support, and the goods and services they offer are important to their customers. They matter, and we're in a position to give them the recognition that they deserve.

Every business owner has a unique story to tell, and the who, the how, and the why behind each startup is fascinating. Entrepreneurs obtain wisdom through experience, and they're almost always willing to share stories about the hurdles they had to overcome along the way. These are the types of interviews that I conduct on the Innovation at Work radio show, and these cross country interviews could be featured on the air, as well. There are many more benefits of focusing on the customer in this way. Click here to continue reading about them.

Targets & Destinations
Mark, how much did it cost you to sponsor the Mike & Mike sports show? Programs like this have large audiences, but they also have a very broad audience demographic. Investing in "spray and pray" marketing vehicles like this can make sense, when used in conjunction with other programs. As the Chief Ideas & Innovation Officer, I'll make sure that we also take a more targeted approach. When we sponsor a sports show, our message will reach some potential customers. When our radio advertisements run during Rush Limbaugh's commercial break, our message will reach some potential customers. When we invest in billboards, our message will be seen by some potential customers. When, under my leadership, we assemble and sponsor a lineup of savvy, articulate business experts to host a variety of business related radio and OnDemand television shows, our targeted message will reach large amounts of potential customers, and at a fraction of the cost of the spray and pray methods.

To make our spray and pray advertising efforts more effective, I'll make sure that we create Business Destinations at our business centers, online, and on the air. For example, our website might link to an article about a new tool that helps businesses optimize their websites for iPads. We can then add that tip to the end of our radio spots, and add, "For more great tips and ideas for your business, visit our website." Currently, our spots are only applicable to entrepreneurs that need office space. Let's start building relationships with all entrepreneurs, regardless of their current office space situation.

Synonymous with Business and Innovation
We need to have a strong presence at every major business event. I will ensure that our brand becomes synonymous with Business, Technology, and Innovation. SXSW next month? We're there. Startup Weekend? Definitely. Ignite? You bet. We'll create additional branded conferences and events, as well.

Professional Listener
If an employee has an amazing idea, what is the procedure for them to get that idea to the right person within the organization. Who is the right person? If there is such a person, and you have an official procedure for submitting great ideas, the employees that I contacted weren't familiar with them. What about useful ideas from your clients? Good ideas can come from anywhere. What are your internal and external customers supposed to do with concerns? Urgent concerns are directed to human resources, obviously, but smaller concerns sometimes slip through the cracks. As your Chief Ideas & Innovation Officer, it will be my responsibility to make myself available to clients and employees who have big ideas, or who wish to share an observation or concern. It's not always second nature to volunteer information, especially in a corporate environment. I'll ask the type of probing questions that result in revealing answers. I'll work with the appropriate individuals within the organization to make sure concerns are addressed, and to ensure that good ideas are explored. Few behaviors are as effective at raising morale than demonstrating that we truly care about what our clients and customers think and feel. There are additional benefits of listening to our customers. Click here to continue reading about them.

Editor In Chief
Have you ever taken the time to consider the total amount of knowledge held within the walls of all the Regus and Servcorp locations? It's truly staggering. Somewhere in the world, an entrepreneur has a question, or is facing a problem, and I'd bet that somebody in one of your business centers has the solution. As your Chief Ideas & Innovation Officer, it will be my responsibility to to tap into this vast reservoir of knowledge. We'll do this by producing the largest and most informative partially crowd-sourced business magazine in the country. We'll encourage our clients to write and contribute articles on the topics that they consider their area of expertise. These articles will be available online, and based on their popularity, some will be selected to be featured in our monthly print-on-demand magazine. Rather than using Twitter to link to interesting business articles around the web, we'll be able to link to articles written by our own intelligent and insightful clients. I'll encourage our regional managers to contribute as well, earning them additional credibility in their markets. With the built in distribution of all our business centers, our business magazine is beneficial in many other ways. Click here to continue reading about them.

Endless Ideas
As your Chief Ideas & Innovation Officer, I'm going to relish brainstorming with bright minds across the country. I'll be overwhelmed with all the fantastic ideas, I'm sure. I'll be coming up with my own big ideas, as well. I'll be able to provide an outside perspective that your company veterans can't. I'll advise you on everything from mobile application development to business lounge refreshments. As an example, I'll help turn the process of stocking our vending machines with energy drinks from a loss leader to a profit center that also assists with our branding efforts. Click here to continue reading about these additional ideas.