Sunday, October 04, 2009

Carrie Bekker here. I hope you had a lovely, relaxing weekend like we did. Southern California weather -- sunny, light breeze, high 60s/low 40s -- is a wonderful thing. Fabulous sleeping and sweatpants/robe weather. Also a great time to get out of the house and work outdoors, which is what I'm doing right now as I write this "good morning" message to you.

I have a special gift I'd like to give to each of you today:

I’d like to share with you the essay I recently wrote and submitted in the hopes that BCCP can land a Biz Opp grant for 2010. I spent over two weeks writing this essay about my beloved company, it’s a fine piece of work (if I say so myself), and I think you’ll enjoy reading it too.

The contest closed on September 30, and they will be announcing the winners shortly. Please wish me luck on being one of them!

Many thanks,

Carrie

TADA! HERE IT IS!

"Research from the Harvard Business Review proves that conducting business in-person improves client relationships and its direct impact on the bottom-line. Right now, somewhere in the world is a great opportunity for your business."

MY ESSAY ON BEHALF OF BCCP:

Briefly describe what your business does.

Bekker Compliance Consulting Partners, LLC (BCCP) is a full-service virtual consulting firm that caters to the financial services industry worldwide. We specialize in developing customized solutions in the following areas: compliance, risk management, governance, technology, and training. Our clientele includes brokerage firms, investment advisers, hedge funds, and private equity firms; we also serve educational institutions and governmental agencies. We recently added a suite of services geared towards helping the latest crop of financial services startups; these services include: Entity formation; SEC, FINRA, and state registration; outsourced compliance and virtual assistant support.

We pride ourselves in delivering impeccable boutique-style service to each and every one of our clients, no matter where they are in the world or what time zone they are in. Our mantra is: With Us It's All About You(SM), and we mean it.

Members of our Senior Consultant Consortium deliver these services to our clients. Our Consortium is comprised entirely of seasoned professionals with diverse "real world" background and experience. For example, our Members include former regulators, compliance officers, lawyers, auditors, risk managers, professors, and information management experts.

BCCP recently added two new divisions: Bekker Compliance Institute (BCI), which is the education and training arm of the organization; and Best in the West(SM), which provides virtual office and assistant services (BITW).

Tell us about your business’s specific goals and objectives in 2010.

As Founder and & CEO of BCCP, I AM the face of my company. I've traveled extensively ever since I started the business because I KNOW how critical face-to-face interaction is to develop, nurture and sustain strong personal and business relationships. Travel is my passion, and I shine brightest when I'm on the road to meet personally with clients, consultants, and fellow colleagues. I also spend a great deal of time traveling to develop new business relationships, whether it be prospective clients, new consultants, Global Alliance Partners, or networking at industry events. BCCP was built on relationships, and my three years of constant global travel to meet people in person has been the foundation of my firm's success to date, and will continue to be the lynchpin to ensure BCCP's future success and expansion in the global marketplace. Because BCCP’s business model is a virtual one, which allows me to expand and sustain my business in a way that would be impossible with a traditional business model, personal contact is the most CRITICAL component of all. Although I often develop my business relationships virtually first, it's the face- to-face visits that seal the deal, keep the relationships healthy, and foster word-of-mouth referrals.

The majority of our existing and potential clients and consultants are in the US, Middle East/North Africa (MENA), Asia Pacific, and India. However, most of our existing and future business is not in the US, but rather in MENA, Asia Pacific, and India. Face-to-face contact is CRITICAL in these regions where developing a business relationship based on trust is first and foremost; money is secondary to trust. Meeting face to face fosters trust and cements the relationship. I've spent the past three years developing and growing business relationships in the Middle East, especially in Dubai and Saudi Arabia, and the face-to-face visits over that three-year period was essential to my firm's success in penetrating those markets.

As a result of the foregoing, my firm's primary objective for 2010 is to continue to expand our global footprint, especially in the Middle East/North Africa (MENA), Asia Pacific, and India where we already have established strong business relationships and networks. Our goal is to open branch offices in Dubai, Saudi Arabia, and Singapore by year end 2010 or early 2011. In order for us to meet this goal and objective, it is critical that I be able to continue my personal visits to these regions. But travel is expensive, and the global economy has been tough for quite some time now.

What specific business objective could travel and face-to-face meetings help you achieve that remote communication (i.e. phone or video conference) could not?

The human factor. It is impossible to really and truly get to know someone without meeting him or her in the flesh. There is and never will be a true substitute for human contact to establish and cement rock solid relationships. The sheer sensation and excitement of shaking my client’s hand for the first time, sitting down over a cup of coffee to chat, having our picture taken together, getting to visit my client’s offices, meet the team, shaking their hands and talking to them, shaking my client’s hand and bidding farewell until next time. You just can’t do that over video or on the phone. It’s not the same. It never will be.

When we meet people in person, we can engage all five of our senses: touch, smell, hear, see, feel. In a virtual environment, we can only engage two: hear and see. The other three – touch, smell, feel – are absent. How can you possibly establish a relationship of trust if you can only engage two of five senses? It simply can’t be done. No matter how advanced our technology becomes, there is no feeling like looking into someone’s eyes and talking to them.

As mentioned above, my firm's primary objective for 2010 is to continue to expand our global footprint, especially in the Middle East/North Africa (MENA), Asia Pacific, and India where we already have established strong business relationships and networks. Our goal is to open branch offices in Dubai, Saudi Arabia, and Singapore by year end 2010 or early 2011. In order for us to meet our primary goal and objective for 2101, it is critical that I be able to continue my personal visits to these regions. But travel is expensive, and the global economy has been tough for quite some time now, which has limited my ability to travel and have the face-to-face contact and interaction that is essential to my firm’s continued success in the global marketplace.

How will having the opportunity and continuity of a year’s worth of travel and business support benefit your organization?

My firm would benefit significantly because having the opportunity and continuity of a year’s worth of travel and business support will enable me to sustain my ability to continue to develop business relationships in MENA, Asia Pacific, and India, where I already have developed strong business relationships, where I want to continue to develop new business relationships, and where I want to nurture and sustain those relationships so that my firm can continue to grow and expand in these regions and beyond. Without this opportunity and continuity to travel and meet face to face, it will be extremely difficult for me to continue to do so because the economic downturn has curtailed my ability to travel due to financial constraints. Although our firm does have US business, it is our weakest market because it is driven strictly by money and not relationships.

Please keep your fingers and toes crossed for me! If you don't mind, please throw in a few prayers too!

All the best,

Carrie

Labels: A-Team Spotlight, BCCP, BCI Caribbean, Bekker, Best in The West, Conferences, Global Alliance Partner, India, MENA

// posted by Carrie F. Bekker @ 1:28 PM