Tired of time-consuming, mundane tasks that divert you from your professional career? If you feel that you can devote your time to more remunerative and fulfilling tasks, consider the services of a concierge firm or a virtual assistant.

Traditionally, a concierge was someone who handled guests’ travel arrangements at hotels or got tickets for them to attend events.

Lifestyle management

The word has now acquired a whole new meaning under the umbrella of “lifestyle management services”. Over the years, an increasing number of firms have entered this space in India.

Bangalore-based Les Concierges, Mumbai-based A La Concierge, One Concierge, Quintessentially Lifestyle and T’Rouge, and credit card company, American Express, are a few companies offering such services.

For the most part, services offered are restricted to high net worth individuals and entities. So while American Express charges an annual fee of ₹50,000 for concierge services from Platinum credit card holders, Les Concierges charges between ₹60,000 and ₹1,00,000.

But the service is now gaining accessibility with rising income levels and growing affluence among the Indian middle-class. Concierge services are gradually opening their doors to the not-so-wealthy as well.

For example, a membership with A La Concierge costs ₹1,000 per month, or ₹9,600 if you take a year’s membership, and there are no additional charges. T’Rouge and EYL Services have done away with the membership fee altogether, adopting a commission-based business model.

Mumbai-based Zara Consultancy Services has launched YourPA.in, a personal assistant service that starts at ₹5,000 per month. But this service is geared toward users with heavy requirement, since a minimum of four assistants must be hired.

Your benefit

There are a number of scenarios where services of a concierge could be more convenient than doing them yourself.

For example, let’s suppose your passport is due to expire, but you need to get it renewed so that you can go on a family vacation in summer. However, since your work schedule involves travel, it’s difficult to do the job all by yourself.

In such a situation, delegate the task of getting your documents in order, going to the passport office and standing in line to submit your application, to a virtual personal assistant.

True, it is cheaper if you went through the rigmarole yourself. But the benefits of hiring someone to do the task hinges upon whether you were able to effectively monetise the time you saved. Or if you’re always short of time to complete your day-to-day to-do list, getting a third person to do the once-in-a-while tasks can certainly be helpful.

Here’s another situation where engaging the services of a concierge could be practical: Both and your spouse work, leaving your children in the care of your elderly parents at home.

Outsource tasks such as grocery shopping, medicine delivery or servicing your car to a concierge like EYL.

On top of transportation charges (actual fuel expenditure plus ₹5 per km) and the price of the requested product, you will have to bear a service charge imposed by EYL, and a vendor charge, if applicable.

This would leave you free to pursue other priorities and get back home on time, while also ensuring that the needs of your family are taken care of. Or if you need to remotely manage the tenant to whom you have rented your house in another city, the concierge is again willing to handle your affairs.

The sky’s the limit to the services that concierges are willing to provide so long as clients are willing to pay for it.

Services unlimited

To give a taste of what’s possible, concierge firms have handled requests ranging from supplying white butterflies for a wedding to arranging monkey catchers to dealing with a simian menace at a residence, to arranging for the restoration of a damaged Hermes bag.

Requesting a service can be done by leaving a note in your online account, making a call, sending an email or SMS, or leaving a voicemail with your concierge, which usually operate 24/7.

Confidentiality needn’t be a concern, since most concierges have strict protocols with respect to data and document handling, besides CCTV monitoring and tight security and employee verification requirements. It is hard to peg a number to the merits you derive from outsourcing the mundane bits of your life to a professional.

But if you value your time more than the cost of service, then hire that concierge.

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