From Laura Lake,
Your Guide to Marketing.
FREE Newsletter. Sign Up Now!

What struggles do you face as a company that telecommutes? What are the benefits of being a telecommuting company?

The biggest two struggles are probably closing the office door at night and not feeling like you should always be available, and IT. We have IT support but, unlike a traditional company, there isn’t an IT or IS executive who can simply pop into your cubicle and fix things for you. Sometimes it can take longer than we’d like – we do fix many things remotely through some great software we’ve invested in – and sometimes our employees can feel like they should fix everything themselves – which is NOT the case but they just get used to trying to solve all the problems on their own.

The benefits of a virtual agency far outweigh any disadvantages – FOR THE RIGHT PERSON. Virtual employment is certainly not for everyone. We are all very social and that’s a benefit because it keeps us close despite our geographical distance, but for someone who needs to be at the water cooler every morning gathering the latest office gossip – PerkettPR is not the place.

As a virtual agency, our very model enables our employees to have more flexibility and better work/life balance. They have more time in the mornings and in the evenings to fit in their personal lives because they don’t have to worry about a commute – this is invaluable for those folks in metropolitan areas such as Boston and San Francisco. It gives them precious personal time that many business executives do not have.

Think about what our employees can do working as a virtual executive:

• Have breakfast with their family and be home in time for dinner (these days, it’s a rarity!)
• Fit in more exercise
• Run hometown errands or say hello to their children during coffee breaks rather than gossiping with colleagues around the water cooler
• While in the middle of a huge project, still catch dinner with their family and easily wrap up the project afterwards
• Run personal errands in their own town (key for those in bedroom communities)
• Not have to take vacation time to wait for the: [plumber, cable executive, realtor, UPS driver]…
• Run out to a family event or appt. and easily make up the time with flex time
• etc.

While several of these things can of course still happen when one works in a “traditional” office, it is often at the expense of the employee’s vacation or paid time off – i.e., taking a ½ day to wait for a technician – or at a toll of stress and guilt for the employee by rushing around to get out of the office in time (especially when one has a long commute) or as they slink in and out of the office when colleagues can be a bit judgmental.

We also provide flexibility through generous paid time off benefits (as well as many others), including:

• 15 days paid vacation per each year of service, two additional days per year after two years, up to 20 days maximum per year
• 2 personal days per year
• 5 sick days per year
• Generous paid maternity/paternity leave
• Bonus vacation (the last five years we have given the week between 12/25 and 1/1 off as a bonus, paid)
• Three’s a charm – for employees who have been here three years or longer, one additional ½ day off every month
• Summer Fridays – for all employees, three additional ½ days off during the summer months
• Flex time
• Community Service Leave – 40 hours, per calendar year, of paid leave to work on a charity or non profit of the employee’s choosing

Tell me the success story of PerkettPR – How many clients? How many years in business? How large is the company?

We have been in business since 1998 – nearly 10 years! We keep our client roster focused so we can continue to deliver creative, consistent and persistent results. We don’t want to grow too fast and lose that competitive advantage. Our clients consistently report that we are a more personable, hands-on agency than others they have ever worked with. We ramp up quickly and execute immediately. We know how to work hard and make it fun as well – we truly integrate with our clients as part of their company. We currently have about 20 employees – full and part time – based in Boston, New Hampshire, Maine, Florida, Detroit and San Francisco. We are hoping to expand that this year to include New York and Chicago and we are currently hiring!

Our client base runs from hot B2C companies in online video, social networking and consumer gadgets to B2B companies in varied industries including sales/marketing, telecom, healthcare and more. We specialize in on-demand software and online consumer products and services. We have both private, emerging clients on our roster and large, public companies.

Christine, thank you for spending time with me and sharing more about PerketPR. If you believe you have what it takes to become a PerkettPR virtual executive, get in touch with Christine Perkett by visiting PerkettPR.com and tell her I sent you.