|  What is a Concierge?
con•cierge (kOn-'syerzh)
Simply put, a concierge is a personal assistant who performs a wide variety of tasks that are essential, need organization, and are time consuming.
Concierges have been around for centuries in some form, yet few know where this customer-service based profession originated. The word “concierge” evolved from the French comte des cierges, which translates to “keeper of the candles.” This referred to the servant who attended to the whims of visiting nobleman at medieval castles. Eventually, the term came to stand for the keeper of the keys at public buildings, especially hotels.
Concierges first showed up in luxury hotels in Europe in the 1930s. Their duties were to welcome and assist guests throughout their stay. The industry then evolved to include corporate concierges, and in the last 10–15 years, the industry has further evolved to include personal concierges. Although a fairly new industry, the number of companies catering to time-starved people is skyrocketing to meet the demand.
A personal concierge takes care of all that requires time and organization. Some people need help to get organized; others could manage the paperwork if they were not saddled with so many other chores. That is when they turn to their personal concierge to help keep them organized, run errands, and see to it that business and personal obligations are met.
Last three paragraphs above: *Excerpt from Entrepreneur Magazine's Step by Step Guides: Personal Concierge Service. © 2001 Entrepreneur Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved. |
