Servcorp Japan

For many companies looking to enter the Japanese market, it is usually not worth the investment early on to rent an office. Serviced offices present a much more attractive option because they are a furnished and fully functional office facility that accommodates multiple companies of different sizes and provides administrative services, modern office equipment and conference meeting facilities on demand.

One of the industry leaders is Australian company Servcorp which has over 125 floors in 51 cities in 21 countries. The company has had a presence in Japan since 1994 and currently offers floors in 23 premium locations. Besides serviced offices, one of Servcorp’s fastest growing sectors is the virtual office in which it runs the client’s business, takes orders from their customers, sends and receives mail, phone calls and handles admin work.

Overseeing Servcorp’s business in Japan is Olga Vlietstra. Born and raised in Holland, Vlietstra moved to France where she began her work career with Servcorp in Paris. She was assigned to Japan in 2004.

Japan Today editor Chris Betros visits Vlietstra at the Servcorp floor in Marunouchi to hear more about the business.

Is Japan one of Servcorp’s biggest markets?

Japan used to be one of our top-performing markets, but since the Lehman shock in 2009, it has dropped and we have grown a lot in other areas. Australia is a very strong home market. The Middle East has grown, and Hong Kong and Singapore are very good. Albeit, Japan is still one of our most important markets due to our size and revenue generation.

How did the disaster last year affect business?

The disaster was quite significant. In Tokyo, there was an exodus of clients leaving our offices. Most came back but some closed their businesses. The interesting thing was that we became the contingency plan for major corporations in Tokyo that wanted to go to other cities like Osaka, Nagoya and Fukuoka. What we had available filled up within a week. Some are still there. It was surprising to see how unprepared large corporations were for disaster.

What effect is the strong yen having on your business?

The strong yen is a real problem and we feel it. Overseas corporations’ budgets for office space are no longer what they used to be. However, we have been able to adapt and our other services are doing very well, such as virtual offices and meeting rooms.

How has the industry changed since you first came to Japan?

We were the first in this industry to enter the Japanese market back in 1994 and it took years before we could make it work. For the first 10 years or so, we were mostly attracting business from foreign branch offices. Since the Lehman shock, we have a lot more Japanese corporations. Virtual offices are a fast-growing part of the business.

What is a virtual office?

A virtual office is “everything but the office.” You get a prominent business address and telephone number, enabling you to work from home or in another country. We take phone calls and transfer them to wherever our clients are, we help them with secretarial tasks, such as taking orders, creating documents, translations and so on. It is an important service to help small businesses get established with a small budget, yet offer them the infrastructure of a multinational.

Our team members are very important to give them support. They are all trained as professional secretaries and often have a stack of different business cards under our clients’ company names – they become their team.

We have clients using virtual offices from industries ranging from pharmaceuticals to IT to consulting to recruitment, any industry really. Multinationals use us, as well. Mobile working becomes more and more the workplace of tomorrow and a virtual office can assist even large corporations to run more efficiently.

Overall, what would you say are Servcorp’s strengths?

Firstly, we are a 5-star serviced office provider and we aim to give clients access to fantastic locations globally and in an unbranded office environment. I think Servcorp sets the benchmark on fit-out with our fully furnished office suites.

Another strong point is our technology. We offer the fastest broadband and we do not deal with any third-party vendors; we install and maintain our IT network in-house. When we open a new location, NTT gives us the data and phone lines but we come in with our own IT team and install all the hardware and connections and link it to our global VoIP network. Being in control allows us to guarantee a 99.98% uptime. On a global scale, we are all interconnected through this VoIP network; we route voice and data over this network and it has enabled us to deliver total consistency in our product - we use the same systems in every country.

Finally, we train our staff to the highest standards and this is widely recognized by our clients and by the industry.

How do you find locations?

We have a team constantly looking for locations, negotiating with landlords. The most desired location is in a premium building, near a station.

How flexible are your terms?

We are very flexible in terms of contracts. One month is the minimum term for an office, although we have clients who have been here since we almost opened. It is also possible to rent an office or meeting room for one day or 1 hour, if you need to. You can book it through our site.

We love it when a client successfully grows and leaves to get their own office. That’s the point of what we do. We are here to help businesses become successful.

Tell us about your team.

They are our biggest assets and we spend a lot of time training staff. We have about 150 in Japan. We use recruitment sites and incentive programs for our own team members who bring someone in. I check every resume myself. Obviously, we are popular among young females.

How do you market the company?

Online ads and banners are one way. Recently, we have been using social media a lot more. We have a Servcorp blog where we talk about our clients and what is happening on the various floors. We use PPC keyword buying to get listed as high as possible on Google and Yahoo search engines. We do some print ads in Nikkei and local papers.

Two years ago, we started doing networking functions once a month where we invite a speaker on an interesting topic and we get 20-30 people attending. We provide food and drinks and it is a nice evening with quality networking, open to anyone.

We have also put more emphasis on video, which you can see on our site, to demonstrate to potential clients what Servcorp is about and what you are going to get. Our brand ambassador, which is a wombat named Sidney, gives a great tour of Servcorp on the website.

What do you focus your energy on?

I deal mostly with sales and marketing issues. I try to visit all the locations every two months, just to walk the floor, check the teams and the operation and make sure everything is up to 5-star standards. Otherwise I speak to my management team daily.

When you are not working, how do you like to relax?

On weekdays, I get up early and run my dog and go to the gym four times a week. I try to avoid weekend work, so I may be out riding my bike, with my dog. I also like to visit galleries and museums.

© Japan Today