Michaels & Associates’ Pioneering Business Model –the Virtual Consultancy– Shows the Sky’s the Limit for Knowledge-based Businesses without a Bricks & Mortar Presence
Sherry Michaels, CEO of Michaels & Associates Docntrain Ltd., is the architect of a groundbreaking business model: the virtual consultancy. The clients are real. The consultants are real. So are the revenues. But business is conducted primarily in cyberspace, where drive time is far less important than access to intellectual capital. The Business Journal of Phoenix recently ranked Michaels & Associates, founded in 1998, as the 14th largest management-consulting firm in metropolitan Phoenix.
Scottsdale, AZ, March 02, 2007 --(PR.com)-- Sherry Michaels’s name doesn’t appear on any list of Arizona’s most famous or exciting architects. She isn’t the bricks and mortar type.
Instead, the CEO and founder of Michaels & Associates Docntrain Ltd., is the architect of a groundbreaking business model: the virtual consultancy. The clients are real. The consultants are real. So are the revenues. But business is conducted primarily in cyberspace, where drive time is far less important than access to intellectual capital.
The Business Journal of Phoenix recently ranked Michaels & Associates, founded in 1998, as the 14th largest management-consulting firm in metropolitan Phoenix. Among other distinctions, the firm is only one of five in the top 14 actually founded in Arizona and the only one among those five led by a woman. It’s also the only firm on the entire list specializing in the delivery of training solution consulting, web development and technical documentation consulting services.
“Three things set Michaels & Associates apart from the crowd,” says Michaels. “We’re a virtual company. Our consultants ride the Internet to work instead of the freeway. We establish client-consultant partnerships that enable us to deliver specialized services and results across the country on demand. Issues like space and system logistics to house consultants, flight delays, daylight savings time or expense accounts rarely apply. Next, our consultants are the very best in their respective areas of expertise. Finally, we go to extraordinary effort to create custom solutions for each client based on specific needs. We don’t deliver template answers.”
Michaels is a proponent of “blended learning” solutions based on adult learning theory. The goal is to enhance employees’ job performance by delivering a range of training solutions that accommodates all types of learning styles. Blended solutions ensure training and documentation expenditures deliver maximum learning effectiveness.
Michaels & Associates’ first client, in 1998, was Phoenix-based Avnet, Inc., a global provider of valued-added technological supplies and services. Eight years later, Avnet remains a valued client. “In fact, over 85 percent of our clients return to us for assistance or ask us to take an expanded role following the completion of our first project together,” says Michaels. Many of those clients are based out of state, including Ohio, California, New Jersey and Texas. Michaels & Associates consultants are also distributed around the country. “The fact that we’re not bound to a particular locale,” says Michaels, “means that we’re free to recruit the top people in our industry, no matter where they live.”
On the other hand, when clients require on-site services, they get them. “Sometimes clients want us to provide both on- and off-site services. For one client, our consultants worked on-site nine months. When the client announced at a company meeting that the project had been expanded and the contract extended by six months, participating managers and employees literally gave our consultants a standing ovation. At the end of that assignment, the client contracted with us for another two years.”
Dispensing with the costs associated with an impressive headquarters building allows Michaels to offer clients and employees highly competitive rates. “Extraordinary service combined with remarkable cost efficiency is a very attractive proposition,” says Michaels. “It brings us outstanding clients and outstanding employees.”
“As proud as I am of our firm’s accomplishments and our company’s growth,” says Michaels, “I’m not interested in building the biggest company in our niche. I want Michaels & Associates to be recognized as the best company.”
For more information about Michaels & Associates, contact Sherry Michaels at (480) 614-8440 or Sherry.Michaels@docntrain.com. Alternatively, visit the Michaels & Associates website, at www.docntrain.com.
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Instead, the CEO and founder of Michaels & Associates Docntrain Ltd., is the architect of a groundbreaking business model: the virtual consultancy. The clients are real. The consultants are real. So are the revenues. But business is conducted primarily in cyberspace, where drive time is far less important than access to intellectual capital.
The Business Journal of Phoenix recently ranked Michaels & Associates, founded in 1998, as the 14th largest management-consulting firm in metropolitan Phoenix. Among other distinctions, the firm is only one of five in the top 14 actually founded in Arizona and the only one among those five led by a woman. It’s also the only firm on the entire list specializing in the delivery of training solution consulting, web development and technical documentation consulting services.
“Three things set Michaels & Associates apart from the crowd,” says Michaels. “We’re a virtual company. Our consultants ride the Internet to work instead of the freeway. We establish client-consultant partnerships that enable us to deliver specialized services and results across the country on demand. Issues like space and system logistics to house consultants, flight delays, daylight savings time or expense accounts rarely apply. Next, our consultants are the very best in their respective areas of expertise. Finally, we go to extraordinary effort to create custom solutions for each client based on specific needs. We don’t deliver template answers.”
Michaels is a proponent of “blended learning” solutions based on adult learning theory. The goal is to enhance employees’ job performance by delivering a range of training solutions that accommodates all types of learning styles. Blended solutions ensure training and documentation expenditures deliver maximum learning effectiveness.
Michaels & Associates’ first client, in 1998, was Phoenix-based Avnet, Inc., a global provider of valued-added technological supplies and services. Eight years later, Avnet remains a valued client. “In fact, over 85 percent of our clients return to us for assistance or ask us to take an expanded role following the completion of our first project together,” says Michaels. Many of those clients are based out of state, including Ohio, California, New Jersey and Texas. Michaels & Associates consultants are also distributed around the country. “The fact that we’re not bound to a particular locale,” says Michaels, “means that we’re free to recruit the top people in our industry, no matter where they live.”
On the other hand, when clients require on-site services, they get them. “Sometimes clients want us to provide both on- and off-site services. For one client, our consultants worked on-site nine months. When the client announced at a company meeting that the project had been expanded and the contract extended by six months, participating managers and employees literally gave our consultants a standing ovation. At the end of that assignment, the client contracted with us for another two years.”
Dispensing with the costs associated with an impressive headquarters building allows Michaels to offer clients and employees highly competitive rates. “Extraordinary service combined with remarkable cost efficiency is a very attractive proposition,” says Michaels. “It brings us outstanding clients and outstanding employees.”
“As proud as I am of our firm’s accomplishments and our company’s growth,” says Michaels, “I’m not interested in building the biggest company in our niche. I want Michaels & Associates to be recognized as the best company.”
For more information about Michaels & Associates, contact Sherry Michaels at (480) 614-8440 or Sherry.Michaels@docntrain.com. Alternatively, visit the Michaels & Associates website, at www.docntrain.com.
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Michaels & Associates Docntrain
Sherry Michaels
480 614 8440
www.docntrain.com
Sherry Michaels
480 614 8440
www.docntrain.com
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