End of the year report from Ted Robbins, President of Global Verge
There is a lot of information in this note and I encourage you to read it all the way through.
In addition to some very important information for those of you who have been waiting for SIM card or phone orders there is also important information about what we have accomplished during the past 6 months and a brief glimpse of where we are headed in 2010.
As you know during these past several weeks since the launch of our Global Mobile1 products we have been working through varying issues and I know that many of you are aware of some of these. There have been issues with the activation process for the service as well as delays in shipment of SIM cards and phones. As you also know from our calls and emails we have been working to improve all of this and feel strongly that the correct processes are being put in place. With the move of the fulfillment center to Lee’s Summit we are getting everything streamlined. This is a relief to us.
We have hired an entire team that has designed and is implementing a new order processing, tracking and shipping system which will allow orders to be tracked and shipped in a fashion that is accountable, reliable and timely.
We have also hired several new customer service reps to help all those still waiting for orders. In the process of analyzing the entire ordering process this week we have discovered integration issues which have created some of the orders to be delayed. We are also aware of others still needing assistance. We have assigned customer service reps to call these customers and follow up with them. These reps have been instructed to help get the phones set up, activate them with the plan that the customer selects, and ship it as fast as we can.
If you have not received a SIM or a phone and have not yet been contacted, please send a support ticket through the Global Mobile1 support suite. Even if you have already sent a ticket, please send another ticket. I would like to apologize for this error but we are glad that we have finally gotten to the root of some of the problems.
As we have been going through this grueling process during the past holiday week, I have been reflecting on our past year and all that we have come through and yet all that we have accomplished in spite of some setbacks. I wanted to share some of these things with you. For those who recently have become e-Associates or for those who have forgotten, here’s a short list of how far we have come in approximately 180 days and also some highlights of what we have ahead of us as we move into 2010.
2009 ACCOMPLISHMENTS.
Merchant Accounts. Because of your efforts we had an influx of about 40,000 new e-Associates in one 60 day time frame back in June. The merchant accounts that we had attained were not prepared to accept this rapid growth. Therefore, we had to engage new merchant account vendors. This was definitely not an easy task. We had to prove that we were credit worthy by preparing detailed reports and also showing the banks that our business model is unique and has great potential.
All of this activity had to be taken care of while we were running the day to day business which was growing more hectic each day as the business continued to unexpectedly explode. It was a great day when we ‘pulled it off’ and had the new merchants in place.
Product Sales Commissions. The Global Verge business model is unique. People join Global Verge for products and services that they receive from multiple vendors and pay for on a monthly basis. They also join so that they have the ability to retail products and services. A major accomplishment for us in 2009 was importing the Product Commission into the back office while having these orders processed through multiple vendors. We are proud to say that commissions have been on time and accurate since our rapid growth rate in August.
Mobile Product Launch. Throughout all of the highs and lows of our Mobile Product Launch over the last 6 months we continued to believe in our relationships in the Mobile Industry. This is what kept us moving forward. Even in the face of vendors not being able to follow through on committed dates, we were confident a solid solution would become available. And we were right.
It all came to fruition because we worked to pull together a new alternative. I believe that everything happens for a reason. As you know we are now positioned with our new vendor. With this relationship we feel strongly that we have an even greater opportunity for our e-Associates. Our mobile launch not only entailed detailed contract negotiations with the appropriate vendors, but it also consisted of developing the product plans and the commission structure to go along with those plans.
Replicated Websites. With our phenomenal programming team we successfully developed your Global Verge Replicated Websites so that each of you would be able to individually brand your business. Then, with the announcement of our mobile product launch we also developed the Global Mobile1 replicated websites for each of you. Also, within your GV Replicated sites we have added videos that discuss varying products. We also developed a business overview presentation and posted it in on the site.
Product Branding. As you continued to build your business we worked behind the scenes to assure that we had the appropriate branding for our new product lines. This included Global Talk Smart (our VOIP service), Global Mobile1 for our new mobile product launch and GIA for our Global Interactive Assistant. In the process of this branding we had to assure that we were trademarked, we had to design the logos and we had to secure the URLs required to run the business.
VOIP/GTS. We announced and released VOIP for the U.S. and Canada.
Restaurants.com. We instigated and secured a relationship with Restaurants.com for U.S. e-Associates which allows for $25 gift certificates for restaurants local to you.
GIA. We developed the software for our Global Interactive Assistant which will soon be released.
Fathom. We have had several upgrades to our Fathom product.
Back Office. We initiated enhancements almost monthly to your Xennsoft back office. These included upgrades to the ‘ Tree’ view that allows you to click and segment different teams within your tree, search within the tree by name and color highlighting to show promotions within your group; just to name a few.
Communication. Communication is the most important part of our business and we are continually striving to improve in this area. On that front we have introduced the Tuesday/Thursday recorded call structure. This is a departure from the original live calls that were continually overloaded which prevented people from attending. I have also instigated this FROM THE DESK OF THE PRESIDENT communication that seeks to keep you informed of things on a weekly basis. We post this communication and the calls on your websites for easy viewing.
Support. We moved our original support suite to a more expanded solution to allow for immediate real time response. We also implemented a support system for our Mobile products as well. We have continued to hire support staff and developed training for this team that has been ongoing for several months.
Commissions Payment Platform. We launched a payment platform that allows you to transfer money via check, wire, credit card, etc. This enhancement was of particular importance to our team in South Africa who were not able to transfer their commission properly until we installed this system.
Training. We launched GV University with the interactive testing model that includes a training manual for Global Mobile1 . We also installed this module on our servers so that this venue can now be used as a framework for future training in all areas of our business. This system will continue to grow to support all of our training needs.
Corporate HQ. We consolidated our Las Vegas and St. Louis offices to Lee’s Summit. And we more than doubled our corporate office square footage to accommodate additional staff. We hired financial people and have engaged consultants who are tops in the industry. This will help us prepare for additional future expansion. We held several open houses with open forum discussions between the field and the corporate staff. We relocated the fulfillment center from Florida to Lees Summit. We installed a centralized phone system and integrated new phone numbers for the support team.
NOW WE ARE ON TO 2010.
Global Mobile1.
1. We will continue to expand the GM1 products and services including Family Plans, air cards, etc.
2. The expansion of Brick-n-Mortar GM1 locations will continue.
3. Expect continued refinement and simplification of the GM1 ordering procedures.
4. Additionally other telecom products such as the portable router will be released as well as GIA (Global Interactive Assistant.)
5. Global Mobile1 International Launch – We will streamline our processes and service in the U.S. so that we have a great launching pad for developing the business in Canada, Australia and South Africa.
6. In Canada we are setting up an order tracking system for our warehouse there. When this is completed and we have the U.S. caught up, we will be able to launch in Canada.
Back Office Enhancements. We have been working on a two phased upgrade to the enhancement of our Product and Services training and tracking.
1. The first phase will consist of the ability to identify and track the usage of our member services. This will allow you to have greater visibility of your products and service purchased with Global Verge.
2. In phase two of this upgrade we will expand upon the information supplied for each vendor with even greater tracking.
Websites. We will continue with further developments to our main website as well as the replicated websites.
Additional Marketing Systems. We will be launching some new marketing systems allowing special promotions (controlled by you) to be marketed online through a website interface. We will also be developing other marketing materials.
Global Verge e-Associate Training Program.
1. We will be integrating the GV University to include training for back office navigation, comp plan training and every aspect of a knowledge base for bringing new e-Associates up to speed as soon as they join your business.
2. We will also be implementing the Level II and Level III certification training for GM1.
Corporate Strategy Session. We will be meeting as a corporate team for several days before the end of the month to put together a strategy for 2010 as well as a 5 year plan.
This session will include a budgeting process and a ranking of priorities for our future growth. We have hired an outside consultant to monitor this session. I am looking forward to giving you further insight to our plans once we have gone through this process.
Like all businesses ours has been a work in process. It has been cathartic for me to review what has happened in the past several months and my hope is that this review has helped you as well.
I am excited about our future. I know we will continue to have hurdles to overcome. All businesses do. But I also know that we are creating a company that gives the average person the ability to work from home in a creative environment and allows each person to structure a personal business within the Global Verge model that suits their interests and has a commission plan that beats any other with products that are the wave of the future. How can anyone not be excited about that?
Let’s look forward to a great 2010 together.
