December 14, 2001 Page 11
Maui companies sign on for tech service
By Terrence Sing
Pacific Business News
Maui-based tech start-up TC Kokua LLC has signed its first
clients.
The company has service agreements with marine aquaculture firm
Micro Gaia Inc., tour company Akina Aloha Tours Inc. and real
estate brokerage firm Alalani Hawaii LLC - all Maui-based.
TC Kokua provides outside customer services and sales support
through telephone, e-mail, Web chat and co-browsing, which
synchronizes a customer's Web browser with a customer service
representative's in order to walk a customer through any
problems.
TC Kokua opened for business in the Maui Research & Technology
Park June 1. Company President Max Tsai declined to disclose
actual pricing for the new customers but says one-time set-up
fees range from $2,000 to $5,000, with a per-minute charge for
customer contacts thereafter.
"Pricing is negotiated individually with each customer," Tsai
says. "It depends on their volume and type of support we are
providing. Obviously tech support will cost more than answering
basic questions."
Tsai says his business is growing because it offers service with
a Hawaii edge.
"We are gaining traction in the Hawaii market in a variety of
industries because our message is service with the aloha spirit,"
says Tsai.
TC Kokua currently has two employees but Tsai plans to hire more
in the immediate future to handle the new accounts. He plans to
target clients based on the West Coast within the first half of
2002 and East Asia companies during the second half of the year.
"I need to stress the fact that we are becoming successful in
Hawaii," says Tsai. "Our customers choose us for outsourcing
because it makes good business sense. And our technology and
business model can scale upwards. Meaning, we can expand as
the customer grows."
Maui businesses that are taking notice of TC Kokua's services
say the concept helps fill a void for businesses that lack the
personnel to handle customer inquiries.
"We've enjoyed hundreds of inquiries since we've been on Maui,
which is almost two years," says Mark Day, chief financial officer
at Micro Gaia, which grows microalgae to produce the dietary
supplement astaxanthin. "A lot of people have inquired about
our astaxanthin product. Based on these inquiries we've compiled
a list of customers waiting for our product."
Day believes TC Kokua's services will help Micro Gaia retain its
customer base.
"We feel TC Kokua's Web-based customer support service technology
is the best of its kind that can be found in Hawaii right now,"
says Day. "When you have good customer support service word
spreads and can potentially increase your customer base."
Business for Maui tour operator Akina Aloha Tours is going well
for the small family-run operation with 60 employees, says Cassie
Akina, director of sales and operations. So they've enlisted TC
Kokua to help target potential customers.
"We needed someone to help do our telemarketing for us," says
Akina. "We recently updated our Web site so we are expecting
lot more hits. What Max will be doing is contacting various
travel wholesalers and seeing if they have tour groups coming
to Hawaii and if they need ground transportation."
Though business dropped significantly after the Sept. 11 attacks,
Akina says it has since picked up.
"I lost about 15 groups," says Akina. "But business is picking
up. I can't even keep up with it. So Max is helping with the
telemarketing and basic questions people have, such as 'Where
does your tour go to?' Basically, what he's doing is answering
preliminary questions. Once he's done he sends the information
over to me for follow-up."
TC Kokua will provide similar services for Alalani Hawaii.
"We'll be handling customer service for them", says Tsai,
"everything from property inquiries to information about seminars
and upcoming listings."
Reach Terrence Sing by e-mail tsing@bizjournals.com
or by phone at 955-8001.
