Match Game

Concierge specialist Andrew Quake knows all about putting your heart’s desire in play. He tells Hong Xinyi more about the tricks of his nimble trade

t’s the season for romance, and Andrew Quake knows exactly what it takes to pull off grand gestures undertaken in the name of love. The country general manager for Singapore and Malaysia at concierge service provider Aspire Lifestyles says Valentine’s Day is one of the peak seasons for his business, and his team also fields requests related to marriage proposals and anniversary celebrations throughout the year. “One memorable request that comes to mind is this gentleman who wanted to propose to his girlfriend in a really special way,” he shares. “They were going for a holiday in Amsterdam during springtime, and he wanted to pop the question in a field of red tulips.” First, the Aspire team found a helicopter tour operator in Amsterdam who agreed to work with them to make a special landing for the couple. Then, they had to find that field of red tulips—this was tricky, as the helicopter would inevitably cause some damage to the flowers. “It was very difficult for us to find a farmer who was willing to sacrifice some of his tulips. We called quite a few before we finally found one,” Andrew recalls with a chuckle. “The client also wanted the magic moment to be photographed, so we hired a photographer who had to hide among the tulips some distance away.” Then there was the client who rang up the Aspire Singapore concierge centre at 8am one morning with what seemed like a simple request: could the team deliver a hot latte to a lady friend of his, making sure it was placed on her office desk right before she arrived at work? The challenge was geography—the office in question was actually in Seoul. “We had about 45min to make this happen, but it was no problem because we have an extensive, fully-owned network of 25 concierge centres across 20 countries, each operational 24/7,” Andrew explains. “We had a consultant from our Seoul centre pop into a taxi to deliver the latte. The client sent us a thank-you note later to tell us that the lady was elated and had no idea how he managed to pull it off. That’s a more typical example of the day-to-day requests we get that are about showing love and care.” In addition to a dedicated team and extensive network, Aspire also makes use of technology to cater to its affluent and well-travelled clientele. “We have a concierge management system that can track our customers’ preferences. For example, if we know from a previous request that a customer likes green apples, the next time he asks us to book a hotel room, we will work with the hotel to place a basket of green apples in the room. These are just some of the little finishing touches to surprise and delight our customers with our services.” The number of requests the Singapore office receives has shown double-digit growth over the last two years, and now amounts to about 10,000 a month. It is not all about romance either. As an offshoot of medical and security services provider International SOS, Aspire Lifestyles is well-placed to offer curated experiences, security, health and international medical assistance, thanks to the global infrastructure of its parent company. Before joining Aspire in 2011, Andrew worked in the consultancy sector and for global payments networks. “It’s been quite a natural progression, and I’ve learned not to be surprised by the many varied requests we get. The past five years have broadened my perspective, in terms of the lengths people will go to.” As for whether he has learned any new tricks for surprising his own wife, Andrew says with a smile: “My wife is a simple person when it comes to these things, and I have my own simple ways of surprising her.”