PerkSpot

Check out Microsoft’s interview with PerkSpot Founder & CEO, Chris Hill. In the interview Chris discusses the company’s genesis, mission, technology, vision, and values.

Startup of the Day – PerkSpot

As more and more companies are looking for ways to offer a personal and individualized new media solution to their employees, few know exactly how to provide it. Your company has email, has a website, maybe even an intranet, too. But in the face of cutting costs, how can you give your employees the added benefits that so-called “new media” can offer? And do you need to? You’re not a Google full of whippersnappers all under the age of 27, and you’re not trying to be. Just the same, according to the latest issue of Employee Benefit News :

While more Gen Y and Gen X people demand personalization than do older generations, this is by no means something just for the 20-somethings. CBS News reports baby boomers are more enthusiastic than younger Americans in using the Internet for health care, finances, government and religious information – all topics that demand a highly personalized experience. Boomers are more likely to look up health care information online, visit support groups for medical conditions and use the Internet for financial information and transactions than their younger counterparts.

PerkSpot has a unique place in the new media space – it stands directly on the unique line where the personalization younger generations crave and brass-tacks functionality Boomers seek come together. PerkSpot is an online solution that provides you a place to meet your employees where their needs converge, providing them added benefits that will improve their quality of life while improving your employee retention and the time efficiency of your Human Resources department. PerkSpot’s employee discount program is where everyone’s needs meet and are met.

PerkSpot wants to assist your employee discount programs and voluntary benefits in being as green as you all can be. That’s why we’re offering great Earth Day discounts that keep not just the world green — but your wallet, too.

By using PerkSpot deals — and this is with or without those Earth Day Specials — not only are your employees saving money, but they’re eliminating some of needless paper waste of the world’s coupons and coupon clipping-past.  Ever wonder where all those coupon inserts from your Sunday paper end up? The fact is, less than 5% end up being used. Of the approximately 310 billion coupons produced and inserted into your paper each year, only 7.7 billion are redeemed. That leaves 302.3 billion coupons left unused, and we did the math – about 560 million trees that have fallen just to make coupons that are never redeemed.

If employees see a deal that interests them, one click away is a customized rewards an recognition program through PerkSpot, available for both their favorite local stores and at national companies like Target and Best Buy.  No more casting a large net, googling discounts, scouring the Sunday paper in the hopes of catching some deals – PerkSpot offers your human resources department the opportunity to give employees a way to search discounts in a convenient, greener way. A way that saves them time and buys the Earth a little more.

Newsflash: It’s making your employees more productive.

Don’t believe it? Maybe you’d believe a famous author! According to Steven D. Levitt over at the Freakonomics Blog over on New York Times’ site, quoting a recent study at the University of Melbourne, “workers who spend as much as 20 percent of their office time leisure browsing actually get more work done than workers who don’t.” (emphasis mine)

Well how about that?

Better to have your employees on an employee discount program you’ve provided than watching the Dramatic Chipmunk 20% of their time, right?

PerkSpot is excited to announce two key additions to its technology team, Jeff Mahlmeister and Nathan Landis. Jeff and Nathan bring with them years of technology experience from top-tier firms, most recently serving at Kraft Foods and Lockheed Martin, respectively. PerkSpot clients can expect to soon see enhancements to PerkSpot’s best-in-class employee discount program platform technology.

PerkSpot is excited to announce we are hiring a Senior C# Web Developer. The Web Developer will play an important role in developing the technology to support the company’s employee discount programs. Candidates must have 3 or more years of experience designing and developing web based applications. Experience with Visual Studio, ASP.NET, C#, and SQL are also required. Please submit resumes to hr [at] perkspot [dot] com.

As society continues to become more acclimated to the Internet and using it as a means for almost anything, websites have evolved and changed over time both in terms of functionality and user-friendliness. In fact, the Internet is increasingly influenced by what’s being dubbed ‘Web 2.0’—a set of trends in technology and design that are a large step forward compared to the original technologies and designs on the web.

A specific Web 2.0 trend has been to improve an Internet user’s online experience by increasing simplicity and user-friendliness. At first, many websites bombarded a user with information and navigational options. PerkSpot has balanced both the need for information and the need for simplicity to create a user experience that is organized, consistent, and easy to understand. We believe that the friendly user experience is a large reason we hear so many praises about our employee discount programs. And because we customize each client’s PerkSpot site to include any merchant relationships they’ve had in the past, employees immediately see the value in aggregating the employee discounts into a ‘one-stop-shop’ accessible from both home and work. Not only can human resource administrators give their employees a highly appreciated extra benefit, they can save employees substantial amounts of money with the savings they’ll accumulate using PerkSpot.