AMERICAN INSIGHT
American supports entrepreneurialism and small-business growth
through its Innovators Initiative, which focuses onworkingwith startups
and small-business customers toempower their success.
Visit
aa.com/innovators
to learnmore.
Goingthe
ExtraMile
W
hileeveryday taskshave
beendwindleddown to
tapsonascreen, some-
howbookingadecentplumber
remainsaYellowPagesexperience.
Baltimore-basedstartupcom-
pany,TalkLocal,o¢ers thesolution.
Simply inputaservicerequeston
thesite, including thedesired time
foranappointment, andTalkLocal
beginscallingaround torelevantser-
viceprofessionals. Inas littleas90
seconds, you’reconnectedbyphone
withup to threeproviders, starting
with themosthighlyreviewed.
Forconsumers, it’s freeand far
lessstressful than thecustomary
roundsofphone tagandscheduling
gymnasticsrequired tosecureanap-
pointment.TheTalkLocalnetwork is
nationwideand includeseverything
fromcleaningservicesandcomputer
techs toveterinariansandaccoun-
tants.
Forbusinesses, it’sa freesource
of leads.A fee isonlypaidaftera
conversation takesplacewith thepo-
tentialcustomer–andeach leadcan
bescreened forfitbeforeaccepting
thephonecall.
Co-FounderandCEOGupreet
Singhsays that the ideawasborn
fromhisownchallenges inscreening
andbookingcustomers fora local
computerrepairbusinesshestarted.
“Theysaynecessitybreeds in-
novation, and that’scertainly true,”
Singhsaid.
Thestartuphasalreadyplaced
welloveramillioncalls forcustom-
ers (despiteremainingenviably lean
withasta¢of just12).What’sharder
to track is thenumberofhairs the
servicehassaved frombeingpulled
out in frustration.
WrittenbyChrisJohnson,co-founderofUncubed,asmall
businesspartnerofAmericanAirlines.SeeUncubed’scov-
erageoftechnologyandonlineskillscoursesat
uncubed
.com
.
Receive$25o yourfirstservice
byusingpromocode
“AAGetHelpIn90Seconds.”
O er isvalidthroughDec.31,2015
.
TALKLOCAL
100
JUNE2015
AMERICANWAY
W
henDaveThomas received
theAmericanAirlinesExtrAA
MileAward, hesaid, “Iwasa little
astoundedbecauseAmerican
Airlines isoneof thegreatestbrands
inhistoryand theyaregivingmean
award thatsays Iwent theextramile.
Itmeansa lot toknow thatsomeone
thinks I’vegoneaboveandbeyond to
dosomething.”
As theCEOofUtah-based
ThomasArts,whichownsLaGaleria,
acommunicationsfirm thatspecial-
izes in reachingHispanicmarkets,
Thomasunderstands the impor-
tanceofsuccessful branding.
Duringhiscareer, Thomashas
workedeectivelywithcompanies
in thefinancial andhealthcare
industries. Thoseclients include
UnitedHealthcare,WellsFargo
Bank, PetSmartand the2002
WinterOlympics.
TheExtrAAMileAward ispre-
sentedannuallyduring theUnited
StatesHispanicChamberofCom-
mercenational conventionand it
honorsaHispanic-ownedbusiness.
Thomas receivedaone-year
AmericanAirlinesConciergeKey
membership forwinning theaward.
