2020 was quite the year. A lot of businesses took a hit, big and small. However, amidst all the unknown of what the future would hold, a locally owned family business soared to new heights in 2020, Vonachen Services Inc., a janitorial service company.
I had the pleasure of interviewing Dan Vonachen, the Sr. Account Executive at Vonachen Group located here in Peoria, Illinois. Vonachen was born and raised in Peoria, Illinois. He graduated from St. Ambrose University with a double major in Business and Economics. He has had several jobs, such as a restaurant manager at Vonachen’s Downtown and Rocky’s Hitching Post, a manufacturer representative, Director of Alumni and Parent Relations at Bradley University, and Director of Sales/Assistant General Manager for the Peoria Chiefs. Vonachen has been the Senior Account Executive at Vonachen Group for 21 years. His responsibilities include new business development and key account managers for some of their larger clients.
“I enjoy the challenge of finding new sales opportunities, developing a relationship with key contacts, and the most enjoyable part is winning a bid and getting a signed contract from a new customer.”
While COVID has certainly consumed our lives for the past year, I asked Vonachen how it impacted the company’s sales and hiring process.
“The first couple of months of the COVID lockdown was pretty surreal. Customers were shutting down their offices, and employees were either laid off or working from home,” said Vonachen. “We assured them that any employee that did not want to work due to the pandemic could take time off, and we assured them that we would hire them back when they felt safe to come back to work.”
Due to the Illinois lockdown mandate put in place by Governor Pritzker, businesses had to figure out a new normal. Everyone had to create a new routine and form new habits.
“To some extent, I have given more presentations and conducted more through Google Teams than ever before. Many customers will still meet face to face while taking temperatures before entering a building, observing social distancing, and wearing masks, basically using common sense,” said Vonachen.
While most businesses suffered in 2020, Vonachen Services Inc. sales increased.
“This was due to the increase in High-TouchPoint (HTP) cleaning customers were now required to combat the spread of COVID,” said Vonachen. When the economy started to open back up in May/June of 2020, many companies realized they were not adequately equipped to deal with a pandemic and began to request proposals. After seeing the experience and resources that Vonachen Group can provide, we were able to gain more business.”
Learning to work during a pandemic can be undoubtedly abnormal. Going from meeting in person to strictly online can have a peculiar effect on people in the workplace. It makes us appreciate human interaction more now since we have lost the ability to do so. Vonachen certainly feels that way.
“As the economy is opening back up and the pandemic restrictions are easing up, it has made me realize how much I miss the face-to-face meeting and shaking people’s hands and is much more personable. Though they can be effective, Zoom, Teams, and WebX meetings lack a human social element.”