Zac Cerrato is the Furniture Sales Consultant of Evo Business Environments, a family-owned commercial furniture dealership based in Little Rock, Arkansas.
Evo specializes in high-end commercial furniture and specialty architectural products. Its goal is to create awareness about what it does for local specifiers and businesses, taking them through an enjoyable consultative selling process from design to procurement to installation.
Evo understands crafting an office space, classroom or patient room takes time, effort, creativity and expertise. It works with the best architects, interior designers, engineers and contractors around Arkansas to provide functional and creative environments.
The Challenge
Zac, his brother Casey, and their dad Chris have been in business for 11 years as the three owners of Evo. When they opened their doors, they had five founding members, and now they have a team of 35 including design interns and over 20 million in revenue this year.
“Because our business is family-owned, the three of us wear a lot of hats and manage a lot of projects and processes for our business,” Zac says. “My ability to manage all those things well and balance that with being a great husband and dad without getting stressed was getting pushed to the limit.
“I know the quality level that I want to deliver to both my clients at work and the amount of attention and involvement I want to be able to give to my family. So, having that as a goal was one of the drivers for reaching out to BELAY.
“Evo has a talented and specialized team of interior designers that always say ‘yes’ when the leadership team reaches out for help. But I found that we would assign tasks to them that an EA would be better at—so we were also pulling the designers away from focusing on the tasks that they are best at.”
Pre-COVID, the EVO team was in a startup mindset, despite being past that stage.
COVID forced them to reassess their work-life balance, leading to increased team size and reduced expectations. However, as business development leads, Zac realized he lacked the tools to manage his workload. This quickly led to a post-COVID burnout risk.
“I knew I was ready when I found myself spending too much time on administrative tasks, which prevented me from focusing on strategic growth and client relationships,” Zac says. “And when I was assigning tasks to other folks in my organization, I realized I was pulling them away from tasks that leverage their expertise.”
Enter BELAY Virtual Assistant Molly Rogers.
The Solution
“BELAY was able to step in and provide immediate relief by matching me with my EA, Molly, who quickly took over the administrative tasks like helping set appointments and monitoring emails while I was on the road or busy with in-person meetings,” Zac remembers.
“I immediately felt a weight lifted off my shoulders, knowing that essential but time-consuming tasks were being handled efficiently. Mainly, that clients weren’t being buried in unmonitored email and waiting for me to get back to my desk to comb through important tasks.
With Molly’s help, clients are prioritized and my responses back to them are lightning quick.”
The start of their partnership went smoothly with the help of check-ins and — stop us if you’ve heard this before — clear communication and outlined expectations.
“We started with a clear onboarding process,” Zac says. “[Molly] and I set up regular check-ins to ensure everything was running smoothly and to address any adjustments needed.
“I love to either draft up an agenda beforehand — or at the very least have good notes about what was discussed and what tasks were assigned. We have established a shared Google Doc where we journal together. Also getting Molly set up with her own email and Microsoft Teams account was very helpful for communication.
“We began with weekly meetings, which worked well initially to establish a good rhythm. As the relationship matured, we adjusted to ad-hoc meetings, which are often a few times a week but no longer on a fixed day and time.”
There are a variety of things that Molly helps Zac with regularly.
“Molly handles a variety of tasks, including managing my calendar, scheduling meetings, handling correspondence and assisting with client follow-ups,” Zac says. “She also helps with special tasks related to marketing and event planning [along with] ordering snacks and supplies for the office.”
The Result
“The more you invest into that person that you're delegating to, the better and better job they're going to do, and the more trust you build up and the more relief you get,” Zac says. “It's short-term costs for long-term benefit.
“Molly understands intuitively what I'm trying to accomplish, she's after it, and I get to reap the benefits of that. I have to explain less and less and less what I'm going after.
“Having the right support has allowed me to focus more on leadership and strategic planning. It has also given me the bandwidth to explore new business opportunities and ensure that our company continues to grow.
“Molly provided the administrative relief I needed, allowing me to reallocate my time to higher-level tasks and client engagement.”
With the help of a BELAY Virtual Assistant, Zac has seen success in all areas of his life.
“The partnership has brought immense value by optimizing my time and allowing me to focus on business growth and have extra time and energy for my wife and kiddos,” Zac says. “Molly has also improved our operational efficiency and client satisfaction.
“We present more professionally [as an organization]. We're finding more opportunities. I'm getting more done with less effort and less stress in my life. And just put that simply, I don't know what else you could want. That's the ideal.”
Things are only looking up for Evo, and BELAY is right there beside them along the way.
“The next phase of growth involves expanding our client base and exploring new markets,” Zac notes. “Molly will continue to play a crucial role by managing the administrative side, freeing me up to focus on strategic initiatives.
“Working with BELAY has been a game-changer for my business. I feel happier and less stressed. With Molly’s support, I am focusing on what I do best, which is growing the business and serving our clients. [And] the lessening of stress and extra time makes me a better husband and a better dad to my kids.
“Molly is amazing. BELAY did a great job.”