Firm Diagnoses System Weaknesses : ‘Doctor’ Prescribes Phone Services

The Phone Doctor went into business six months ago after its president diagnosed a weakness in telephone-system services for small businesses. The client list has been growing ever since.

The Phone Doctor is a company that grew out of the private enterprise opportunities created by the American Telephone & Telegraph divestiture. It specializes in low-cost modular telephone systems for small businesses and in telephone repair.

And, of course, The Phone Doctor makes house calls--for $30 per hour.

The idea is the brainchild of Karen Jensen, 25, president of the company and a former AT&T; account executive. It came to her when she was working with a small advertising agency that needed a limited phone system for its office.

“I started checking and found the cheapest I could get office phones was $6,000,” she said. “That was because they were marketing systems that were designed for much larger operations and had features we didn’t need or couldn’t use.

“All the technicians were aiming at the big companies and large systems first, because that’s where most of the profit is, and then they would get around to the little guys.”

She decided to go after the small-business market. A persuasive woman who was the only female field coordinator for Gov. Dave Treen’s 1983 reelection bid, and who served as an advance person for Vice President George Bush, Jensen convinced three others to match her initial investment of $3,000 to start the business.

In six months, with almost no marketing effort and no sales force, the company has gone from zero to $70,000 in sales.

“We started carrying refurbished six-button sets. It’s old equipment. It’s used, but it’s reliable and there will always be a market for it,” she said.

Jensen said the Phone Doctor is careful not to sell a client a more complex system than needed, and this gives the business a competitive edge.

She told of a law firm that called and asked her to pick up her bid because, at $3,000 for a multi-line system with 10 phones, it had to be too low. Her competitor had bid $10,000. He had tried to sell equipment and features designed for a much larger operation. She made the sale.