Matchmaker helps clients find their significant others

Miyuki Hannemann is a trained accountant but these days focuses on romantic chemistry

Miyuki Hannemann is really good at math, but these days the former accountant is more concerned about chemistry -- of the romantic sort -- as the sales and marketing manager of Matchmaking Introductions Hawaii.

Miyuki Hannemann Title: Sales and marketing manager Job: Handles sales and promotions for Matchmaking Introductions Hawaii, including consulting with prospective clients.

Hannemann, who joined the 13-year-old company two years ago, participates in the matchmaking process by conducting the free initial consultations with prospective clients. If the interviews go well, the new "members" are guided through tests involving both looks and personality that can help determine with whom they might have the right "chemistry."

It's a job that is interesting and rewarding, Hannemann said last week, as it's always nice to help someone find a significant other.

Hannemann found her own husband, Max (a sports agent and cousin of Honolulu Mayor Mufi Hannemann), while attending Brigham Young University-Hawaii, where she earned a degree in accounting. Originally from Japan, the former Miyuki Takamatsu said her first job after graduation was teaching accounting at the college. She then did some independent accounting work, but she soon realized that the profession was not for her.

"I enjoyed learning accounting," she said, "but it was a challenge for me in real life because I love working with people. So that's why I love what I'm doing now."

After the accounting position, a former landlady helped her get her next job.

"She said, 'You speak Japanese and English and have an accounting degree,' and she suggested real estate. I said, 'I don't know. I have two children. But she offered to pay for the education and said 'You can pay me back later.' So I took the course, passed it, and the day I passed it, she urged me to call Hilton Grand Vacation Club because they were hiring. I didn't know anything about time-share, but because of her, I applied and got the job."

That work also turned out to be temporary, leading her to the matchmaking business.

Hannemann, 32, lives with her husband and two children -- a son, 11, and a daughter, 7 -- in Makiki, just a short drive from her offices in the Waikiki Trade Center.

Mark Coleman: What is your title?

Miyuki Hannemann: I guess what you could say is office manager, because I oversee everything that takes place in the office. But on my business card it says "marketing/sales manager."

Q: What does it involve to be in charge of sales and marketing?

A: Well, the sales aspect of what I do is, basically, people look at our ads in the newspaper, so people will contact us, and also we'll get referrals. But the first contact is usually through e-mails or phone calls. And then I handle that.

Q: How long have you been working for the company?

A: Over two years.

Q: What were you doing before that?

A: I was working for Hilton Grand Vacations Club.

Q: How did you get this job?

A: Well, I was thinking about a career change, and I was also contemplating moving out of the islands as well, so I posted my resume online, on monster.com, and a recruiting company contacted me. It was the day of my resume going online. That was pretty exciting.

Q: What did they do?

A: They presented me this opportunity to work with this matchmaking company. Working for a big hotel company, or Hilton Grand Vacations Club, I was just doing one thing every day and didn't see the whole picture. So I got tired of doing the same thing every day, and working with this smaller company enabled me to see what you contribute to the company from start to finish.

Q: So what kind of a company exactly is Matchmaking Introductions Hawaii? It's not really an online dating service, is it?

A: No, it is not an online dating service. It's a more hands-on matchmaking service, where we customize our service to what the client is looking for. We have very qualified singles in the membership, and we will list up the candidates for that particular client.

Q: What does "list up" mean?

A: Well, we have hundreds of members, but just because somebody's single doesn't mean they qualify. (Laughter) So we have to understand what our client is looking for. Then we will look at our membership and prescreen and list up the ones who meet the criteria.

Then we arrange dates and help them with their dating skills. They really value what we do. But you have to get to the second date. We can arrange the first date, but from there on it's up to you.

Q: What kinds of customers do you have mostly?

A: In terms of their backgrounds, we have a very diverse clientele business. We work with business owners, doctors, attorneys, government workers, teachers ... There's no limit to what occupation specifically you have to be in.

Q: What is the fee arrangement?

A: We have different membership packages that we offer, and depending on the information we get from the initial free consultation, we make recommendations as to what kind of membership they should have. And by the way, I am in charge of the free consultations.

Q: How many new people do you consult with each day?

A: I just had one person join the membership today. That's why I wasn't available earlier this morning.

Q: Are you married yourself?

A: Yes. (Laughter)

Q: How did you meet your husband?

A: I met my husband when I was going to college. That's the easiest time you can meet your significant other. In fact, this client who came into my office this morning entered his first long-term relationship when he was in college, and he said that it was so easy then, but now he's older, and he's finding it really difficult to meet single women, period, let alone to get to the dating stage.

Q: What's your typical day?

A: Well, our business hours are from 9 a.m., so I come in around 8 to 8:30 to get ready for the day.

Every day is different, but right now I'm designing the company's new Web site. So that is my biggest priority task right now.

Q: Do you have Web-building skills?

A: I don't have the Web-building skills, so I work with a Web-page designer and an IT (information technology) person. We have a Web site already, but we're building a new one, so you will see our Web site change in the near future.

Also, everyday, pretty much, I have free consultation schedules -- one or two a day typically -- and I will be speaking with those who are interested in our service.

Q: How do you do your personal consultations?

A: Well, if somebody calls, I answer the phones, and usually they have questions before they commit to the free consultation. A lot of times they're really skeptical; they've tried other services, so they know what to ask. And I will answer those initial questions, and when they're interested in our service, I will schedule his or her free consultation with me in the office. That is a very important step for both of us, the company and the potential client, because we want this person to know what to expect once they become a member, and as a company we want to assess our ability to service the person before they join as a member. We want to make sure we have somebody they are looking for.

Q: How many people do you work with and what kinds of jobs do they perform?

A: We have the owner of the company (Reiko Keifert). She started this business 13 years ago and she's very much involved; she's still in charge. And also we have different managers. We have a customer service manager and we have several, I guess, administrative assistant workers who handle different things.

Q: How involved do you personally get in bringing two people together?

A: We work as a team.

Q: You and who?

A: Me and the customer service manager, because I'm the initial contact that the members had upon joining.

Q: How do you determine if certain people are indeed a match?

A: Well, we have a unique matchmaking system. And as a matchmaker, we understand -- I guess more so for men, but also it's important for women -- that visual attraction is critical. So what our clients get to do is, once he or she becomes a member, they can come to the office and look at the pictures of the actual members, and they can select the ones that are attractive to their liking. And that information is really important to us. And once they make their selections, we will ask the client to fill out the application form. That's where you get to explain what type of match or partner they are looking for, for more internal stuff -- personalities, interests, hobbies, backgrounds -- all those important criteria.

Q: Are all your clients from Hawaii?

A: We have some clients who just came to Hawaii from the mainland, and they find it a challenge to be able to break in to the local network of people. So that's why they say, "Oh, I can use a matchmaking service." And the owner being a Japanese (national) woman, we have Japanese (national) female clients as well.

Q: What would they be looking for?

A: I guess what they are looking for is the opportunity to start a new life. What typically happens is when you're a Japanese woman in your 30s, either you've been married before and divorced, or you've never been married at all. It is really difficult for them to meet the right person in Japan. It's a cultural stigma. So when they're fortunate to find out there's this kind of service in Hawaii, they definitely consider it. What they find, really, is, you know, they find American men refreshing. They look at you for who you are.

But our male clients are not limited to meeting with just Japanese women. We work with local women, too. My constant effort is to maintain the quality of our members. When we have high-quality men, we have to have high-quality women so it can be a win-win situation.

That applies to neighbor-island members, too. We have a lot of neighbor-island members. We reach a wide market. And we have a matchmaking service that's established with proven results.

Q: What did you know about this kind of thing before you got involved?

A: Oh, well, I didn't have any idea. (Laughter)

But going back, they get to fill out the application form and explain what they are looking for, and also we have a personality-analysis test.

Q: Who developed these formulas?

A: Well thank you for asking. Reiko, the owner, did.

Q: Do you ever get thank-you letters?

A: Oh yeah, all the time. And when they invite us to their weddings, that's when we really feel, wow, we're making other people happy.

Visit: www.matchmakinghawaii.com