PLANO and ATLANTA (June 2026) – After its recent national survey showed customers are unlikely to complain about a negative customer experience and will instead choose to go elsewhere, Moneypenny visited a booming business community in North Texas to share the findings in-person. FlexEtc, a fast-growing flexible workspace operator, hosted the event as part of its monthly Huddle Hours at FlexEtc Plano, where it supports member businesses through community, networking, and business education.

Ela Bayraktar of Moneypenny flew to Dallas for the Texas Takeover to lead a discussion about how businesses think their customer experience performs versus how customers actually experience it based on insights from 4,000 respondents (2,000 businesses + 2,000 consumers). The ensuing presentation and lively discussion brought together several small- and medium-business owners (SMBs), including local franchise owners, home services companies, and even artists and members of the local city government.

“The goal of having my ‘boots on the ground’ for a week in Dallas was to engage authentically with businesses in the easiest way for them, just like businesses need to do for their customers,” said Bayraktar. “Partnering with FlexEtc, which has members throughout the country that fit similar profiles, was a natural fit given how its Huddle Hours span a broad swath of businesses and how its platform supports collaboration. These are business owners that might not be able to travel and attend a national conference for three days, but they can spare an hour or two to walk down the hall to gather, learn and connect.”

With six established locations in hotspots like Los Angeles, Denver, Nashville, Salt Lake City, Plano, and Charlotte offering a collective 706,000-square-feet of premium workspace, and a seventh opening in Phoenix with another 70,000 this summer, FlexEtc uniquely serves a wide range of businesses given its front-of-house meets back-of house platform.

“From national brands wanting to test a market with little financial outlay or commitment, to small businesses whose packing and shipping has outgrown their dining room tables, we’ve shortened the distance between meeting and doing business,” said Allira Cooper, Head of Design and Development for FlexEtc. “We’ve made a space for the ‘water cooler’ effect to transform interaction into economic exchange, and, more impressively, it comes with a loading dock and all the amenities you could ever need.”

In an age where headlines are dominated by the AI discussion suggesting the death of human innovation, the FlexEtc effect has reflected a broader shift shaping modern entrepreneurship, where collaboration and proximity increasingly influence how businesses grow. The economic activity at each FlexEtc community wasn’t programmed, it has emerged naturally and became its own economy within the entrepreneurial ecosystem. Like FlexEtc, Moneypenny understands that connection builds trust, and trust accelerates business, whether in-person or on the phone.

“We engaged attendees with a survey on regional slang, which Texas is definitely known for, as well as an on-site demonstration for one home services company that agreed to a call into its business on speaker with the whole room watching,” added Bayraktar. “It couldn’t have been more demonstrative – we sat their with baited breath as the phone first rang a seemingly endless six times, and then were transferred to an answering service voice mail. They guffawed and were immediately in touch with their team on the matter.”

The research Moneypenny shared suggests that when service falls short, as it did, customers are unlikely to complain, instead choosing to go elsewhere. A majority 89% of SMBs said the phone was effective at converting customer inquiries into actual business, more than any other channel, and 69% of consumers agreed. Further highlighting the importance of answering quickly, 33% of businesses and 17% of consumers think a response should come within seconds, while 36% of businesses and 41% of consumers say within minutes. The Moneypenny survey also showed that 72% of consumers say they’re likely to choose the business that responds first and won’t wait around for a call back.

Moneypenny’s Huddle Hour at FlexEtc Plano also highlighted a member business, The Evelyn Co., which had a charming charcuterie cart for guests. Founder Irene Green is the wife of Cordarrius Green, another entrepreneur who started making cooking videos during lockdown, and now boasts over a million followers on YouTube and a successful cookbook – he moved into FlexEtc when his garage wasn’t going to be big enough to store his run of tens of thousands of cookbooks.

Dallas has received extensive attention as a business hub with a spate of international headquarters moves, especially Plano, which in recent months has been announced as the new headquarters for the Dallas Mavericks, Samsung, and AT&T. It is exactly the kind of business environment where businesses like those both Moneypenny and FlexEtc support can launch and grow together.

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About Moneypenny

As the world’s customer conversation experts, Moneypenny’s unique blend of brilliant people and AI technology integrates seamlessly to deliver customer conversations that unlock valuable opportunities for businesses, 24/7. Available across all voice and text channels, Moneypenny responds to and fulfills requirements for thousands of UK and US clients who value their reputation and recognize that the key to sustainable growth is working with a partner who allows them to scale in an agile way. For more information, visit https://www.moneypenny.com/us/.

About FlexEtc

FlexEtc is a physical business infrastructure platform that converts fixed industrial overhead into flexible, on-demand operating capacity. Founded in 2022, the company owns and operates approximately 706,000-square-feet across Los Angeles, Denver, Nashville, Salt Lake City, Plano, and Charlotte, serving businesses from early-stage operators to enterprise teams.

FlexEtc’s PropCo/OpCo structure means it owns the real estate assets it operates, and its Flex Labs product provides an accessible entry point, with a direct graduation path into dedicated bays. A seventh location is planned for summer 2026 in Phoenix, and both a proprietary operating system and smart building layer are currently in development.

For more information, visit www.flexetc.com.