Trust, the Restaurant and the customers who forgot to pay

March 20, 2013

Caravan Park

The couple arrived back at the Irish camp site and realised that they had left the restaurant without paying their bill.

They told the camp site manager who rang the restaurant and spoke to the manager of the restaurant – “no problem, thanks for ringing” …the couple could pop in the next day and settle up.

Twenty minutes later the restaurant owner (no stranger to dodging bills himself) arrived at the camp site accompanied by three Gardai looking for his money from the couple.

The whole incident was highly embarrassing for everyone … the couple handed over the money (I’m guessing they didn’t tip!).

The camp site manager never recommended that restaurant to his customers again, he still operates a good business and lives to tell this incredible little story and the restaurant has long shut down..mostly PR and your reputation is about what you do yourself.

Must be a lesson in all of that somewhere!

Greg Canty is a partner of Fuzion

Tags: , ,
Posted in Customer Care, Holidays, PR | 1 Comment »

Chris, Seth, Mitch, Wisdom and the Power of Reply

March 17, 2013

Chris Brogan

It’s Sunday morning and I’m waiting for my weekly email from Chris Brogan, CEO of Human Business Works and co-author of the excellent books Trust Agents and Impact Equation about online and human behaviour.

Every Sunday he writes to me and shares some experience or learning, which is nearly always enriching and really valuable. He does this without fail and incredibly this costs me nothing. I really appreciate his generous spirit and openness and the fact that he does take time to write to me.

Of course he doesn’t write to just me – he has a huge “fan” (he’d never call us that but I’m going to use the word) base and we are all privileged to get his Sunday best!

The other amazing thing about Chris is that he has mastered the art of “reply”. If you send him a simple reply to his Sunday email telling you enjoyed it, he’ll actually come back to you and say thanks.

There is an actual person at the other end of that email who is quite happy to interact with you as well as just broadcast his message ..he’s genuinely interested in what I have to say.

I do appreciate that if he has to reply to thousands of emails he won’t have a life and we do need him to be bright and rested and able to send us those nuggets of wisdom – thanks Chris for your valuable time.

We’re really lucky to have so many really clever and quite brilliant people sharing their insights, experience and very often genius with us online.

I’m talking about bloggers who quite freely share their gems of wisdom on a regular basis with us including people like Chris, Seth Godin and Mitch Joel.

ReplyThe big difference with Chris is that he replies and interacts.

This in my view is the most powerful thing that he does and it’s this that sets him apart from the others..

Click here to sign up for his Sunday Service.

Greg Canty is a partner of Fuzion

Fuzion are a Marketing, PR and Graphic Design firm with offices in Cork and Dublin

Tags: , , , ,
Posted in Blogging, Brand Loyalty, Marketing, Motivation, Positivity, Publishing | 10 Comments »

No breakfast before 9 on Achill Island !

March 14, 2013

Achill IslandTen past eight and I’m still lying in the hotel bed in Achill Island contemplating the day ahead.

My alarm went off over two hours ago – Yep, 6am is the first alarm setting and I have a second one set for 6:15, which is when I normally get up. The very odd time I might allow myself the luxury of another 15 minutes and then get up ..busy, busy!

That’s just the way it is these days – Monday to Friday I work my socks off , including most evenings and there is always some work to be done at the weekend. The joys of self employment!

Ten past eight ..I’m not here on holidays, I’m on Achill Island to deliver three days of social media training to the local business people, most of whom are involved in the tourism sector.

I have loads to do but the wifi only works in the reception area and my modem doesn’t have sufficient coverage to get any work done.

Breakfast isn’t served in the hotel until 9am – I’m not kidding!

There is plenty of time to do everything including taking in the most spectacular scenery you have ever seen in your whole life.

The sign at reception used say breakfast is served between 8:30 and 10 am but this was changed with a temporary sign changing the 8:30 till 9am. Yesterday morning I thought I would pop down and just grab some cereal but the dining area was all locked up – nothing for it but back to bed.

I give the course at the local IT centre from 10am – things don’t start too early around here.

Today is my last day and I’m starting to get to know some of the group quite well. The group is made up of born and bred locals, Julien the kite surfer (Pure Magic)from France, Ute from Germany, Padraig who jumped out of the rat race in Dublin and a bunch of other immigrants from all over Ireland.

During one of our numerous tea breaks (with gorgeous homemade scones) one of the immigrants explains to me how the place “gets a hold of you” and you just don’t want to leave.

Besides being very relaxed and friendly it helps when the suggestion of a visit to Lynotts pub (the greatest little pub ever) is accepted warmly.

I was expecting one or two to turn up for a pint but a good few came with their friends – the guitar was produced and we had songs in English and French ..well done Julien and Liam.

Dee is just after coming over to me as I am typing this “You’d get used to the pace of life here”.

I tend to agree ..

What can I say …come to Achill Island!

Greg Canty is a partner of Fuzion

Fuzion are a Marketing and PR firm with offices in Dublin and Cork

Tags: , , , ,
Posted in Motivation, Personal development, Tourism | 12 Comments »

Jane Maas, Mass and the miracle of twitter!

March 10, 2013

Mad Women - Jane MaasThis woman was determined …is that any surprise to any of us?

Jane Maas, advertising legend from New York, author of Mad Women and the creator of the famous “I Love New York” campaign announced over dinner on Friday evening that on Sunday she wanted to go to mass and preferably one with a good choir!

We had spent a few days with this very special lady, who at the age of 82 would teach us all so much with her energy and determination.

She stole the show at the Network event in Cork for International Women’s Day enchanting the audience with her tales from an incredible career and how she sparkled in an industry, which was dominated by men.

It’s easy to see how she has had such a terrific career – every time myself and Deirdre had a work conversation while we were in her company she sprang into life with interest, words of wisdom and encouragement.

So …our dilemma – a church with a choir on Sunday in Cork?

I called my mother first and she wasn’t sure – the choir in her church weren’t up to much she reckoned!

I wasn’t feeling very optimistic but I decided to put the question out on twitter ..

To my huge surprise within minutes I found myself back and forth on twitter with Saint Fin Barres Cathedral – not only was there mass at 11:15 on Sunday but they sent me a link to their website with information about the choir!

There we were, on a wet and miserable Sunday morning with our special American friend being greeted warmly by the priest and we were treated with a really lovely service and a fabulous choir at Saint Fin Barres Cathedral ..how did I end up here – its a miracle !

Jane ..you are some woman

Twitter ..you are some resource

Saint Fin barres ..you are on the ball!!

Greg Canty is a partner of Fuzion PR

Fuzion offer social media consultancy and training from our offices in Cork and Dublin

Tags: , , , , ,
Posted in Marketing, Personal development, Positivity, Social Media, Twitter | 1 Comment »

Newspapers and Social Media – Parallel Media?

March 7, 2013

Old Man Reading a newspaper

Saturday morning and I’ve just read through the newspaper, The Irish Examiner, which we have delivered with the milk on a Saturday!

From the age of 13 till 21 I delivered enough of them when I had my own newspaper round ..

To be honest I often never get to read it. I pop it on the kitchen table, with every intention of having a peep at it later and often this never happens and it stays there unread.

Today I read it cover to cover including the supplements and it really showed me what I am missing, why we need newspapers so badly, even in a world where we can get news instantly via our social media channels.

I’m a self confessed lover of Twitter and I tell people at my social media courses and our clients how powerful the platform is – even if you never decide to tweet you can follow your favourite newspapers, radio stations, journalists, celebrities, sports stars, friends and other interesting folk.

Fire it up anytime and you will see a constant stream of updates from everyone you are following. You can use the powerful “search” function and track anyone that is tweeting about a subject.

That sounds pretty incredible – it is.

Why would you bother with a newspaper?

Reading the paper today it showed me some really valuable things that Twitter or any of the other social media platform could not bring me:

Emphasis – The editor and the team will decide the stories that are bigger and the ones that are smaller, those that deserve more space and the ones that deserve to be closer to the front of the paper. Twitter will be delivered to me in messages of 140 characters or less, regardless of how important each tweet is. The skill involved in organising and prioritising all of this is so valuable.

Organisation – The newspaper is organised into a particular sequence, which makes it really easy to find the topics that you are interested in. I can organise the twitter accounts I am following into subject matter lists but this still misses the skill delivered by the newspaper team.

Investigation – We badly need teams of journalists who will investigate topics of interest. We need teams of journalists with a great “nose” investigating issues that may not yet be of interest but they have an instinct that something is wrong. Social media definitely helps with all of us having a voice to highlight issues that we feel are important – we need great journalists using their skills to pick up on these.

News – With so much information hitting us via all the various channels it is really important to pick up the newspaper and glance through all of those headlines so that we don’t miss the “important news”. I learnt a lot today quickly by flicking through the paper.

New Stuff – Reading through the paper today I discovered bucket loads of really interesting “stuff” that I would never have stumbled upon. I wouldn’t have been looking for it online so I would not have found it. The team at the newspaper carefully pick through the world of information, new books and new music and deliver what they feel will be of interest to their readers. I also discover new things every day via social media that is equally of interest.

Skill – We need the skills of the journalists, the writers and the editors to deliver us news and stories in a way that grabs our attention and engages with us. We would be lost without these skills.

Look and Feel – While I love my technology and my gadgetry, my iPhone and my iPad there is something very special about the printed material, the paper, the pictures and the layouts. It’s an enjoyable experience to pick up a newspaper with a cuppa and digest all the news and information that’s on offer. Using an App like Flipboard on the iPad to flick through news and information is convenient and enjoyable but it can’t replace the newspaper experience.

While many feel new media will replace traditional media I’m not that sure – both are valuable in quite different ways and we will benefit from both, we need both.

It’s not either or ..it’s Parallel Media.

Greg Canty is a partner of Fuzion

Fuzion offer social media training and consultancy from our offices in Cork and Dublin

Tags: , , , ,
Posted in Entertainment, Social Media, Twitter | 8 Comments »

Me, my dad and JCB’s

February 23, 2013

 

Me and my dad on a JCB

I heard mum and dad having a fight – she had planned on going shopping with her sisters but dad had to work today so there was no one there to mind me.

“I’ve had this day planned for over two months and I never get to see my sisters” I heard mum say to Dad.

“I’ll just have to take him with me so, I have no choice” Dad said to her.

Wow – I can go to work with my dad, how cool is that!

We had a great day – he took me to the building site and I brought my little digger with me.

He made all of his workmates say “Hi” to me and I was able to play with a pile of rocks next to the office. My jeans got all mucky and I think mum will be cross with me.

Mary, the kind lady in the office brought me out a can of coke and a bag of crisps.

At lunch time me and my dad shared his sandwiches.

Later in the day my dad had to drive a huge JCB to the next yard and I had to go with him – the JCB was like a big yellow monster that was bigger than all of the cars but it couldn’t go very fast.

All the cars were beeping at us to hurry up but we didn’t care because it was the best day ever!

..you know that is all made up and my dad never drove a JCB but he did take me with him to Shannon airport and Dublin airport when he worked with car hire, he took me to a Liverpool match in Dublin, he played football and tennis with me and he showed me how to leap over a wall – I remember all of that.

Do something special with your kids today, even if it is just a ride on a JCB (see below for one of the best father and son songs ever..)

Greg Canty is a partner of Fuzion

The JCB song by Nizlopi

Tags: , , ,
Posted in Family, Parenting, Personal development | 7 Comments »

Are you throwing away the Wow?

February 18, 2013

Fitting Carpets

We were excited as we pulled into the drive after a long day – after work we had to attend an event and eventually we were on the way home ..after midnight!

That day we knew the new carpets that we had ordered were laid and we were nervously looking forward to seeing our home transformed – the old carpets had been there for over 12 years and it was time for a change ..

After picking the carpets in the showroom you can never be quite sure if what you picked out actually does in fact work with the colours in the house – we were nervous but we were hoping that the little investment would be worth it and our home would be transformed for the better.

We opened the front door and switched on the hall lights ….

A wall of upset hit both of us as we saw the mess everywhere – the carpets were installed but the fitters had left the place like a bomb hit it. There were carpet cuttings everywhere, loose pieces of carpet, nails, broken grips. The fitters had stormed through the house moving furniture from one room to the other and returning them randomly, there was a pile of rubbish in the corner of the bedroom and the bedside lockers were stacked in the bathroom.

We couldn’t close the bedroom door because the carpet was a deeper pile – who would leave it without being able to close the door? We felt like the place had been violated, people had been in our home who didn’t give a damn how they left the place – nearly as if robbers had been through the place.

We were raging and really very upset. I wanted to just return all of the carpets  – Dee just wanted to go to bed but I knew I couldn’t face the mess in the morning and carry this horrible feeling into another day.

I started tidying, gathering up the nails, the loose pieces of carpet and I hoovered the whole place with Dee’s help. Miraculously after about 40 minutes the place transformed and we were able to see that the carpet was in fact gorgeous and despite our initial feelings it looked like the carpets were fitted really well!

We didn’t want this crew back in our home so we agreed to ask a friend in the morning to sort the door problem.

With just a little bit of extra care and attention and a quick tidy up, the carpet fitters could have easily delivered us a huge “Wow” but instead they carelessly threw this away and destroyed a great customer experience.

Sometimes when we are operating to tight budgets do we end up throwing away the valuable “wow” that ends up costing us a lot more in real terms?

The “wow” is the most important part of the whole transaction – don’t throw it away? 

Greg Canty is a partner of Fuzion

Fuzion are a Marketing & PR firm with offices in Cork and Dublin

Tags: , , ,
Posted in Customer Care, Marketing, Retailing, Sales | 24 Comments »

USP – Real People!

February 11, 2013

Businessman on the phone

I was listening to a radio interview this morning on one of those early morning business shows.

When the Managing Director was asked what made his business special one of the things he said was “When our clients ring up they get to speak to a real person who knows what they are talking about..someone who can really help them”

Strangely, it probably is a USP

Hmm…we’ve come a long way!

Greg Canty is a partner of Fuzion

Fuzion are a Marketing, PR and Graphic Design firm with offices in Cork and Dublin

Tags: , ,
Posted in Customer Care, Marketing | 9 Comments »

Songs for Grown Ups!

February 3, 2013

Boys at Thin Lizzy concertI remember entering Cork City Hall in 1980 – I was just 14 and I was going to my first concert …Thin Lizzy!

It was the most incredible experience and to this day I still remember the floor bouncing as Phil Lynott and his brilliant band whipped the capacity crowd (and me) into a total frenzy ..what a night.

That was a funny year when everything started to get serious – a few months later I had the Inter Cert (the first of the big, state exams) and after that it was all about figuring out some sort of a path that would take you to a job.

I always worried about getting a job – it could be in my make up that I’m a worrier and maybe it all kicked off when my dad was made redundant from the B&I, a ferry service that operated between Cork and Wales. It was on my mind.

This weekend I found myself back in the City Hall for the annual Cork Chamber dinner – the pinnacle of functions for the Cork business community. This is a huge function that invariably is sold out every year even with tickets at €150 per person.

Cork Chamber - Sold OutI remember when I was younger being in awe of these business functions with all of the men in their black formal suits and here at 47 I find myself as one of them.

We drink our glasses of sparkling at the reception, a band is playing that no one can hear, we have our networking “radar” in operation (who do we want to talk to this year?), we mingle and chat, we stand in for a photo, we take our seats in the Millennium Hall (this is a secondary room as the crowd is so big).

We get a lecture about sitting down from a headmaster type of an MC, we look up at the sponsor logos, we can win an iPad, we rise for the President and other VIP’s, we eat our food, we listen to the speeches (they go on way too long and people just start chatting), we hear about the 5 D’s of business and what to call a Bishop, we see videos and business awards are presented, we hear a good comedian, we eat our beef and drink our wine..

“What did you think of the speeches?” , “How is business?“, “Who do you work for?” “What do you do?“, “Where were you sitting?“, “Here’s my card?“, “Is this your first time?” …we chat at the bar, we buy drinks, we are bought drinks, we tweet that we are there, we chat on the way to the loo, we chat on the way back from the loo, we chat to the people we already know and we meet some new folk.

The hours pass by and a few get a little worse for wear ..one guy falls off his chair, another is stumbling, someone is chatting to me but he’s a little drunk (must get away)  ..someone says something inappropriate to my Dee (the male/female ratio is about 90/10 so the women end up getting a lot of attention!) – time to get the coats. The staff look pleased that a few more are leaving!

“Who’s going to The Clarion for a drink? – Ah come on”  ..Oh God, It’s nearly 4am (you know there’s no point but you still go there).

5am..

I’m in a taxi on the way home. I look at my tux and my shiny shoes and I think, It’s official – I guess I’m all grown up now..

I had a good time but think I prefer the songs when I was 14 !

Greg Canty is a partner at Fuzion

Fuzion are a Marketing and PR firm with offices in Cork and Dublin

Tags: , , , ,
Posted in Entertainment, Personal development | 6 Comments »

Game Changing Interviews

February 3, 2013

job vacanciesJust before the New Year we decided to publicise a vacancy for a Senior PR post in our Dublin office.

We deliberately wanted to leave the job description open so that it would invite interest from  a wide range of people leaving us with the opportunity of shaping the role around the successful “right” candidate instead of letting everything be dictated by a very specific role ..it has been an interesting journey with some really good learnings!

  1. The job vacancy posted on our website and the use of social media alone was enough to generate a huge number of responses and enough quality candidates
  2. From the minute we tweeted and posted the link for the vacancy we could see huge traffic hitting our website
  3. People are really happy to retweet and share news about job vacancies
  4. So many people apply for jobs without reading what the job is about!! – I would say about 40% of the enquiries were totally irrelevant
  5. The role attracted a lot of attention because of the way we described it – avoid cliches (dynamic person…)!
  6. People in really good roles are now prepared to move to new jobs – is that recession fear easing off?
  7. Some people are caught in “fur lined” mouse traps – they are getting no satisfaction from their jobs but are stuck because their packages are too good to leave. We met a few of these!
  8. Many people have taken roles in the recession because they needed the money – most are really unfulfilled now, which is bad for them and their employers.
  9. There are a lot of really talented, hard working people out there – the quality of the people we met was amazing
  10. Employment agencies – I can’t see us ever having to use one..

After just one week of searching we found more than one ideal candidate for the role but we also met a number of quite diverse people all with something unique to offer who we know we will stay in touch with and work together in some way on various projects..

The game of recruiting is changing, the game of looking for a job is changing and hopefully this simple interview process could turn out to be a valuable “game changer” for us.

Greg Canty is a partner of Fuzion

Fuzion are a Marketing & PR firm with offices in Dublin and Cork

Tags: , , ,
Posted in Irish Economy, LinkedIn, Marketing, Online Advertising, Personal development, Recruitment, Social Media, Web Marketing | 3 Comments »

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »