Looking after the triangle?

September 9, 2012

Skyscraper workers

He was a really great sales rep working for Guinness out of their Cork office. He had been in the job for a number of years, was very efficient, very intelligent, very successful and was quite popular with his customers.

He was a great asset to the company with his knowledge of the local area, which was a big deal to Guinness as it was very competitive with both Murphy Brewery and Beamish and Crawford located in the city. In his role he would have had a lot of liaison with the various brand teams in Guinness.

This was probably the most competitive patch for Guinness in all of the country. The sales structure in Guinness consisted of sales reps, there were nine regional managers, three divisional managers with an overall Commercial sales director.

As he was highly rated a lot of pressure was being put on him to look for a promotion and move up the corporate ladder. Any promotion would have probably meant a change of location. To most of the team this promotion opportunity, with more seniority, more perks and a bigger pay packet would have been a godsend – our guy had no interest, he was happy in Cork and loved what he was doing.

When this rep’s name came up in conversation in management circles there was always a sense of a “black mark” and a little cloud of disappointment against him because he wasn’t seen as being ambitious enough.

My Triangle Theory!

Triangle Theory

At the widest point of the triangle there are lots of workers. Some of these are ambitious and push themselves up the triangle into more senior jobs with more responsibility.

Above them are even more senior managers and the business owners – at the very top of the triangle there are a select few who earn the big money, are adept at corporate politics and can handle the responsibility and pressure at this level.

Often these guys and gals will have sold themselves for the job, made the big personal sacrifices, possibly relocating themselves and their families and made work their ultimate priority.

For the triangle to work best we need satisfied, happy people at each level – for those who want to push upwards there are opportunities and for those who are happy with their lot they can stay doing what they hopefully enjoy doing.

Isn’t it better having lots of happy sales reps than a bunch of unhappy sales managers?

Sometimes you have to let the Triangle look after itself …

Greg Canty is a partner of Fuzion

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

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Posted in Business Planning, HR, Motivation, Personal development, Recruitment, Staff training, Training, Uncategorized | 8 Comments »

Making your street my route

September 9, 2012
shop front

Love your shop !

I love my coffee!

On a typical work day at some point I will pop out of the office for my daily fix – there are one or two coffee shops that I normally go to, each a few streets or blocks (for the American readers!) away.

To get there I can take a number of different routes with a choice of side streets to pop down along the way. I normally work out of our Cork office which is located on the main business street, which backs onto a city centre retail area.

When I think about the route I normally take, the choice of streets that I walk down is totally dictated by those that are the nicest, the most colourful, the most interesting and the most inviting.

On my route I pass shops with colourful windows, pubs with attractive frontage, flower shops with colourful displays, book stores with interesting books in the window, clothes shops with fashionable displays, sweet shops with enticing treats, buildings that are bright, and streets that are clean and welcoming.

There are always alternative routes – make sure you and your street work together to merchandise those windows, paint up those buildings and make customers choose your street as their route to wherever they are going.

Eventually they’ll pop in and buy something!

Greg Canty is a partner in Fuzion

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

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Posted in Customer Care, Marketing, Positivity, Retailing, Staff training | 4 Comments »

The Sacred Cow – Raise Corporation Tax?

September 9, 2012
Sacred Cow - Irish Corporation Tax

Dare we ask the question?

I know this is a really unpopular thing to say – is it time to challenge the Sacred Cow and talk about raising the Corporation Tax rate in Ireland?

I think it is possible to do this and structure it in such a way that will still encourage companies to drive on in Ireland.

Before you think poor old Greg has totally lost his marbles hear me out ..

Why we need to look at this?

Let’s face it, people are bleeding and except for this government being prepared to grasp the nettle and take on some of those areas of excess (“real” sacred cows) that they have still left alone, they just can’t hit the regular Irish taxpayer any more – there is nothing left, nothing.

We need people to have some money in their pockets to keep the indigenous Irish economy going – inflicting more pain and extracting more cash from consumers will just do more damage than good. Aren’t we seeing this already?

Increasing the tax rate on companies who are making profits (let’s face it if you are losing money higher taxes won’t effect you) isn’t the worst thing in the world to do. At least they will be able to cope with it.

The Numbers

3.5 billion was collected last year from Corporation Tax at a rate of 12.5%. This was 10.2% of the overall tax take of 34.2 billion.

This 3.5 billion was the lowest collection of Corporation Tax since 1999 when about the same was collected when the CT rate was 28%.

The Challenge

This government must balance the books, they must collect more taxes, reduce expenditure, start generating jobs and begin to spark economic revival.

How can we do this if we scare the pants off prospective foreign investors by increasing the corporation tax rate?

We are led to believe with absolute certainty by those in “the know” that raising the CT rate is a no go area because it will start a mass exodus of these foreign investors.

Are we sure of that? Is this the main reason that is keeping them in Ireland? I’m not sure, but what do I know.

Taxes in Ireland

Big huh?

My Proposal

1. Raise Corporation Tax by 2.5% (hopefully for just a few years)

2. Introduce 100% immediate allowances for capital spend (this was done successfully in Australia)

3. Introduce tax incentives for companies who increase employee numbers.

4. Use 50% of the increase in CT tax as an investment fund for IT education (we are too far behind international standards and will have a serious problem in attracting these companies if we don’t sort out this supply pool of educated staff ) and an investment fund for indigenous Irish companies who need support at this stage to stay alive (only the ones that have a future)

While the CT tax rate would increase, for those companies that invest in capital and increase job numbers they could actually pay even less tax than now.

In a sweep we would collect more tax from those that can afford it, incentivise jobs and investment, invest in IT education and support indigenous Irish businesses. We might also have a bargaining chip in EU negotiations.

And..we would also be able to lay off the general public who are already bleeding way too much.

What do you think?

Ok, what the hell do I know? Maybe my assumptions are wrong, maybe they are too simplistic and maybe my figures are all wrong – maybe all of this is happening already and these incentives are in place?

At least lets have a discussion and flesh out this Sacred Cow before we cripple Joe Public even more without looking at the alternatives.

Is it time?

Greg Canty is a partner of Fuzion (he was an accountant at one point in time!)

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

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Posted in Accounting, Ireland, Irish Economy, Irish Politics, Positivity, Uncategorized | 11 Comments »

Taking Sweets from Strangers!

September 9, 2012

Sweets from strangers - Fresh Milk Clothing Company5pm and I knew I had some more work to do but my brain was totally fried and I was exhausted so there was no point continuing unless I took a small break.

I decided I’d pop out quickly for a coffee and 2 minutes of fresh air so I ran around the corner to O’Connaill’s Coffee and Chocolate Cafe for a breather and a jolt of caffeine to keep me going for another while.

I ordered an Americano and while I was waiting a retired gentleman came behind me in the queue, with three large bars of chocolate in his hand.

“It’s a big weakness of mine” he piped up as we both waited in the queue. He said the chocolate in there was gorgeous and told me that last week he actually broke a tooth while satisfying his craving!

“Fair play, we all deserve a treat every now and then” I said to him. “Have you tried the dark chocolate from here yet?” he asked.

Before I knew it he had his giant bar of dark chocolate opened and two big pieces were broken off and put in my hand. What a gentleman!

It warmed me up to think that in a queue in a shop in Cork two strangers can have a polite conversation and end up sharing some chocolate.

Maybe sometimes it’s a good thing to take chocolate from strangers!

Greg Canty is a partner of Fuzion

The really cool image is courtesy of the Fresh Milk Clothing Company – you can buy t-shirts with this visual on them and many more of course!

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

 

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Posted in Ireland, Personal development, Positivity | 7 Comments »

Ray of Sunshine

September 7, 2012
Vision Express - Search for a Star Pupil

It’s all go !!

Our Dublin troop weren’t available so I found myself and Dee on a Saturday morning at 6 am with the car pointed in the direction of Belfast!

Our job was to oversee a clever Vision Express initiative at their store in Belfast – basically Vision Express were searching for a “Star Pupil“, a kid with a sense of style, bags of attitude and someone that was a star pupil in school.

We knew it was going to be a long, long day – after our “spin” to Belfast from Cork we had the initiative to oversee from 10am till 5pm.  The brief was to find 60 willing kids (with their parents permission of course) who would pose for pictures with a professional photographer and then answer a few questions. The kids had to be between the ages of 3 and 15.

With the help of a great promotional girl we had to grab up to 60 kids at the shopping centre, get their parents consent and then pass them to the photographer who had to do his best to encourage them to pose for photos wearing either their own glasses or some really cool ones that we had on display. Glasses have changed!

Once they were finished with the photos they had to choose their favourite (tough job!), which was then printed for them to take away. While helping them to choose their photos I had to ask them a few questions to discover their attitude about glasses and to find out some stand out moment from school.

Kids are great …. we had shy ones, bubbly ones and very honest ones!  “What was your proudest moment in school?” I would ask. Let’s put the question a different way “What day in school did you really feel good about yourself?” Some would look at you as they contemplated this question as if I had two heads !!

“The day we get our holidays” …. I must admit, good answer!

We did also hear about how proud they were on their first day at school, when they were made class prefect, when they helped a friend who fell in the school yard, when they were awarded the most improved child, when they did well at the sports day ….some great kids, all kids are great – it was fun, but it was tiring.

I was astounded at their attitudes about people who wear glasses – for many they are  now a “cool” fashion accessory and even those who don’t need glasses wanted to wear them.

Things have definitely moved on so far from when I was at school!

India - Ray of Sunshine After a few hours of standing in the shopping centre on a warm day my batteries were starting to flag and then I met the most special girl.

A concerned mother gently grabbed me by the arm and quietly whispered that her kid had a deformed (if I am using the wrong term I apologise) arm and hand that she was very self conscious of. She suggested that I might have a quiet word with the photographer.

I looked over at the girl being photographed and was surprised to see the most animated, confident and bubbly girl effortlessly moving from one great pose to another like an experienced model – surely this wasn’t the self conscious girl?

When I looked again I did notice one arm slightly shorter than the other and a hand that effectively had no fingers – no bother to this girl as she threw her arms in the air for some of her poses.

She bounced over to me, I’m guessing she was about 12.

“My name is …” – by a country mile she was the brightest and warmest kid I dealt with throughout the whole day. After she had chosen her pictures and answered the questions she helped her younger sisters through the same process. This kid was incredible, she had the most generous, fun spirit and there was the biggest ray of sunshine just beaming from her with every word and every smile.

Before I knew it I was home ..

Special girl.. thank you for the sunshine and making a long day so much shorter

Greg Canty is a partner of Fuzion

Fuzion are a PR firm with offices in Dublin and Cork

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Posted in Motivation, Photography, Positivity, PR | Leave a Comment »

Revenue Commissioners on Target?

August 28, 2012
Target Express

Parked up for good ?

It is absolutely terrible to hear that Target Express in operation since 1988 who employ 390 people between Ireland and Northern Ireland have ceased trading due to an attachment order by the Revenue on it’s bank accounts. Target Express are clearly a big operation operating 12 depots and distributing for companies such as L’Oreal, Smyths Toys and AWear.

In 2011 they won the Haulier of the Year Award and they opened a new depot in Monaghan – well done guys, we loved that positive, drive forward mentality (have a peep at their Facebook page entry).

On Target for better days!

For those who are not sure what this means, basically the Revenue have taken over the bank accounts of the company. According to reports there were delays with payments to the Revenue (as is the case with so many businesses) and clearly they got fed up of waiting, used their ultimate power and crashed in.

390 people did not get paid last Friday as a result according to reports. I’m just picturing drivers going home to their families petrified about the future and trying to solve the dilemma of shopping for groceries at the weekend.

The pieces I have read on the papers suggest that negotiations were ongoing with the Revenue but ultimately someone there made a call to say “enough is enough” and they have effectively shut the business and helped to put nearly 400 people on the dole queues.

Maybe the company gave the Revenue the two fingers for two long and were not playing ball, maybe the revenue were unreasonable and abused their power, ignoring the tough and very real circumstances this company (fuel prices have gone through the roof as well) found themselves in – this recession ain’t pretty!

Without knowing any of the detail there is a good chance that Target Express (who are definitely finding cash flow really tight) could not look to the bank for extra funding and the only real wiggle room was to delay payments to suppliers and yes, squeeze some extra credit from the Revenue. Would you do this instead of paying your people on a Friday?

The Revenue will argue that they are not a bank and should not be funding a business with their Vat and PAYE/PRSI. Viewed in one light they are right – however in the grand scheme of things they are possibly very wrong. I would prefer to see those arrears being paid over a reasonable time and 390 people still working.

The Revenue must not have the power to take such action without recourse to some “Job Protection” authority (run by business people please) who can access the situation and put something reasonable in place that will protect valid jobs where possible and feasible.

Surely if we believe our Government’s stated objective, creation and protection of jobs is the biggest objective that there is right now in Ireland – everyone’s objective must be aligned to this, including the Revenue Commissioners.

When it comes to “Power” the Revenue just have too much and I don’t trust that it is being used properly – the “Target” must be jobs and Power needs to be with those who can generate and protect jobs, not take them away.

Greg Canty is a partner of Fuzion

 

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

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Posted in Irish Economy, Irish Politics, Positivity, Recession | 35 Comments »

Hiding from the customer

August 26, 2012

Old Pub

We had a great evening in Kinsale.

Tommy, our buddy wanted to hook up with Liam Brown who was back from Florida for a few weeks to visit some family members. Liam, a successful businessman was originally from Castleisland in Kerry but emigrated to the States over 20 years ago. So a bunch of us met Liam at the Blue Haven for a meal on a really pleasant Saturday evening.

Tommy and Liam exchanged stories and banter about football, the hospitality industry, the economy and some tales about characters from the “old days”.

Liam said he will never come back to Ireland because of the climate but still loves visiting. The recent weather won’t change that mindset!

One of the tales was about a certain publican in Kerry who according to Liam was the laziest publican ever. He was at his worst in the mornings and on one particular occasion he had just opened his doors for business and a bunch of Americans landed, all of them looking for Irish coffees.

This was all a little too much for our publican so early in the day who was more interested in browsing through the sports pages. “Sorry folks, the boss is gone to the bank and he won’t be back for at least an hour” and the Americans went on their way!

Sometimes even the boss isn’t able for customers …

Greg Canty is a partner of Fuzion

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Posted in Customer Care, Hospitality, Ireland, Travel | 4 Comments »

13 Tips About Blogging & making some noise!

August 23, 2012
Blogging Tips by Greg Canty, Fuzion PR

What’s it to be?

Blogging is a great way to demonstrate your expertise and get your message out there and I find more and more we are encouraging our clients to jump in and let the world hear what they have to say ….make some noise!

Once your blog post is written it makes great raw material to feed your social media activity or even to pitch to the media if it is in relation to some issue that is quite topical. Interested readers (hopefully some of these are potential customers) can subscribe to your blog and will then get automatic updates whenever you post something new.

This all sounds fabulous and it really is once you are up and running but the tough part is starting!

Often I find a client will put a week’s thought, deliberation and work into a single blog post and the monumental effort will ensure that it will be their first and last – writing isn’t easy, it is a skill that needs to be practised the same as anything else and I guess it comes easier to some than to others.

What I can promise is that once you are up and running it will get easier and easier, but you have to allow yourself  a learning curve and you will soon discover a style that you are comfortable with.

Get it right and not only will you enjoy it, but it will help to bring you and your business visibility, which should help to bring you business.

Blooging Tips by Greg Canty, Fuzion PR

Power blog!

I have put together a few tips about blogging that might help you along the way!

  1. Keep the blog post as short as possible (just enough to make your point)
  2. Try to write in the “first person” if possible
  3. Avoid using technical/industry jargon (unless it is for a very technical audience)
  4. Keep it topical (where possible try making your point using some issue that is current)
  5. If the blog post is taking more than half an hour to write then you are probably thinking about it too much!
  6. Always try to include a relevant visual – people love pictures!
  7. Blog as frequently as possible (at least once a week is a good target)
  8. Mix your topics and don’t be afraid to let your personality shine through
  9. Keep a note book (your smart phone might help) to jot down ideas for blog posts – they will come to you at the strangest of times, believe me!
  10. Optimise your keywords – if you want your blog post to be found try to work the important keywords (the ones that a typical user might use if they were searching on the topic) into the blog heading, the first paragraph and your keyword tags. Make sure you categorise and tag your blog post once it is done.
  11. Include hyperlinks (simply the web addresses of other relevant content) – links to your website, links to the writers LinkedIn Account, links to other resources on the web.
  12. Blogging is just the start – make sure you push it out through your social media channels to get value for all of your hard work
  13. Unlucky for some but not for you – Go on …..www.wordpress.com , what are you waiting for?

Looking forward to reading what you have to say

Greg Canty is a partner of Fuzion

Fuzion offer Social Media Consultancy and Training in Dublin and Cork

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Posted in Blogging, Marketing, Personal development, SEO, Social Media, Web Marketing | 15 Comments »

Sometimes are you better off not saying the right thing?

August 19, 2012
terrible names for a business

Must be a great shop!

At this stage between the initial briefing meeting and the time spent researching and working on the plan we have spent well over a day’s work before we meet with the prospect and present our Marketing\PR plan for his business.

This is always a tricky stage for us – if you want to have a chance of winning the new account you have to punch in the time, put in the research, brainstorm and put all your best ideas and thinking into the plan.

We don’t get paid for this but we do obviously hope that the client likes what we are proposing and then engages us to execute the plan for them – Put your best foot forward if you are serious about winning the business.

We are two hours into our presentation and the prospect seems to be embracing the plan and it is all looking very positive. Our plans are always quite comprehensive and cover everything from being found on-line, a review of marketing collateral and website, a PR plan including ideas that should generate the right media coverage and a social media plan to accelerate all of these efforts.

At the end of the presentation, while everything seems to be going well there is one huge, risky issue that we wish to discuss.

“We feel your business name isn’t right” we gently explain to the prospect. This could be as delicate as telling someone you don’t like their child’s name!

“But what about my website, my branding, the money I’ve invested to date in advertising, pushing the name out there?” he asks.

“It is saying the wrong thing about your business, it is giving the wrong impression of what you are about” … he seems to be digesting and contemplating what we are saying , so we continue “we feel strongly that we would be doing a huge disservice to you if we drove on with a plan without first addressing the issue of your business name“.

After a few minutes he admitted that he always had some concerns about the name “fit” and we were the only (maybe foolish?) ones he met that had raised the issue.

We presented him with some alternative names that we felt more accurately captured the essence of the business offering and he seemed genuinely interested in them.

In truth we could have made life easier for ourselves and probably for him by just ignoring the business name issue and presenting a plan that was in keeping exactly to the brief.

He asked us to leave the plan with him to mull over while he went on leave and we are still waiting to hear…

Sometimes are you better off not saying the right thing?

(p.s. – We’ll let you know how this one turns out!)

Greg Canty is a partner of Fuzion

Fuzion are a PR firm with offices in Cork and Dublin

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Posted in Advertising, Business Planning, Marketing, PR, Social Media | 19 Comments »

Clannish – Who is missing out?

August 15, 2012
Taxis

Who’s the driver ?

I totally hate getting taxis, I hate having to leave our car in town and I hate having to get back into town the next day to collect the car …. I hate taxis! (and I do admit to being quite odd at times ..)

After a long day on the Cork Gourmet trail sampling food and wine in so many great establishments followed by a few visits to some popular watering holes, getting a taxi home was a necessity.

I wasn’t really in the mood for small talk but our driver was a really pleasant, cheery guy from Pakistan. He asked us about our day and on the journey to Balincollig he shared with us some of his life stories and his love of Cork.

It turns out our driver was a senior bank official in Pakistan but found that when he came to Ireland this experience counted for nothing so he ended up spending a few years packing shelves in Tesco. Acknowledging his lack of progression he decided to save hard and invest in a business course in Ireland, which he felt might change perceptions of him.

Despite doing really well on his course his job prospects never improved and he found he was lucky to even get to interview stage. At admits now he has pretty much given up on his career dreams and has settled for his job driving a taxi.

Always upbeat in his intelligent conversation with us, he did hope that his two kids, who according to himself are as Irish as we are, (complete with Cork accents!) would have better luck than he did in fulfilling their full potential.

It upsets him that the Irish are so “clannish” and while not being considered for jobs he is more than qualified for is quite upsetting,  he really gets upset when some people get in his taxi and jump out again when they see he is coloured.

He reckons that he is experiencing now what the Irish experienced many moons ago in other countries.

In the back seat of his taxi I reflected on what he was saying to us and quite honestly I couldn’t disagree with him or offer any great words of wisdom. At the end of our ride home we shook his hand, gave him a decent tip and encouraged him to keep chatting, sharing his story and changing minds one by one.

To use his very politely chosen words, maybe we are “clannish” and I wonder are we sometimes missing out on the best people because of our prejudices?

Greg Canty is a partner of Fuzion

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Posted in Ireland, Personal development, Racism, Recruitment | 43 Comments »

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