Kevin Kelly's Blog

Jobseekers – 10 tips to getting that job

admin — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 12:57:44 +0000

This post was motivated by yet another TV programme “Frontline” that managed to add to the general despair and hopelessness that currently exists in the environment.
The reality is there is hope – the world is a small place and people have opportunities to get that job or create one.
The reality is also in the absence of political leadership, we need the media to be presenting pictures of possibility not just continuing to be prophets of doom and gloom.
So what can jobseekers do today to enhance their efforts to finding or creating a job – take 10!
1. Take responsibility – invest in the blame game and dilute the focus and energy required for getting that job – yes we have a complete absence of political leadership – yes we have a media that feeds off doom and gloom – nothing else but they cannot change your life – only you can choose that reality.

2. Realise that all is not lost – the majority of people cannot answer the following question at an interview “why do you want the job?” Mastery at this question will put you in the top ten per cent.

3. Go for a job in your industry of choice – don’t just go for any job energetically interviewers will know that you don’t really want it, and will wait for someone who truly does. Be prepared to work at a junior level to follow your dream – it is easier getting up the ladder than in the door.

4. Build a compelling book of evidence that will prove you truly want the job this should include highlighting past experience and Web presence on the topic.

5. Become an expert in your area – follow the 10,000 hour rule invest three hours a day on researching your passion – open your mind to creating not just finding a job.

6. Leverage power of the net to develop expert status -set up google alerts on your topics of interest- develop your own virtual research team for free.

7. Imagine attending an interview with expert status in your field – opens up subcontract possibilities – at minimum you have differentiated yourself from the competition.

8. Develop interpersonal skills simply open your eyes and be led by interviewer’s body language not your notes – awareness is key – if they are asleep they are asleep! So change strategy or choose to travel the insanity loop where you keep doing the same thing over and over again expecting a different result.
9. Too often interviewers recruit those that mirror their own inadequacies or brilliance -so talent doesn’t always win the day. Be aware and mirror where they are at.

10. Have faith -true talent will always find a way.

Ten more tips to follow in due course.

Quote of the week

admin — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 13:42:12 +0000

“I strongly believe that you can’t win in the marketplace unless you win first in the workplace.”
Doug Conant CEO Campbells

From the brilliant to the ridiculous!

admin — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 11:16:35 +0000

To gain that competitive edge you need to be able to make customers experience memorable for all the right reasons of course.

Last week, I keynoted at an event in New York in the Hotel Jumeriah. When I was booking in, the customer service attendant presented me with a hot towel – just the pick me up after a long transatlantic flight.
Different – definitely; memorable and clearly a great promotional tool for the hotel! (I have blogged and tweeted about what could be described as a great example at how to exceptionalise a moment of truth with your customer.)

Have you spent time thinking about how you could exceptionalise your service?

Clearly the following case study is an example of a company who clearly haven’t even grasped what customer service means!

Just recently my father who still runs a small shop and petrol station asked me to follow up on difficulties he was having with some key deliveries.

In summary, he had been waiting on a significant credit to his account for some months now.

The customer service attendant conceded a refund was the appropriate outcome but didn’t have the power to effect change.

Her direct line manager accepted my father’s account should have been credited, but she hadn’t the power to make the necessary corrective action either! She had referred the account with recommendation up the line. That was August 2009 – two weeks ago my Dad’s account was suspended, the credit still hadn’t been sorted out!

On his instruction, I contacted the company again.

The manager was out on holidays so no one could try to fix the problem in the short term as they had no power. One new customer service attendant had no record of the ongoing communication that was happening between us and this organisation!

Also there was no interaction between accounts and customer service so regardless of what discussions were taking place with customer service, accounts wouldn’t change their position on overdue amounts.

And finally from the bizarre to the ridiculous! On my last call after another frustrating encounter, I hung up the line and decided to call my Dad. When I lifted the receiver, I noticed that the line was still live to this company. It turns out the attendant had failed to disconnect the line! I listened to a long conversation in which, I was branded as a liar as the girl had no email record of past conversations, she wondered who would speak to me the following day as I was demanding action, and she mused whether or not she was suitable for customer service to her colleagues!

So what was happening in this organisation?

Customer service reps and managers with no power to make any type of decision at source – a recipe for PR disaster. ( To put it in context we are talking about an amount of a few hundred euros – very little compared to the brand damage incurred.)
A policy of hoping the problem will go away.
No deadlines on action.
No transparency on accountability.
Bottom line – probably the worse example of poor customer service that I have ever experienced.

It made me realise that to assume that everybody still grasps the need for exceptional customer service in challenging times is a major oversight.
This organisation needed more than a motivational speaker!

Leadership Wisdom

admin — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 20:24:30 +0000

Five practices of Exemplary Leadership

1. Model the behaviour you expect from other people.

2. Inspire others to share your vision and dreams.

3. Challenge the process by experimenting and taking risks.

4. Help others act by fostering collaboration and building trust.

5. Encourage the hearts of your people to carry on.

Source The Leadership Challenge – James M Kouzes and Barry Z Posner

Great advice – easy to understand, challenging to integrate.

Favourite line – “you are the most important leader in the organisation.”

Successful companies have leaders at all levels thus the relevance of this simple sentence cannot be underestimated.

Get them complaining!

admin — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 04:54:26 +0000

Complaints represent a unique opportunity to strengthen your relationship with your customers!
An unhappy customer whose complaint was satisfactorily resolved will tell up to five people about the positive treatment they received.
The fact is that most people don’t expect complaints to be handled well, so when you train your team to detonate this potential time bomb at base, you immediately exceed your customer’s expectations.
Top companies empower their employees to respond at the contact point wherever possible. For example: the Ritz-Carlton hotel chain authorises their staff to deal with any problem at source and to implement or create any customer satisfaction solution that will cost under $2,000.
If the scale of the complaint means that the employee needs to seek counsel with a superior, communication is key. The customer must be kept informed, given a detailed timeline and be told when they can expect a resolution of the issue. Then the challenge is to execute the planned resolution even more efficiently so that you really start building bridges!
I believe that we need to do better than merely solving complaints. We need to be proactive at eliciting them. Remember, 96% of dissatisfied people never complain to you directly but leave anyway! (source: Technical Assistance Research Programme, U.S.A.)
We need to engage in what I describe as ‘reverse selling’: extract complaints and ideas from your customers and integrate this feedback into a new product offering and sell your target audience back ‘their’ product. The customer now has an aspect of ownership in the product and will be much more inclined to buy it. This was the strategy I successfully employed to dramatically increase the turnover in many of the companies I worked for, before setting up my own marketing consultancy in 1990.
Be aware that the current canned attempt that some service organisations use to assess customer feedback is not sufficient. Asking “how was your meal?” in a lifeless voice with eyes firmly focused on the cash register won’t fool anybody! Recently, I ordered a sandwich in a five star hotel – to be precise a chicken salad sandwich! The friendly waitress arrived with effectively speaking two slices of ordinary brown bread, a few slices of dry chicken inside and lettuce. The plate was garnished by crisps which were stale. As the waitress was very warm I was in two minds whether or not I should complain. Anyway when she collected the plate she asked me the normal did you enjoy your meal to which I replied in a friendly yet “obvious” way – “it was alright.” Note you didn’t need to be a motivational speaker to work out what I was really saying was “It wasn’t good enough!” She replied “that’s great” and walked away! The following week I decided to email the manager – on his second email after the usual programmed attempt to fob me off he said to contact him the next time I was staying and he will ensure that the experienced is much better the next time around! Note I won’t be going back there ever and by the way the plain sandwich was €9.80.
Certainly not the Ritz Carlton!

Kevin Kelly International Motivational Speaker and Best Selling Author. For the past two decades Kevin has keynoted as a motivational speaker at conferences in Europe, Middle and Far East and the US. For more http://www.kevinkellyunlimited.com

Create A Mastermind Alliance

admin — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 04:53:04 +0000

Why restrict yourself to the narrow “I” when the whole world is yours. Hindu Wisdom
As a leader, entrepreneur or businessperson have you pinpointed potential mentors and teachers who have walked the path before you? Why reinvent the wheel when you can gain access to people who can shorten the journey and help you avoid the inevitable potholes.
Creating a successful alliance is very much dependent on your current mindset. For example, are you open to learning from everybody you meet, regardless of age, education, wealth, race or gender? Do you believe that the teacher can become the student and vice versa?
You will find that the best people are always the most accessible. There are zero degrees of separation when you have the right intent. Approaching potential teachers with a win-win mentality will help bring your career to the next level.
So who do you select?
If you’re going to climb a mountain and you need a guide, you should look for somebody with personal experience and local knowledge rather than a person who dreams, talks, writes, paints or sings about climbing the mountain!
The same analogy can be applied to any challenge you face. In life and in business, a mentor with personal experience and local knowledge is much more valuable than one who is all talk.
Seek out the sherpa as opposed to the superstar!
Based on my own personal experience reaching out for help from those that have walked the path before, the best people are always the most accessible. Some time back I contacted one of the most successful people in this industry – their advice and inspiration give me the roadmap to excelling in this field.
Kevin Kelly International Motivational Speaker and Best Selling Author. For the past two decades Kevin has keynoted as a motivational speaker at conferences in Europe, Middle and Far East and the US. For more http://www.kevinkellyunlimited.com

Being Authentic, the New Strategy for Success

admin — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 04:45:33 +0000

Research completed by Harvard psychology professors Nalini Ambady, Ph.D., and Robert Rosenthal, Ph.D. confirms our deepest suspicions – the time you’ve got to make an impact on either internal or external customer is reducing!
Observers viewed three thin slices of each professor’s behaviour – in 10-second clips from the beginning, middle and end of a class – and then rated the professors’ confidence, energy and warmth. They found that these ratings predicted with amazing accuracy the average student rating taken at semester’s end. Thinner slices – three two-second clips – also yielded ratings similarly congruent with student evaluations.
John A. Bargh, a researcher from NYU claims the assessment happens within a quarter of a second.
Think about it – in this timeframe there is only one sure-fire way that you will make an instant impact – you have to be real.
Remember there is a direct link between your physiology and psychology so instantaneously people know your natural disposition.
Other research has shown that, for most employees, the most important person in an organisation is their direct line manager and not the CEO. The relationship built between managers and their line will have a major impact on your bottom line.
People do as you do, not as you say. Whoever you are, whatever you do will be mirrored in your staff’s activities. If you want authentic, positive, proactive employees, you need to be in this space yourself first to facilitate the process.
Now more than ever, communication is key – dialogue rather than monologue. An authentic leader keeps employees informed of the ups and downs of the business and invests in their development. An authentic leader also recruits right – they are unfazed by and celebrate talent.
To build a business as a motivational speaker, you need to show that you truly walk the path of your philosophies. There is no point in directing people to live the dream if you have never set a challenging goal in your life.
So how do we become authentic, real?
Start by taking the important trip towards self-awareness. Stanford Business School Advisory Board, reports that self-awareness has been recognised as the most important capability for leaders to develop.

Kevin Kelly is an Internationally acclaimed motivational speaker and authority on entrepreneurship, sales, leadership, creativity and personal excellence.
www.kevinkellyunlimited.com

“Hope” – the intangible asset.

admin — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 09:52:14 +0000

One major challenge highlighted from convenience research conducted with clients and colleagues around the world in 2009 was the inundation of negative stimuli that they were faced with on a daily basis. The bottom line was that “hope” that intangible asset that breeds optimism, perseverance and action in the face of adversity was in short supply.

The lack of leadership in political circles coupled with the media’s admitted penchant for sensationalism and bad news meant that business leaders, entrepreneurs, employees were given no time out from the challenges in the business environment.

In the absence of positive authentic leadership from both sources, it is important we take personal responsibility and focus on what we can do to inject more positivity into the current toxic environment.

2010 is a year for celebrating businesses, entrepreneurs, individuals who excel in the face of adversity, who persevere in the context of their dreams, who share and collaborate when the chips are down. Whether they are in your local community or in far distant lands, honour their efforts.
Be a “hope carrier” in 2010 – have a great year full of magic and adventure!

2010 Ten Strategies to Succeed

Persevere

Focus

Be transparent

Take Action

Lead – the authentic way

Communicate – the good, bad and ugly

Colloborate

Think differently

Exceed – how can you exceptionalise your business and exceed expectations.

Enjoy

Customer Service review 2009

admin — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 22:05:39 +0000

“Never Assume because it makes an ass of u and me,” some advice given to me as I started my working life over two decades ago.
Well in the context of customer service standards in 2009, as experienced in my own life, the advice was never more relevant.
I assumed that companies would be aiming at exceeding customer expectations at each contact point with the customer – that their focus would be on truly wowing the customers in a bid to retain and attract their scarce resources. I thought that organisations would truly welcome complaints as a unique opportunity to strengthen the relationship with the client.
In the main, I assumed wrong!
The car business may be in crisis but it hasn’t stopped them from forgetting to ring back customers who are looking for information, or indeed quoting prices that appeared to get an audience in more opulent times!
The hotel industry is also suffering – one particular five star guaranteed that my next experience would be much better if I contacted him ( the manager) after I checked in! He was obviously making a few too many assumptions.

I passionately believe that companies should look at customer service as a potential competitive advantage, a unique selling point in a very “me too” market. Remember the ground breaking research compiled by Amar Bhide and his team at Columbia University which showed that 88% of the breakthrough companies in the US were the result of exceptional execution of an ordinary idea. Why not exceptionalize your service and see what happens to your bottom line?
In the context of exceptional service, I must highlight a recent experience with Traveller Insurance and more specifically their Claims Representative Angela Hanrahan.
Unfortunately, a feew days earlier,I managed to enter and remain in a flood with my car! The bottom line was the engine and car was a write off. Not the ideal Christmas present, but at the end of the day it is only a car.
As a person that has never made an insurance claim in my life; I have to admit I was a little concerned about what may happen.

From my very first phonecall to throughout the negotiations with the assessor, to receiving the claims cheque; I can say I experienced exceptional customer service. What were the elements- 1. a compassionate ear 2. ongoing communication and never MIA – whenever Angela promised to ring me back, she did so on time every time. Whenever she promised a resolution to whatever issue, again the resolution happened on time every time.

Overall as I articulated to the lady in question, she was a fantastic ambassador for the company. She delivered what I expect from every interface with any organisation – the challenge is can the other companies now raise their bar? Can we call 2010 the year of exceptional customer service?

Communication – the critical skill

admin — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 12:51:05 +0000

“Effective employee communication is a leading indicator of financial performance and a driver of employee engagement. Companies that are highly effective communicators had 47% higher total returns to shareholders over the last five years compared with firms that are the least effective communicators.”
Ref: 2009/2010 Communication ROI study.
http://www.watsonwyatt.com/commroi/

No major shocks in these survey results – communication is one of the key skills in life and business. A skill that should be getting more focus within the education system which continues to fail both industry and society by focusing on grades.
Interpersonal and Intrapersonal intelligences are the two most highly paid intelligences in the world. Those high on these intelligences have the necessary life toolbox to excel in life and be able to transcend the inevitable personal challenges that will arrive on their doorstep.

Time for some real vision on this subject.