After a few years posting videos on Youtube, we have decided on the revolutionary idea of putting them all on the one channel!!

www.youtube.com/kevinkellyspeaker

Please be patient with us but we hope to have all in the one location within the month.

Already posted is the keynote from The Great Place to Work Conference in Ireland and just a few days ago an excerpt from the Closing Address to MDRT in Korea last year.

In addition to the Youtube Channel, we are in the process of redesigning and upgrading the site – we hope you will like the new look and feel – again this project should be complete within the month.
If you have any suggestions on what should feature on the new site, I would love to hear them on kevin@kevinkellyunlimited.com

On other news we have just finished our new book “CODE Y” a graphic novel which we hope and expect will redefine how information is presented to tomorrow’s leaders.

For now thanks for visiting and chat soon.

A few weeks back, I secured an excellent and first contract from an agent. How long do you think I have been speaking to the same gentleman?

Would you be surprised if I told you ten years?

The speaker business is like most – a relationship business. It takes alot of time and persistence to shape opportunities for yourself and when they arrive you must exceed the customers expectations….exceptionalise your offering as I have highlighted on many times on this blog.

Understanding this you will understand how I was a little surprised by the following sales statistics ( apologies to the source but I have mislaid it.)

49% sales people give up after one rejection

95% after 3 rejections

8.4 rejections to get an appointment

One could argue that in the current times these stats become even more challenging.

What is the learning point? I believe if you have talent, if you have a product that can add value to your customers, you need to model off your early years – when every failure was bringing you closer to success, when indeed failure didnt enter your vocabulary, it was feedback -when perseverance paid off!
Embrace the child today!

Have you got customers….or friends?

Remember customers leave…friends dont.

Companies develop friendships by exceeding your expectations….by going outside the traditional customer/client relationship. They make the transaction memorable…an experience.
Recently I keynotted in Slovenia and stayed at the warm and inviting Hotel Arena right on the slopes in Maribor. The attention to detail was fantastic – the staff and management team of the highest standard – congratulations Iris on your efforts.

On my return I went to collect my car in The Clarion Hotel beside the Airport. A huge queue had formed at the reception area – most of whom were checking in. Unfortunately there is no machine where you can pay for your ticket.
There were two girls on duty at that time, and were stretched to put it mildly. In the midst of this their work colleague came out of the room behind reception – took a paper from the desk and walked back into the back office.

I was aghast – any organisation with a minimum of customer service in their blood would ensure that if a queue forms, all hands on deck to clear it – the customer comes first. Not here!

To add to the problem a few people went directly to the desk to get their ticket sorted breaking the queue in the process – the first person was sorted the second advised to get back in the queue with a sharp tongue and extremely negative body language.
No friendship here, I will be going elsewhere the next time!

Ireland remains a hotbed for entrepreneurs and the benefits of this can be maximised through a simple change in attitude, international speaker and author Kevin Kelly tells Marie Madden With the IMF moving in and the Government on the verge of exiting, it would be reasonable to think that the outlook for business in the country is gloomy.
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However, last week’s announcement that US Internet company Genband is opening a base in Galway with the creation of 100 new jobs was a firm example of the positive developments that are going on.

Encouraging this surge in optimism, entrepreneur and motivational speaker Kevin Kelly travelled to Galway last week to speak to owners of the local SMEs and the unemployed about improving their prospects even in the face of a recession.

The seminar, hosted by Meitheal Forbartha na Gaeltachta, taught participants about designing personal presentations that would set them apart, how to develop an entrepreneurial mindset and bring their business to the next level. Kevin believes that many businesspeople are shying away from pushing their company forward as they are waiting for a turn in the market’s fortunes.

I m very much of the proactive school of thought and I think one of the many problems in the market at the moment is that there are too many people waiting for the apple to fall off the tree.
I think a better approach is to say well, what can we do?.

I am actually in the middle of one of my better years, believe it or not. But I can tell you what it is down to, one word: perseverance. In the context of my business, it is about building on existing contacts and letting them know what is happening positively in your life.

A study done by Columbia University in 2006 tracked the most profitable, breakthrough companies in America and found that 88 per cent of the companies  success was as a result of exceptional execution of an ordinary idea, while just 12 per cent were inventions.

Drawing from this, Kevin stresses that it is the day-to-day delivery of services to clients that makes the most significant difference to a businesss fortunes and the relationship with the customer is vital.

One of the things that businesspeople can learn is that customers will leave you, but friends wont. My focus is on building friendships with all my key clients and that tends to transcend recession. I dont talk about customers because I think that signifies a commodity. I talk about friendships. If you go into a shop and you feel welcomed and appreciated, then you feel more of an onus to shop with them when you have the money.

I think there is a huge irony out there at the moment where people talk about improving their customer service. If your relationships were authentic in the first place then that wouldn’t be an issue. If you genuinely wanted to provide real value then it wouldn’t be an issue, and, if you are genuinely always improving what you offer, then it wouldn’t be an issue.

Kelly uses the example of complaints from the customer as one area that businesses can make themselves stand out. Rather than seeing them as an inconvenience, he says that the most successful companies excel in this area and a complaint should be used as unique opportunity to strengthen the relationship with the client.

While he is eternally optimistic when it comes to business, his demeanour changes when the subject of politics is concerned. He feels that the media has a strong role to play in providing positive and encouraging news to stimulate those with a contribution to make, while there is also a drastic need for reform and a strengthening of leadership in order to restore confidence in the markets.

The reality is if you look at the global entrepreneurial monitor, Ireland remains very much a hotbed for breeding entrepreneurs, so I think there is a huge hotbed here. The problem at the moment is that there is a lack of confidence and trust in the economy because of a complete absence of leadership. There needs to be huge reform of the political system.

It is hilarious, ridiculous and insane to have a teacher over the Dept. of Industry and Commerce, for example. There should be a specialisation in the context of politicians, where a top health professional is over the Dept. of Health and an entrepreneur is in charge of the Dept. of Industry and Commerce. A civil servant has a completely different mentality to an entrepreneur; one believes in security and one believes in risk, so that’s not going to work. You need real authentic leadership and nothing less is acceptable as far as I am concerned.
Galway Independent