The Best Recruitment Video Ever

Increasingly agencies and suppliers trade and compete on their attitude and culture. Not so much, 'what they do' but rather 'what they are like to work with'. Of course, that’s the bit that makes them unique. That follows through to recruitment and employee engagement where employers need to make sure that the people they hire reflect their attitude and organisational dna.

This video was recorded a few years ago by Connected Ventures, a group of friends in New York who work for Vimeo, CollegeHumor, Busted Tees, and Defunker. This single video communicates a lot about a bunch of people that a brochure, logo or website can never say. I love it. Whether it’s used as a recruitment tool, a brand statement, an exercise in employee engagement, or – more likely – just something they ‘did for a laugh one night’ it says a lot about the organisation and its people.


And you'll probably watch it and say 'I want to work there' (I did).

Lip Dub - Flagpole Sitta by Harvey Danger from amandalynferri on Vimeo.

Look Beyond The Coffee Tweets!

Of course I’m not the first to suggest that Twitter has been THE game-changing website/ platform in 2009; it’s disrupted how we all communicate. There’s a lot of talk and speculation about how it might develop and how it will get monetised in the New Year. And (of course) I *still* get comments from friends and naysayers who don’t get it and assume Twitter is all about mundane tweets on how great the morning coffee is. But look beyond that, and you’ll see the real value of the platform.


Here’s just a snapshot on my Return Of Investment from Twitter in the last twelve months:

- I got asked to co-present a session at South By South West 2009.

- I had a random meeting over coffee with Phill Jupitus.

- In a great example of crowdsourcing, I co-wrote a song with Dave Stewart on Twitter.

- I connected with an awesome bunch of people from Japan, South Africa, Asia, the US & Europe and turned some of those relationships face to face meeting people from Tennessee to Edinburgh.

- I met a great bunch of people in London who I’ve started talking to about working relationships.

- I got an opportunity to meet and interview people like Sarah Beeny.

- I tweeted out who might want to review my book and got a ‘yes please’ from the MP Tom Watson.

- I drove record-breaking traffic to my blog, my site and my videos helped by re-tweets from people like Gary Vaynerchuk and Chris Brogan; great endorsements from people who are so big on Twitter.

- I discovered some great content through links to great posts, people and businesses who I otherwise would never have heard of. In turn I got great satisfaction from sharing those with my own contacts.

- I used it as a customer-relations tool to connect with brands like British Airways to bypass telephone call centres (with great success).

- I helped sell a few of my books and spread awareness to new readers, helped massively by followers who waved the Juggle flag for me (thanks guys).

- During the bad weather earlier this month I connected with people locally to check road conditions and whether the trains were running.

- I had random one-to-one exchanges with newsreaders, authors and newspaper columnists.

Tell me how else I’d got all of the above? And for free?

Of course, that return on investment does not come overnight (nor is it really ‘free’); it’s taken a big investment in time. It’s not just a few self-promotion tweets saying ‘look at my great blog’; it’s about putting in the hours in listening, sharing and connecting.

And if you do follow me on Twitter, I can tell you that amongst all the ‘meaningful’ stuff, I will continue to tweet about good coffee in 2010. Because, if there’s one thing I’ve learnt in the last 12 months, it’s the importance of authenticity. Happy New Year!

Being Direct In Business Relationships

Like any relationship, business ones can get muddied if neither party is clear about what they want or what they are looking for. That can lead to misunderstanding, frustration or conflict.

Being direct upfront about your expectations or requirements can save a lot of grief later on. Whether you’re having an initial meeting with a client or sounding out a supplier, let them know what you’re looking for and/or ask what they want from the relationship.

Tell them what you want:

‘I’m looking for a new supplier’.

‘I’m looking for a new client’.

‘I want to work with you’

‘I’d love a job with you’

Don’t waste time playing games.

It’s like the approach John Chambers, CEO of Cisco takes to meetings:

Meet Mr Chambers in the flesh, and the small talk lasts for about five seconds, until he asks: “What do you expect from this conversation?” (The Economist Aug 29th)

You might think that’s brash. But at least it’s focused. No room for ambiguity.

The Importance Of Customer Engagement.

It’s what we all aspire to – grabbing the customer’s attention and establishing a relationship. Whether you are Blur, Tesco, BMW, a radio station, an author, a freelancer, a small business, or the corner shop you need to engage with the customer. It could be via a download, it could be a TV commercial, it could be a print ad, an email, a video on YouTube, a website, a meeting or a shop window; but whatever the platform, it’s about communicating and connecting with an audience.

Take the shop analogy: you have your shop window to sell your wares but the real potential for engagement comes from when you walk in the shop and connect with the person behind the counter. When they attempt to build a relationship. Whatever the economic challenges of the marketplace in 2009, this is where the independent shopkeepers and boutiques have the potential for the upper hand over the big stores and supermarkets. It’s that personal intimate service that you could rarely get in a huge hypermarket. In a small shop where the proprietor might be in the store herself, and with a constant and small number of staff, meaningful relationships can be established with the customer. The kind of connection that will make you a loyal customer, coming back for more.

Last week I went in to two – very different – (very small) independent shops. The first, to buy some swimwear. I walked in, the shopkeeper was at the till pouring over some paperwork. I attempted to make a connection but he didn’t look up; zero acknowledgement, no hello. There was a rack of items I wanted to browse but a stepladder had been left against it and it was too difficult to look. Sure, I could have asked for help, but there’d been no attempt at engagement so I decided to walk out. #Fail.

Later that day I went in to the Monocle shop in London, a small concept store selling Monocle-branded items and a small selection of menswear and luggage. I was probably in the shop no more than 5 minutes but by the time I left, I’d shaken hands with the shop assistant, we’d exchanged names and we’d talked about the shop, its products, its other stores. He’d initiated that engagement by welcoming me in. Okay I didn’t buy anything that time, but I’ll go back for sure. #Success.

I know consumers have strong views on this subject. Many people tell me they would rather shop in silence than have a shop assistant talk to them. But this is not just about shopping. This is about business and brand relationships, it’s about taking the initiative to engage the customer in that valuable first minute in your store/ on your website/ in the meeting/ wherever.

So make sure your brand, your website, your brochure, your shop – or whatever medium of communication it is – succeeds in engaging with the customer. And don’t do the business of equivalent of not looking up from the counter (and certainly don’t leave the equivalent of a stepladder across your products).

When There's A Delay, The Importance Of Saying Something (Anything…)

My tube journey on Friday morning was a familiar tale. Delays on the circle line, a 20 minute wait for a train at Tower Hill. As passengers got agitated, checking their watches and the indicator boards, we were treated to repeated recorded announcements saying ‘the circle line is running normally’).

There was zero communication, no tannoy announcement saying when the next train was due, so we could consider other options. Nothing. In the circumstances, even an announcement saying ‘Sorry, we have no idea why the delay is, we’re looking into it’ would be better than nothing. It would have been reassuring, and it would have been courteous.

And – of course – the same is true in business. Don’t give your customers a Circle Line communication void when there’s a problem. Tell them what’s going on, tell them you’re looking into it, tell them if you’re anticipating a delay. I've seen too many suppliers guilty of not bothering; they're scared about how to fix the problem so they say nothing. Even small companies – where communication should be easier – fail to get back to you; they don’t know anything their end, so they don’t know what to say to the customer.

The answer is simple. As soon as you spot a problem, a delay or a headache that’s going to impact the customer you jump on it right away. Tell them, ‘we have a small problem, but we’re on the case and we’ll get back to you soon’. Keep them appraised at every stage.

How did I resolve my frustration on my wait for the tube? I marched up to the ticket office, found a member of staff and asked what was going on and why we weren’t being kept in touch. He radio’d control and asked what was going on, and I got my news on when the next train was.

A good move but should’ve done that from the start. I felt like grabbing the tannoy and telling all the passengers myself. Next time maybe I will....

Make Your Company Accessible (& Make Sure You Check Your Info@ Emails)

Whether you are a one-person company or a huge corporation and you’re in the service business, make sure your customers can – easily - get in touch. Put a contact number or email address on every page of your website. Make your organisation – and the executives within it – accessible.

If you don’t feel confident about publishing the email addresses of your executives, then ensure you do have an info@ address (or a contactus@ or talktous@ or hello@). Some way of getting in touch.

But that is only half the story. Having a generic enquiry email address is only effective if it is someone’s responsibility to action. Make sure someone is checking – and dealing with – your info@ address.

It might be an enquiry about a piece of new business or a customer complaint. Either way, it matters.

I had a disappointing customer experience in a restaurant/cafe. A company who failed in their brand promise. I thought they had a good brand and they would be grateful for me talking the time and trouble to feedback. I wanted to email the CEO but could not find his email address in the public domain so I wrote to him c/o the info@ email address that I found on the company website.

That was 13 days ago.
And I have heard nothing back. No acknowledgement. Nothing.

And that lack of response has dented their brand equity*. It might only be feedback over a £2 cup of coffee but that oversight has the potential to damage their reputation. So stay on top of customer feedback, whatever business you are in.

*but I’m giving them a second chance and have filled in an enquiry form on their website: let's see if they are listening.....

Knowing When It’s Time To Say Sorry

How often do you say the ‘S’ word? To your partner at home or to your boss or to your team, or to your customer? Sorry can go a long way. If - that's a big IF - it's heartfelt it can mean a lot and go a long way to address a long queue or slow service. If it doesn't feel genuine, it's worth zero.

London's ‘Evening Standard’ newspaper has been accused of being out of touch with this great city for some time. It's one reason I had not picked it up for years, it had become negative and cynical. So when the title recently got bought by Alexander Lebedev I was pleased to hear the new owner and editor designate acknowledge this fact and declare that under new ownership it would change its style. Today it is re-launching, after a brave ad campaign from McCann Erickson.

Ads saying ‘Sorry For Being Negative’, ‘for losing touch’, ‘for being complacent’ have appeared in tube and train stations around town. Is it just a creative ad campaign or is it a genuine re-engineering of a brand? That is the $6m question but the honesty of a brand that says sorry on a huge billboard at a train station feels pretty serious to me.

Like any marketing campaign or brand promise, the challenge is whether they will live up to that claim and only time will tell in the pages of the newspaper. I’ll tell you that when I pick a copy up this evening...

Getting Better At Internal Communication

Here's my 90 second take on addressing that age-old problem in every organisation - internal communication