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Flying the friendly skies? 7th August 2009
The awesome power of social communication is neatly demonstrated by the recent story about Canadian country & western musician Dave Carroll who let the world know of his shabby treatment at the hands of United Airlines after baggage handlers damaged his guitar at Chicago’s O’Hare airport.
After months of phone calls and letters and the airline’s persistent refusal to pay compensation, Dave Caroll wrote a song about his experience, posting it – along with the video - on You Tube and Facebook. Four million hits later, “United Breaks Guitars” has become a world-wide sensation, forcing the airline to backtrack and belatedly offer to replace the guitar and promise free flights. Dave understandably refused the offer.
While the adverse publicity has been a public relations disaster for United, which has seen its share price dive, the story has propelled Dave and his little-known band, Sons of Maxwell into the media spotlight, resulting in appearances on US TV networks and rocketing album sales.
It’s a salutary lesson on the speed and potential reach of adverse publicity through social networking sites. To stop a customer drama swiftly turning into an online crisis, businesses need to be in touch with customer complaints before they even reach the social networking sites - and respond fast. Otherwise, they could end up singing the blues.
Peter Coë
You’re hired! 23rd June 2009
Not every prospective employer puts the candidates through the Alan Sugar experience but in the current employment market making the most of that hard-won job interview has never been more essential.
For many years, we have coached senior people in the art of giving great presentations and much of the advice we give our clients can be applied equally to the nerve-wracking task of the job interview.
We are judged by most people in the following way:
55% - On how we look
38% - On how we speak
7% - On what we say
In other words, non-verbal communication is even more important than content; not least as people invariably decide whether they like you or not within the first 30 seconds or so of meeting you! So here are my top tips for making the right impression:
How you look
• Appearances matter, so dress is important. Think carefully about what you’re going to wear and dress for the role for which you’re being interviewed
• Your face reflects your feelings and attitude, so smile - it helps!
• Eye contact is essential, so do look at and engage the interviewer as you answer questions as much as when you’re listening
• Adopt a relaxed posture - but not too laid back!
• Do use hand gestures to emphasise your point - but don’t fidget
How you sound
Your voice is a powerful tool, giving an impression of your personality as well as communicating your thoughts and feelings
• Varying the pitch, pace and tone of your speech (voice modulation) will make what you’re saying more interesting to the listener
• Don’t swallow your words – and avoid tailing off at the end of a sentence
What you say
• Be clear and concise in your answers
• Be as honest and straightforward as you can. Remember, your body language will give you away if you lie or prevaricate
Peter Coë
Bing – the sound of found 5th June 2009
What do you think of when you hear the word Bing?
Depending on your age and inclination, the words Crosby or Chandler may spring to mind. But Microsoft’s version of Bing is their shiny new internet search engine, set to challenge Google’s market dominance.
Why Bing? According to Microsoft, it suggests the sound of the ringing of a bell at an “aha” or “found it” moment.
Replacing Microsoft’s previous Live Search and MSN Search services, Bing promises to improve on the percentage of search queries that remain unanswered on Google. It offers some extra features too. You can preview videos, for example, without leaving the site.
Bing defines itself as “a search engine that finds and organises the answers you need so you can make faster, more informed decisions”. The Microsoft marketeers go further, claiming that Bing offers consumers a better service for more complex internet tasks, such as putting together a holiday flights and accommodation package or comparison shopping for high value consumer items.
Microsoft is investing heavily to establish an image for its latest offering with a $100 million advertising campaign behind the launch. The goal, of course, is for Bing to makes its way into the collective unconscious as much as Google did and make it into the language as a synonym for web search. But it faces tough competition. What was the first thing I did to find out more about Bing? I googled it.
Peter Coë
Plain Speaking 23rd March 2009
In an effort to cut down on jargon, the Local Government Association (LGA) has just issued a list of 200 words which councils should avoid when communicating with the public. The list includes such horrors as predictors of beaconicity and re-baselining, although the seemingly innocuous customer and ambassador also come under fire.
In a digital world we are bombarded with information during every waking moment and it’s often a struggle to sift through the sales and marketing-speak to find the people and services we really need. An unlikely ally, though, in the war on jargon comes from Twitter, the social networking service launched back in 2006. This blogging phenomenon was used to devastating effect by Barack Obama’s campaign team in the lead-up to last year’s presidential election. And celebrity users, such as Stephen Fry, Demi Moore and Puff Daddy, have put Twitter on track to become the third largest social network after Facebook and MySpace.
Twitter encourages brevity by restricting users to only 140 characters per ‘tweet’. An ingenious application of this constraint was invented by US business strategy and IT consultant, Stow Boyd. During a recent industry conference he only accepted meetings with start-up companies who could tweet him a one-line summary of what they were offering. He found this a speedy and useful way to make contact with the right people. Dubbed the twitpitch, if forces companies vying for business to focus on what they do and reduce their message down to its key points.
The LGA would approve. No room for provider vehicle or gateway review in a successful twitpitch. If you can make your point simply and fast you won’t only be more interesting, you’ll also save everyone’s time and money.