If you have answered yes to any of the above questions then Project Resource would highly recommend joining us for a FREE breakfast seminar at Villa Park on 23^rd, November, 2011.

We have enlisted Mark Rhodes, an inspiring coach and mentor to deliver a seminar that focuses on providing you with useable tools and techniques that you can be used to improve both your personal performance and your teams way of working.

“Mark Rhodes is proud to be a hand-picked Millionaire Mentor for the EBA, chosen by Bev James, Founder & MD.  The Entrepreneurs’ Business Academy is a joint venture with BBC TV’s Dragons’ Den star, James Caan”

Mark has been described as: “One of the creme de la creme of business mentors…..to raise your business to the next level” (Careers Magazine September 2010); and his seminar will focus on:

• What makes a person successful
• The mindset for success
• Fear of failure
• Barriers to success

Dates, venue and how to reserve a place:

The seminar will be held at Aston Villa FC on 23rd, November, 2011

Arrival – between 8.00am and 8.30am (For networking & light breakfast)

Seminar – between 8.30 am and 9.30am (with the opinion to network until 10.30am if desired).

To reserve a space please e-mail Claire Prince on c.prince@project-resource.co.uk

One fiercely competitive sector that we can all relate to is that of the supermarket. It seems that everywhere you turn each is trying to shout louder about how they provide the best value for money and the cheapest basket. However not one is targeting the core area of service.

They are guilty of making the same mistake as many other businesses; focusing on the short term hit rather than the long term gain.

The profile of a consumer that allows themselves to be driven on cost alone is fickle. The one week that you do not offer the best value you loose that custom. Surely it is better to drive your business forward by focusing on a constant and building a long term loyal customer base.

Savvy businesses are now making the link between customer service and increasing sales. By truly listening to what your customer base wants and acting upon their requirements you can quickly create an environment and experience that is hard for them to leave; even if your competitors offer a tin of beans cheaper one week!

By making sure you are covering the following four points you can add more value to your business than any cost reducing exercise:

1)       Seek feedback – easily said, but not always easily done. But making time to ask your customer base how you’re doing and how you can improve is really worthwhile. It may even throw up some surprising feedback.

2)       Listen, really listen – make sure that you are really understanding the point that they are making, not hearing what you want to hear.

3)       Appreciate – both the feedback that you have been provided with by acting upon it; but their future custom too. A simple thank you goes a long way.

4)       Treat employees well – a no-brainer, no one wants to buy from an un-happy employee. An engaged employee can be your biggest asset.

These are simply the tip of the ice-berg. There are many other customer service hints and tips available; and I’d welcome you to share you ideas via the comments box below!

“More and more people are choosing freelancing, recognising that it strikes the right balance between work and life in the 21st century, and as we go for economic growth this Government is getting right behind them.” Prime Minister David Cameron, in a letter for National Freelancers Day 2010

This year National Freelancers Day will be on 23rd November 2011.  The goals for the day are:

• To help freelancers talk knowledgeably about the value they bring to British industry;
• To help British industry tap into that value;
• To secure the support of ministers who can help stimulate the sector; and
• To create a useful flow of information and a more sophisticated talent market.

For more information on the days events click here.

If you are, or have ever considered, working on a freelance basis then take a look at the PCG (The professional association for UK freelancers, contractors and consultants) quiz that checks if you truly are Fit to Freelance.

To find our more information about contracting then visit our website where you can also find a range of the latest contract jobs.

Hopefully those of you that employ temporary workers will already be aware of the regulations that begin tomorrow. However if you are still a little rusty help is at hand. Project Resource have invested in a number of training tools that will be of use to you and your business. These include guide books, laminated flowcharts and a powerpoint presentation. It also goes without saying that we are also on hand via phone and face to face meeting to offer as much support and guidance as we can.

If you are interested in receiving a free copy of any of the above information please get in contact with myself on 01189 522240 or c.prince@project-resource.co.uk or  Ridda Michail who can also be reached on 01189 522240 or ridda.m@project-resource.co.uk

Do what you do so well that they will

This has to be one of my favourite quotes of all time. Anyone who claims to have grown out of Disney films is, in my opinion, not being honest with themselves. More importantly though is the learning that we can take from Walt Disney. He was responsible for creating not simply films or rides, but an experience that people of all ages have bought into for life.

I truly believe that anyone that wants to build a successful business or career should also be looking not just at their day to day actions but at the creation of an experience. Do customers always see every detail of your day, or even care about it? Quite simply no, and why should they? What they will remember though is the quality of the overall experience that you give them.

I invest a significant amount of my time to ensuring we are doing all we can to ensure customers are not only happy with our delivery, but that they will recommend the quality of the work we have done to others. Having advocates of our business has been vital; and we would not have bucked the recession trend (doubling the number of our UK offices) without them.

 So as you go about your day today if you want to truly ensure it’s worthwhile and successful pause for a moment to ask yourself what have you done to ensure your customers will return with their friends in tow?

During August 2011 we offered two seminars in London on two key topics; both of which provided valuable insight and information to the employers that attended.

The 24^th August saw an elite group of 30 delegates gather at Holborn Bars for a session that highlighted how to recruit and retain the best talent for your business, a topic we are passionate about, as should any employer. This was delivered by top performance coach and ex-professional sports woman Nicky Coffin. Full details of Nicky’s company, Centred Excellence, can be found here. Having ran this session in April 2011 at the Forbury Hotel in Reading we were confident that those businesses that attended would reap great rewards. This has since been echoed in the feedback we’ve received from delegates:

“Excellent presentation that gave a lot of food for thought.”

On 31^st August we ran our first paralegal seminar that educated over 60 of our customers on the impending Agency Worker Regulations (AWR).  There has been a great deal of confusion regarding what the regulations will mean for employers of temporary staff; and we were pleased to be able to provide a highly informative seminar by Sam Hurley. Sam works with the Association of Professional Staffing Companies (APSCo) (see their details here) and is highly proficient on AWR and  how to ensure you are compliant as an employer.

Following it’s overwhelming success and given it’s importance we are running another AWR seminar, this time on 28^th September 2011 at The Windmill Hotel, Coventry. Should you like to receive further information on this free event, or any other matter, please contact me on c.prince@project-resource.co.uk or 01189 522240.

Details of forthcoming events nationwide can be seen on our website; click here to view; and I would also welcome contact from venues or speakers that would like to work with us in the future.

Today I wanted to focus on another change that has happened fairly recently. Back in July my job title changed from Client Services Manager to Customer Service Manager. So why did that happen? And what’s new?

As Client Services Manager it was my responsibility to ensure that Project Resource were working in full partnership with any employer that required our assistance. This required me to know and meet with key points of contact in their business, to learn exactly how they wanted us to work and to create a delivery structure within our business. Once this was in place it was my priority to ensure the relationship was successfully driven forwards. I would manage the quality of our delivery and ensure that the business relationship was fully developed; in short I needed to ensure we delivered on the vacancies we were provided with and then expanded on this success by networking new roles. Therefore there were three sides to my role: Customer Service Manager, Account Manager and Business Development Manager.

In July we decided that the roles of Customer Service and Business Development could be expanded, and indeed further improved, if they were separate roles. While I assumed the post of Customer Service Manager one of our most experienced team members Ridda Michail became Business Development Manager. Ridda’s profile can be viewed here; but to provide a brief insight he has over 8 years experience of working for Project Resource and previously headed up our Thames Valley team; therefore he has an excellent knowledge of exactly what’s required to develop a successful relationship with an employer. Because he is focusing on Business Development he is able to dedicate more time to providing a consultative service; and he has began to produce some market research that can be obtained though contacting him on 01189 522240 or ridda.m@project-resource.co.uk

As Customer Service Manager I can now dedicate more time to ensuring that we are delivering exceptional service first time and every time; and the first thing that I have done is to conduct an audit of what our current standpoint is. Because I work independently from our sales team (and no longer have any sales targets that are based on specific employers) I have been able to produce an un-biased report that confirms exactly what our strengths and weaknesses are. I will then be rolling this out into the job seeker arena; as I am now able to focus on both sides of the fence and not solely here to assist clients. Finally, and most importantly, I will be ensuring any necessary change is implemented and ensuring I conduct ongoing analysis of our success.

I will be writing about my findings and my new role more in future posts; however for today I just wanted to highlight that I am here and able to take any feedback from you either via phone or e-mail. Click here for my contact details. Project Resource are dedicated to ensuring that we are the number one agency of choice for both employers and job seekers. We can only do this if we are providing you with exactly what you need; and it is through your thoughts, feedback and comments that we can ensure this happens. Therefore I look forward to receiving your thoughts!!

6: Talking too much

Ever heard the saying that we have 2 ears and 1 mouth as listening is twice as important as talking? When it comes to great meeting technique its right!

It never fails to amaze me when I interview candidates to work at Project Resource how many waffle on for 5 minutes after I’ve asked a question without actually answering it. If you are a job seeker there is no shame at all in pausing to reflect before giving a concise answer. In fact most employers would prefer this!

When you are attending a meeting with your clients I strongly believe that you should aim to stick to an 80:20 ratio; with them talking for 80% of the meeting. This links back to my point on questioning; do not use your meetings as a sales pitch to race through as many USP’s as possible. Instead use them as an opportunity to learn!

7: Poor closing skills

If you don’t ask you don’t get = fact!

We always encourage our job seekers to ensure they leave an interview by showing that they are firmly interested in the opportunity on offer. This is often covered by asking a question to the employer to ensure that they are confident that they know enough about the job seeker to make a firm decision. For example: “Have I covered enough information with you today to ensure you are able to make a firm decision to employ me?” Many employers report back that by asking the question (and in a non-direct way asking them for the job) these job seekers stand out as passionate, driven and unsurprisingly the ones who will often get the job.

If you are meeting with a client the primary reason that you are doing so is that you want their business. Too frequently people forget the core reason they are sat in front of their client and miss the point! This is often caused by talking too much and not listening! Make sure you know what the buying signs are, listen for them and when you are getting them take the opportunity to ask for the business. Otherwise what’s the point in attending the meeting at all?

To apply this first to job seekers. When attending an interview I believe that you should have your questions to ask rehearsed, and try to include information in those questions, that will demonstrate your pre-interview research, and the information you have already gathered about the position on offer. It will not do you any good to ask “Where is the role based” if this information has already been provided. More interview assistance can be found here.

Moving on to employers and client meetings; in this situation it is vital not to miss the opportunity to ask/use questions. It is all too easy to approach a meeting as an opportunity to pitch and sell your business. Instead I always encourage our team here to firstly begin by asking questions to our client. This means that you do not make assumptions, and ensures that you make the most of the time that you have.

If you have any additional tips, or questions please feel free to post below or contact me here at Project Resource or via LinkedIn.

The first thing that I would urge you to do when you are confirming a meeting is to have a clearly defined goal that you want to achieve. Once you have this in mind create an agenda. If you need help with this there are some great online tools that will help you build a professional document that you can then e-mail to your client ahead of the meeting. See here for examples.

When you are writing the agenda spend time thinking about how each point will flow onto the next; and where the ideal points are to achieve your goal. For example, if your goal is to win more business from your client it is unlikely that asking for it at the start of the meeting will yield results. Instead you are generally better placed to highlight your success (how have you saved them time, money or gone above and beyond the cause?) and then ask the question.

If anyone would like further hints, tips or advice on creating a meeting structure please do not hesitate to contact me here at Project Resource!