About: Claire Prince

Claire has over a decade of experience in the Sales Industry and is Customer Service Manager for Project Resource. Claire is responsible for managing all aspects of service and delivery to job seekers and employers.

Claire’s goal is to ensure that Project Resource is working in full partnership with everyone we deal with, helping Project Resource to be the top performing supplier to our customers.

“Welcome to my page. I hope that you find what I have to say of interest and I look forward to blogging with you.”

Website
http://www.project-resource.co.uk

How can we help you?

Posted by Claire Prince. No Comments

11 May 2012

For the last 12 months I have invested a proportion of my time into running various seminars and events across the UK; and I am pleased to confirm that this is a task that I will be continuing through the course of this year.

Previous subjects include:

• Coaching and mentoring

How to spot your top performers

How to maximise performance

• Paralegal presentations

AWR regulations and the implications they will have on you

• Master classes by industry experts

Fee negotiation

We aim these events at white collar professionals who will typically be working within: Quantity Surveying/Commercial, Planning/Project Controls or Design Management/Design Engineering roles.

The purpose of my post today is to ask the question…how can I help you?

Is there a particular subject or event type that you feel you and your colleagues could benefit from? What would grab your attention and be a valuable seminar/course for you to attend?

Please feel free to post your feedback below, or alternatively contact me on an individual basis via e-mail c.prince@project-resource.co.uk or phone 01189 522240.

Meeting the people that count….our customers!

Posted by Claire Prince. No Comments

30 Apr 2012

Friday afternoon provided a great change of scenery for our Manchester office as they swapped their usual surrounds of Cheadle Hulme for the plush Cloud 23 bar at the top of the Hilton Hotel in Central Manchester.

View of the city from Cloud 23

It was here that we held our first Project Resource event in the North; an informal meet and greet networking session. This was designed to give our customers a chance to meet our team, with Derek Scott (Managing Director), Andrew Szklarek (Sales Director), and Simon Griffiths (Regional Manager for the North) all in attendance alongside key figures from our Manchester recruitment team. It also proved to be a great

opportunity for our guests to network with other regional businesses; something I am always keen to see happening.

Networking in full flow

Whilst I was disappointed not to be able to attend this personally I am extremely pleased to hear from those that did make it along that it proved to be an enjoyable and relaxing end to their working week.

If you have attended any of our previous events; which include coaching and development workshops, paralegal seminars and expert master classes; or are interested in doing so in the future, please be aware that I am currently in the initial stages of creating a Project Resource events group on Linked In. This will provide details of forthcoming events (some of which will be exclusive to group members) and a forum for key post-event discussion. To ensure you are kept up to date with this group please connect to me on Linked In here.

Giving value back to our customers – business breakfast success!

Posted by Claire Prince. No Comments

27 Mar 2012

Those that have experienced being a customer of Project Resource will hopefully know that we are always striving to add value to the experience we provide you with. As a company that prides itself on its innovation we are always looking at new ways to do this.

Back in April last year I was given the task of organising our first business breakfast. This is a concept born out of the aim to deliver exceptional service. We wanted to give our customers the chance to attend events, for free, which would provide them with a valuable experience.

Since last year we have held several events in Reading, London and Birmingham; focusing on key subjects that include: performance coaching, employment legislation and fee negotiation.

And I am pleased to say that the feedback taken both on the day and post event has always been highly positive. We also ensure that we use hints and suggestions from attendees to ensure we are making continual improvements to our format.

Our last seminar was held at the Royal Institute of British Architects in central London and attended by 55 Senior Mangers, Directors and Business owners. We had the pleasure of hosting Dr Julian Feinstein, an internationally acclaimed consultant and expert on fee negotiation, to deliver a one hour master class on the subject of fee negotiation.

Feedback was overwhelmingly positive and as a result we are looking at the possibility of extending this into a half day workshop – watch this space for further details.

Looking forward, our next event is to be held in Manchester where we are approaching the first anniversary of our Manchester office’s opening. To celebrate this event, Simon and his team wanted to give their customers the opportunity to meet him, the team and also our wider support network – both myself and our Sales Director Andrew Szklarek will be in attendance.

The event however perhaps adds most value in the opportunity it provides our customers to meet each other. I am always pleased to hear that, following our events, companies are keeping in contact with one another and doing business together.

We have hired the Cloud 23 bar at the Hilton hotel in Deansgate (central Manchester) which provides panoramic views over the city and sumptuous surrounds. So if you or a colleague are able to, please feel free to pop in and say hello to us!

If you are interested in receiving more information on this event, or others in the future please contact me via e-mail c.prince@project-resource.co.uk or LinkedIn and I will be pleased to keep you up to date.

FREE breakfast seminar at Aston Villa FC

Posted by Claire Prince. No Comments

3 Nov 2011

• Are you passionate about success and peak performance?
• Are you a driven individual who always looks for self-improvement?
• Are you an employer that wants to ensure your team reaches optimum performance levels?

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

Is your business savvy?

Posted by Claire Prince. 2 Comments

31 Oct 2011

There can be little doubt that today’s marketplace is one of the toughest for businesses. No matter what trade you specialise in there will be a competitor standing shoulder to shoulder with you.

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!

Are you ‘Fit to Freelance’?

Posted by Claire Prince. No Comments

7 Oct 2011

With National Freelancers Day coming up we’re working with the Professional Contractors Group (PCG) to help improve job seekers’ awareness and understanding of the contract worker option.

“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 Read the rest of this entry »

AWR – still need a little help?

Posted by Claire Prince. No Comments

30 Sep 2011

This week Project Resource ran the last of our AWR seminars; and I am pleased to report that it was as well received as our previous events. It was the first seminar that we have run in the Midlands; and we are already making plans to hold another seminar there before the end of this year. Watch this space for more details as soon as we have dates and speakers confirmed!

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

Wise words from Walt!

Posted by Claire Prince. No Comments

26 Sep 2011

Do what you do so well that they will
want to see it again and bring their friends.
WALT DISNEY

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?

Seminar success!

Posted by Claire Prince. No Comments

9 Sep 2011

Regular readers will be aware that in April 2011 Project Resource began to offer free to attend seminars for our valued customers.

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.

A change is as good as a rest!

Posted by Claire Prince. No Comments

15 Aug 2011

Hello all…. After a brief break I’m back. Firstly for those of you that have been asking yes my change of surname is due to marriage; thanks for all the congratulations messages received!

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!!