Negative comments about the quality of customer service by renowned food writer, Georgina Campbell, in a recent interview with Matt Cooper of TodayFM, have set the hospitality industry on edge.

Not surprisingly, the sector has become defensive and Fáilte Ireland’s surveys of overseas tourists suggest strong visitor satisfaction, with 93% describing the service they received as either good or very good.

But be careful. There is a world of difference between a customer rating your business as good or very good. A […]

Continue Reading »

• Categories: Business Communications, Customer Experience, Customer Loyalty, Customer Retention, Marketing, Selling
• Comments Off on Is Customer Service Good or Bad in Ireland?

Years ago, when we were holidaying in France, I asked a local if he knew where the local post office was located. He said Oui but vigorously shook his head. When training on body language, I sometimes tell this story of mixed signals. It always gives me a headache! It’s actually very difficult to say yes and shake your head simultaneously. It goes against one of the most fundamental and universal body language gestures, the head nod.

Body language is older […]

Continue Reading »

• Categories: Body Language, Business Communications, Customer Experience, Personal Effectiveness, Selling, Uncategorized
• Comments Off on Is body language important? If you agree, nod your head!

When you finally meet 'the special one', do you know what to say?

It’s amazing how many business people become tongue tied when asked about their value proposition. Ask them what they do, and they are happy to chat away about their company, how many people work there, what the make or do and how long they’ve been in business.

The Bland leading the Bland

In many of the workshops that I run with SMEs and larger organisations, I invite people […]

Continue Reading »

• Categories: Business Communications, Personal Effectiveness, Selling
• Comments Off on Networking: How to communicate your value proposition

For the summer we have an overseas adult student staying with us. She has come to Ireland to learn English and we are acting as a host family. In those first tentative days, inevitably we are checking each other out; wondering how the next few weeks will go and hoping we will get along well. It’s a typical phase in any new relationship.

We were showing our guest around the sights of Dublin and as part of that tour, we popped […]

Continue Reading »

• Categories: Business Communications, Personal Effectiveness, Selling, Uncategorized
• Comments Off on Change the dynamic by giving a little something

Lynx Man Gets Lucky

When Unilever carried out research on what men really want when pursuing the opposite sex, they discovered that it wasn’t a Boy meets Girl happy ending that young men were searching for. Way too boring!

The male phantasy, as discovered after researching thousands of men in an anonymous survey, was to be irresistable to many women – simultaneously. They also discovered – based on observations of men on a night out – that they could segment […]

Continue Reading »

• Categories: Marketing, Selling, Strategy
• Comments Off on From Geeks to Gods – How Unilever plays on male insecurities

It’s like being in the ring with Mike Tyson: getting punched
on all sides. The wave of bad news hitting people within companies and out in
the market place in general is enough to send anyone reeling. For many
organisations, maintaining employee confidence, engagement and motivation is a
critical issue. But how can you motivate people when salaries and staffing
levels are down. Yes, you certainly can.

At Neary Marketing and Communications we have been […]

Continue Reading »

• Categories: Marketing, Selling, Strategy, Uncategorized
• Comments Off on Use Work-Out to Deliver a Killer Punch!

Lads, I've just got a great idea!

So you’ve cut the costs to the bone. You’re working with half the numbers you worked with three years ago. Your team is feeling demotivated and you’ve run out of ideas. Are you stuck? Not at all. Like Michael Caine in The Italian Job, it’s a case of: “Just a minute, Lads. I’ve got a great idea!”

Talk to the people who are closest to the challenge. Recently I’ve been working with a number of […]

Continue Reading »

• Categories: Business Communications, Customer Experience, Marketing, Selling
• 1 Comment »



Right now I’m preparing two sessions on innovation for delivery at the Irish Management Institute (IMI) and want to talk about where great ideas come from. Look in the obvious places! Customers are one of the greatest sources of ideas. But for real insights, we often need to look at our brands ‘in the wild’, as they are used in our customers’ everyday lives.

The head of Heinz, William Johnson, tells the story that he discovered –  in his […]

Continue Reading »

• Categories: Customer Experience, Marketing, Selling, Strategy
• Comments Off on For the best advice, ask your customers…

One of the most important articles I ever read was about the link between how employees are  treated and rewarded and bottom line sales, profitability and customer loyalty. You might say: isn”t that obvious! Yes, I agree but often the best articles are telling us stuff we know already but don”t deliver on.

 Like motivation. How many of our internal communications conversations are designed to motivate staff? Not that many, yet we know that a motivated team is much more […]

Continue Reading »

• Categories: Business Communications, Customer Experience, Marketing, Selling, Strategy
• Comments Off on Why employee engagement is the new buzz term

A meeting that seems casual and unplanned can often lead to new business. But to make the most of these chance encounters, you need to know the types of people who can be helpful to you and your business and, even more importantly, you need to be able to communicate how you can add value to them.

Here are some quick tips for turning casual conversations into profitable relationships through better networking.

Talk to the right people. Who are they? Well, either people […]

Continue Reading »

• Categories: Business Communications, Marketing, Selling, Uncategorized
• Comments Off on Turn Casual Conversations into Profitable Relationships – The Art of Networking