There's rays of hope as City gets its place in the Sun!

My Grandpa always told me to very, very conscious of how you speak to people outside of your place of work and also championed the mantra that you must never judge a book by its cover.

These are two extremely important points to bear in mind if you own and run your own business as you must always remember that you are really never off duty and you are perpetually having to fly the flag for your own business. YOU are your business’s most important brand ambassador and therefore when you communicate with people face to face, on the mobile phone, by email, by letter or via social media remember that you will continually be judged in relation to your own business. And I will come back to this towards the end of this week’s article.

Waterford City retained its recent run of positive news stories this week when on Wednesday 25^th March Sun Life moved into their new premises, and these new premises were officially opened by Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection Joan Burton, Mayor of Waterford Cllr James Tobin, Sun Life’s Senior Vice President for Client and Technology Services David Healy, and Sun Life’s General Manager Karen Burns. All these speakers spoke of the drive and determination to make the Waterford arm of Sun Life’s global network one of the jewels in the business’s portfolio crown.

Sun Life in Waterford employs circa 300 staff members and the expansion into new premises gives a potential to employ many, many more and VP David Healy spoke of the team ethic of Waterford’s employees and their hard work and dedication that has made the Waterford facility as important as any other of Sun Life’s worldwide locations. In fact Minister Joan Burton also highlighted the fact that on a recent visit to the Group’s HQ the Waterford operation was talked about at Board Room level as one of the business’s best brand ambassadors. It is hoped that in future years Sun Life will take on several new staff members and this new premises is ready and suitable for any future expansion.

The opening of Sun Life’s new premises was much more than just another IDA backed expansion of an existing global business in Ireland. This was really a local team effort on many fronts and a huge amount of credit must go to Sun Life’s senior staff members for making sure that where ever possible contractors for the new premises were sourced locally. This commitment to source locally shows how it can be done, shows how it should be done and perhaps many other organisations should take note and copy this model. We need to see more large orga

nisations make a commitment to source locally as we all know that this makes commercial, financial and social sense.

There were a number of senior contractors engaged in the Sun Life project and these included; CJ Falconer and Associates Architects, Nevin Construction and Fieldmaster (Office Design and Service). There were also a number of smaller local contractors who were involved in the supply and fit out of IT, audio visual and so on. In total over 100 local people were involved in the project and that is a significant number of wage packets being invested directly back into our local economy.

Sun Life could easily have championed “a company sourcing or tendering policy from HQ” to use one particular supplier for this project. But they did exactly the opposite and credit must be given to them for making a commitment to source as much as possible from local Waterford businesses. The challenge is now to get other multi-nationals, government departments, and local authorities etc to look closer to home when seeking to find new suppliers. If there is a commitment to copy the Sun Life model then everyone will benefit. After all what is the sense in seeing wages being spent in Dublin, Limerick or Galway? We need a holistic approach to sourcing and engaging with local companies but above all we need leadership to make that commitment to try “by hook or by crook” to use local companies and therefore engage with local employees.

In addition to good news from Sun Life on Thursday 26^th March the Waterford Mail launched its first every annual golf charity competition in Waterford Castle Hotel and Golf Club. A poignant moment for me to return to my first ever place of employment in Waterford City. The event will raise money for three local beneficiaries and I do hope that this event will be supported by local businesses as the causes do need the additional support that the money raised will bring.

Whilst at the launch I had the opportunity to meet with the new owner, Seamus Walsh (and his team), of Waterford Castle Hotel and Golf Club and I have to say that I would be extremely encouraged that we will finally see this iconic island realise some of its latent potential. I believe that the new owner will not only make a significant difference to the Castle but he will also be an integral part of a resurgent Waterford and I am sure that he will be an important voice who will champion the need to connect with the people of Waterford City and County and the wider region. We wish you the very best of luck in your new venture.

 

So the above ultimately brings me back to my opening paragraph. I spent last week meeting with some wonderful business people who were to a man and women consummate professionals and ultimate brand ambassadors for their own businesses. And yet my week ended on a sad and bitter note that can ultimately be attributed to poor customer service.

On Sunday 29^th March, having competed a gruelling 100 kilometre charity cycle for Mount Sion Secondary School in aid of new Astroturf pitches, in hurricane like conditions, with a number of fellow The Biscuit Club members, I was met by a business owner who told me “Not to park that piece of s***e (my bicycle)” next to his apparently expensive bike. Initially shocked by this verbal attack I obviously had to retort in my usual Scottish manner. But this “business ambassador”, and I use this phrase loosely, has now lost a customer and a potential significant customer, as I will ultimately upgrade my “piece of s***e” at some time possibly later this year, but unfortunately not with him.

In business you must at all times take care how you speak to people as you can never be sure just where your next customer might come from!

“Loyal customers, they don’t just come back, they don’t simply recommend you, they insist that their friends do business with you.” Food for thought.