Adapters: Perth Business Captivate Connect Keeps Customers Calling Globally

Captivate Connect Mark Horwood

Perth-based company has revolutionised the dreaded 'on hold' experience by developing new technology that transforms call wait times into payday time.

Mark Horwood, chief executive officer of Captivate Connect, compares being on hold as akin to waiting for luggage at an airport. “There’s nothing you can do but stand and wait.”

His company, now run from modest offices in Burswood, stunned the corporate world in 2002 by offering daily news, sport and weather information to callers on hold.

“Commercially, it was very successful for us. The technology was internet-based to help accommodate the immediacy of updating the daily news and sport,” Mr Horwood said.

Captivate Connect is now inspired by internet multimedia technology and once again is refining the “on hold” experience; this time for mutual enrichment of callers and businesses.

The company sponsored a website called Horrible on Hold to determine exactly what people disliked about waiting on hold. There was an overwhelming response that it’s generic, repetitive and boring.

“This wasn’t anything new to me,” Mr Horwood said, “but how can we play audio everyone will be happy with? We give them the choice.”

Music not your thing? Perhaps a quiz or a podcast may be more up your alley. Globally, this interactive-on-hold has never been done before and there’s no-one else who can do it, he says.

Callers become immersed in the business, causing these callers to become loyal brand ambassadors, relaying their experiences to friends and associates – in turn, boosting sales.

“The only way to win word-of-mouth referrals is by delivering an experience that exceeds expectations,” Mr Horwood says.

Interactive-on-hold collects caller data. A caller being directed to the sales department can be offered a brochure on any new/best-selling products. The Caller opts to receive the brochure by entering their number, it is then sent via text and, in return, the sales team effectively gathers the caller’s details to follow-up.

After two minutes, callers are invited to leave their name, number and reason for calling to receive a call back. This costs as little as $1. Mr Horwood believes businesses employing more than 20 people would readily pay $1 to retain a customer.

Statistics suggest that, within five years, 68% of all business transactions will involve the human voice – down from today’s 72% – but the importance of these transactions will become more valuable.

“Fax is virtually redundant, snail mail doesn’t work, and trying to get anybody to respond to emails is like pulling teeth, which is why we’re seeing a shift back to phones,” Mr Horwood says.

Visit www.captivateconnect.com to find out more.

This column is part of the Adapters series produced by Perth Media. It profiles Perth Media small business and not-for-profit clients exclusively.

Adapters: Perth Naturopath Amanda Hobley's Retreats Help Lead Business People to Better Health

Perth naturopath Amanda Hobley

Perth naturopath Amanda Hobley is leading business people to better mental and physical health through personally-guided retreats to Kerala in India and, locally, to Chittering, north of Perth, at two upcoming exceptional retreats.

Mrs Hobley’s next Indian retreat, a revitalising two-week health trip to an Ayurvedan resort in  Kerala, runs from August 10-24, 2019, while the Chittering Spirit of the Land retreat is next month, May 17-19, 2019.

In India, the party will eat vegetarian food in a lush paradise and receive Indian herbalist consultations and various relaxation treatments. She also guides weekend retreats closer to home in Chittering where clients can relax in a beautiful Australian bush setting.

“It’s about getting out of routine and into the rhythm of nature,” Ms Hobley says.

“In our culture, success means working extremely hard, often in environments that are quite toxic, so people can be going to work and experiencing huge amounts of stress. For example, they may feel like they’re being chased by a lion every day and this will trigger a massive stress response that is hugely detrimental. However, immersing yourself in nature can rebalance your emotions and be enormously beneficial.”

In her popular clinic, she has helped dozens of Perth clients, over the past decade, recognise that stresses as well as old traumas or belief systems maybe be adversely affecting their current health and wellbeing.

Mrs Hobley is also an expert in BodyTalk therapy. For this, muscles are posed a series of painless yes/no prompts and the response is gauged to determine bodily imbalances. She then taps the subject’s head, chest or navel to stimulate or accelerate its natural ability to balance itself.

“My passion is to help people who are very stressed understand that their stress is impacting on their physical, emotional and mental health,” Ms Hobley says. Among many aims, she focuses on improving their energy, clarity and stamina as well as helping clients feel calmer and uplifted.

“There are so many beautiful herbs and nutrients that help support your ability to cope with stress by giving you energy and stamina,” she says. “Many herbs calm the nervous system, so really do bring down anxiety.”

Amanda has been inspired by her personal experience, and the women she works with, to create a four-week online course to reduce the triggers of stress and increase ways to care, love and nurture yourself. Amanda will support you every step of the way and share new meditations and techniques that are simple and effective, creating a new way of responding to the stresses in your life. 

She is also an expert in iridology.

Amanda Hobley Reconnect & Restore

This article is one of many featured in 'Adapters', a series in WABN exclusively for Perth Media clients, profiling news of innovative small businesses, start-ups and not for profits.

Adapters: Perth Businesswoman Tanya Finnie Launches Cultural Intelligence Magazine

Awkward working relationships that can destroy careers or damage productivity are the subject of a new magazine, Cultural Times, published by Perth businesswoman Tanya Finnie.

She identifies the causes of interpersonal blunders in places of work and measures their unwanted consequences for individuals and company bottom lines.

“The old golden rule is to do unto others how we would like to be done to ourselves – but that’s absolute rubbish,” Ms Finnie says. “The platinum rule should be to do unto others as they would like to be done to themselves.”

Put simply, it is illogical for a tea-drinker to assume that another person will also like tea. Logically, a tea-drinker should first discover the other person’s preference.

Yet that misjudgement, no matter how well-intentioned, can be the first in a series of errors that accentuate divisions between people who are meant to collaborate.

Brilliant careers in leadership can stall if aspirants ignore the demands of an increasingly diverse population pulled together by immigration.

Ms Finnie’s company, RedHead Communications, specialises in cultural intelligence (CQ), a new field of study dealing with our capability to deal effectively across different cultures. A culturally intelligent person is aware of others’ backgrounds but, more importantly, adjusts their behaviour in multicultural situations.

“Australia has the world’s highest proportion of migrant settlers in a developed nation,” Ms Finnie says. “A quarter of Australians (27 per cent) was born overseas, and almost half of Australian households (46 per cent) had at least one parent born overseas.”

In February, Australia’s top trading partners were China, Japan and South Korea. “It will therefore be great for our economy if we learn to adapt our cultural behaviour,” Ms Finnie says. Better collaboration and a happy workforce are associated with increased productivity.

Minority status is not confined to ethnicity. Generational, organisational and LGBTQI factors are relevant, too. Sometimes different professions in the same firm can clash because of opposing cultures.

Ms Finnie’s new magazine, Cultural Times, addresses all these issues. It is published online, and a hard copy version is planned for a gala launch next month – May.

The first issue tells how a woman became Australia’s youngest engineering executive. There’s a moving story about how one man overcame adversity, and advice on building cultural intelligence.

Ms Finnie is a keynote speaker and is starting a doctorate at the University of WA that aims to gauge the impact on the workforce if the cultural intelligence of engineers is increased.

She worked in several countries – including South Africa, Mauritius, Germany, Morocco, Zimbabwe, Kenya and Swaziland – before settling in Australia 15 years ago. She advocates blind CVs, where a person’s name is erased from a job application so that selection is based mainly on merit.

“It’s too easy to chuck out names you can’t pronounce,” Ms Finnie says.

See: Cultural Times Visit: RedHead Communications

This article is one of many which have featured in 'Adapters', a series exclusively for Perth Media clients, profiling news of innovative small businesses, start-ups and not for profits in WA Business News.

Series of Cracking Films for Australian Vanadium

Perth Media’s film for Australian Vanadium’s Pre Feasibility Study for the Gabanintha Vanadium project in Western Australia. Editing by Courtney Waller.

Perth Media Adapters: Business Strategist Wendy Davies Joins Nexia in Perth

More columns, written by Perth Media, are being published in WA Business News. Here is one of our favourites.

Nexia Australia has recently appointed Wendy Davies as a business advisory director in its Perth office to focus on strategic advice for small and medium businesses.

Ms Davies, who is originally from the UK, brings with her a range of high-level global experience. In WA, she is at the forefront of a new, innovative approach to accounting – a profession that can no longer rely on simply formatting tax returns.

In the Perth office of Nexia Australia, Ms Davies is offering bespoke advice to small and medium enterprises with annual turnover between $1 million and $20 million.

She works closely with start-ups and owners of small to medium-sized businesses, helping them understand and demystify the numbers side of the business. “It’s about identifying client needs – often focusing on cashflow forecasting and budgeting to help them manage and make informed decisions,” Ms Davies says.

Independent specialist advice can highlight opportunities not immediately apparent and potential problems can be foreseen before they are critical.

As Nexia’s business advisory director, Ms Davies visits clients’ operations, to educate and empower the owners. It is a new field for senior practitioners who have witnessed shrinking tax return work. “Technology enabled business owners and bookkeepers to do more, so those of us with accounting skills have had to adapt and innovate,” she says.

Ms Davies began her career 30 years ago in south-east England. After qualifying, she worked for a small practitioner in the northern city of York and bought him out when he retired. Her clients have the bonus of engaging the services of a former businesswoman. For over a decade in England she co-owned the accountancy practice which had 10 staff.

Her attendance at a migration expo in the UK led to an unexpected job offer in accounting in Perth. She flew to Perth in January 2008.

Here she became the only female director in the Perth office of her new employer UHY Haines Norton, a member of the global accounting network, UHY. She once again found herself as the only female director when the firm merged with rival Moore Stephens WA.

Ms Davies believes networking is key to ongoing success in her profession.

“In the past, the sector has been fairly complacent but a network of key business relationships will be critical to ongoing success, both personally and for the firm,” she said.

Prior to joining Nexia last month, Ms Davies had started a new firm, The Counting Room, to execute her advisory approach. “Before I joined Nexia, I made sure their values and approach aligned with how I saw the future of accounting, which includes advisory work and utilising softer skills to assist clients,” Ms Davies said.

In Perth, Nexia Australia is Western Australian owned and independently operated and a member of the global accounting giant Nexia.

This column is part of the Adapters series produced by Perth Media. It profiles Perth Media small business and not-for-profit clients.

New Perth Media Office: 10/117 Broadway, Nedlands

Come in and see us!

To celebrate our new office opening!

For the next month, we are offering exclusive Media Release writing services. For $500 (plus GST) we can draft a tailored media release/blog for your company/organisation with one of our experienced consultants.

Reaching 40000+ Readers: Perth Media Clients and Partners Feature in WA Business News' Adapters Column

Perth Media clients and partners are continuing to reach 40,000 plus audiences by being incorporated in WA Business News Daily e-news bulletins.

Here are the first couple Adapters, spreading innovative news of Perth Media, its partners and  small business, start-up and not-for-profit clients.

https://www.businessnews.com.au/article/Joondalup-Bike-share-Planning-for-Success

https://www.businessnews.com.au/article/Perth-Media-Official-Partner-for-Energy-and-Mines-in-Perth-June-27-28

The opportunity is only available to Perth Media clients. Terms and conditions apply, it is only for clients on monthly retainers.

Hong Kong Mines & Money Take Homes: Karratha tipped to be Global Mining City; Quant Funds Using AI to Trade ASX; Upping China IQ; and Claims Investors Using Lie Detectors on Conference Calls

Small event, but some big fish showed and Perth Media will return in 2019.

HK Mines and Money 2018 Top Take Homes: Karratha is predicted to be one of world’s key mining cities; massive global quant funds using AI to trade in the milliseconds after ASX announcements go up; some traders are sending in drones to check on minesite activity and then shorting the stocks; others are monitoring companies with google earth and algorithms linked to social media to pick up emotive responses to companies; and many investors are switching on lie detectors on their smartphones to gather information on company leaders.

While not as many attendees as the last time I attended in 2010, speakers were excellent.

1.     Karratha and Pilbara to Rocket. Heavyweight international investors raved about the potential wealth development in the Pilbara, Western Australia. Many were making a real attempt to increase their own Pilbara knowledge, especially in the wake of China’s One Belt One Road expansion policies. Netherlands-based Willem Middelkoop, founder and chief investment officer of the Commodity Discovery Fund, says Karratha will be a major regional mining city in future. Keith Spence (Canada-based Global Mining Capital Corp) also has WA companies with Pilbara assets firmly in his sights.

2.     Investors Switching on Smart Phones with Lie Detectors/Drones Checking Minesite Activity. Frank Holmes, US Global Investors, was a standout speaker. He claims 70 per cent of stock trades now are done by quantitative funds (quants) using algorithms and artificial intelligence. Where once banks and big institutions focused on building teams of traditional finance analysts, things had rapidly changed. Claims were made that Vanguard, for example, has 50 people working on AI. Data collection is cheaper, easier and more efficient than ever. Fund managers are also switching on lie detectors on their smart phones when they took conference calls from MDs of mining companies, some investors targeting stocks to short were sending in drones over minesites to check real activity. One trader used google earth to monitor car parks of US department store Sears to check if company announcements accurately reflected actual visitors to stores. IE they counted the cars remotely. Some superb tips on how to strategically link your real time communications strategy to a rising stock price, in a fast-changing world. But you will have to sign up Perth Media to learn more about that! The quants are trading in milliseconds using emotive algorithms. While it was clear some knew much of this already, some miners in the room were bemused. ‘Don’t be intimidated by it, but you have to know what is going on,' Holmes said.

3.     6 Minute Pitches. Holmes again. He bluntly advised: if you want millennials to invest in mining, make your pitches efficient and concise in 6 minutes. No one wants to hear hour-long explanations of maps. If pitches didn’t improve and trading wasn’t made easier, the mining (particularly juniors) will continue to lose investment to easily-tradeable cryptocurrencies.

4.     Beware of letting risk adverse lawyers crush your press release. Your company’s narrative is crucial. If overly cautiously, your stock will fall, says Holmes.

5.     One Belt One Road. Rather than a resurrection of the single ancient Silk Road, this is more like a big octopus. It is a policy that is like many tentacles of many roads, leading to many joint projects in various countries, particularly Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Australia. There are many many more regions that have been earmarked by central Beijing for supply of raw materials for mega infrastructure such as bridges and rail networks. Jay Roberge, of Tehanna Capital, advises all, to seriously upgrade your China IQ. Last year the first cargo train went non stop from China to London, and don’t forget that China has put environmental protection at the top of the list of priorities. That policy will impact on decision making. All speaking agreed One Belt One Road will mean long-term huge demand for iron ore for steel.

6.     Intellectual Capital is Gold. Rick Rule (Sprott US Holdings), another heavyweight, reminded younger, less burnt investors, to follow intellectual capital and look less at the physical asset and the mineralization of the juniors, but more at the entrepreneurial leadership. ‘That strategy has served me very well over time,’ he said.

After being burnt from investing in California, he says: ‘the most dangerous politician is the one closest to you.’ He prefers tier 1 deposits in tier 3 countries to tier 3 deposits in tier 1 countries.  And don't forget. ‘Investors are not rational,’ Rule said.

- Cate Rocchi, Perth Media CEO

In Hong Kong last week, Perth Media organised media interviews for our client Australian Vanadium with Bloomberg, S&P Global, and Financial Times (London). Do you need some media assistance? Please get in touch.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-04-09/vanadium-batteries-need-elon-musk-moment-to-kick-start-market

Perth Media CEO Cate Rocchi with S&P Global reporter Tracy Yang, in Hong Kong, last week.

Why staff aren't embracing their firm's social media, talking to Google and targeting Gen Z? Emergence Creative Festival 2018 Top Take Homes

Mat Lewis on Top of Emerging Creativity in Margaret River, Western Australia, last week.

1.   Making the World a Better Place. Many of the world's best and brightest creatives are focused on making money but also making the world a better place, proving profits and good deeds can mix. Perth-based social media marvel Ming Johanson has a checklist for new projects. 'Does it serve me, others, my business, and the greater good?' Speakers assisted a staggering number of charities. Jimmy Niggles from the Beard Season, US-based Justin Gignac from Working Not Working, were two who have donated extraordinary amounts of time and effort to great causes.

2. The Google guys from Tokyo, Tim Sneddon and Gene Brutty, (originally from Perth) rocked. Their 20 slide presentation in 20 minutes with gems such as 'uncomfortable is good, stay there' and 'waiting is for the lazy' was only topped by their Artificial Intelligence workshop, with kits. Awesome, inspiring, learnt so much.

3. The gen below the millennials/Gen Z are are into fun, says Neil Ackland of Punkee Media. They  are often watching video without sound, and looking for short/mashable/home-made/funny/quirky clips about random stuff that doesn't have to matter or mean something. Punkee is hiring super young, clever creatives that can write, shoot and edit, at a fast pace. If brands want to target the kids, then make it fast paced and random/funny.

4.  Lightbulb moment. Why aren't staff of the companies/organisations Perth Media works for embracing social media of their employers? Well, aside from the fact it could be crap. 'Because they have their own personal brand, and they don't want to link their brand with your company/organisation because they don't want to hang around for long,' says Perth-based Ming Johanson, who tells it how it is.

Ming Johanson generously shared social media wisdom

5.   Mat Lewis, Erin Molloy and team at Emergence are seriously good at what they do. The room was filled with exceptional global talent, including Chloe Rickard (Jungle Entertainment who just produced ABC's Squinters); international photographer Sam Harris; music industry lawyer Fran Cotton; Phil Bonanno of Facebook and many many more. Unbelievable line-up all in Margaret River. Really, this festival exceeded expectations.

6.  AI as a tool,  linked with google, has a long way to go, but it is coming. It wasn't too clever in demos, but it successfully answered qus about the weather. Lots of ramifications. IE clients can ask google what it thinks of their company. Here is our CEO Cate putting AI Google kit through its paces.

Putting the AI kit together to talk to Google

PING's Inspire: 2nd Innovative Farm Summit for WA Farm Businesswomen March 27-28, 2018

PING WA chair Bronwyn Fox in Dandaragan

‘Inspiring Farmers to Lead Profitable Businesses’

Partners in Grain WA (PinG WA) expects more than 200 businesswomen from Western Australia’s Wheatbelt to attend its second INSPIRE Summit at the Esplanade Hotel, Fremantle from March 27-28.

PinG WA Chair Bronwyn Fox, who lives in Dandaragan, said: “I am delighted to announce the second PinG WA INSPIRE Summit is nearly sold out. This year more than 200 leading rural businesswomen from all over Western Australia will come together again in Perth to learn and improve their business skills and network with other successful agribusiness owners.”

Mrs Fox said the PinG WA Summit and its many workshops held in WA’s regions, in the past few years, focused on learning successful farm business skills. “Farm business skills are not just about increasing production,” she said. “Production is key, but managing costs and markets are also imperative.”

“Good leadership is also important, and that is about empowering the people around you and understanding a team approach is essential to a successful farm business.”

Women attending the conference will travel from across and beyond the traditional Wheatbelt areas – as far as Gascoyne River in the north across to Southern Cross and the Esperance region. There are also women from varied enterprises as well as just grain farmers. In the past Bronwyn’s Dandaragan farm has grown canola, wheat and barley and now grows lupins for sheep flocks but specialises in potatoes, reflecting the growing diversity of WA’s agribusiness sector and the fact that the conference program will be attractive to farming businesses generally, not solely grain growers.

The two-day summit is aimed at women who already know the fundamentals of operating a farm business but are keen to learn more. Differentiating it from other conferences, and ensuring the focus remains true to its objectives, INSPIRE is only open to farmers, sponsors and speakers. The event is nearly fully booked with less than 10 spots remaining.

Speakers include: Matina Jewell (sponsored by Plum Grove) lessons of leadership and resilience; Nadine Campion (sponsored by the RRR Network) on 10 Seconds of Courage; Dr Cheryl Kalisch Gordon (Rabobank Senior Grains & Oilseeds Expert); Esther Jones (Nailing It: presenting well and articulating your message); and Dr Joyce Chong (The Skill Collective) on wellbeing. There will also be informative sessions on managing risks and a host of growers sharing skills and experiences within the panel and concurrent sessions.

INSPIRE Coordinator Erin Green, who is also a grain grower in Yuna (north-east of Geraldton), and past PinG WA Coordinator said: “As a not-for-profit, the opportunities PinG WA provides are otherwise unavailable or inaccessible to farmers. Over the five years I’ve been involved, PinG has delivered approximately 100 training events across WA to about 1400 growers. Although this event is aimed at women, more than 30% of PinG participants overall have been men. After PinG WA events were held, 99% of participants recommended the training to other growers.”

The event’s official partners are Rabobank and Plum Grove, while sponsors are RSM, Planfarm, HopgoodGanim Lawyers, Grain Industry Association of Western Australia and the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development. Project funding has been secured with the Grains Research and Development Corporation, the RRR Network and the Department of Communities’ Grants for Women.

Rabobank regional manager for Western Australia Crawford Taylor said Rabobank was delighted to again be supporting the INSPIRE Summit. “The first summit was such a success, showcasing the crucial role women play in their business, community and family,” Mr Taylor said. “The 2018 Summit will build on that positive momentum, providing women with the opportunity to further develop their leadership and management skills. And this includes understanding global consumer trends and how grain growers can position their business to stay ahead of the game, with the bank’s grains analyst Cheryl Kalisch Gordon to set the scene by delivering the first presentation of the summit.”

Rikki Foss, Marketing Manager at Plum Grove, said the best investment within this industry was with its people and its community. “INSPIRE Summit provides many opportunities to enhance women’s skills and passion for their businesses and communities,” she said. “A few years ago Plum Grove had the opportunity to meet Matina Jewell and since then we have wanted to bring her back to Western Australia. The INSPIRE Summit has given us the opportunity to introduce you to a remarkable woman who has faced many challenges on and beyond the battle field. Matina truly represents the word ‘resilient’ and we look forward to you hearing her story.”

Ryan White, Senior Associate within HopgoodGanim Lawyers’ Agribusiness team is speaking at the event. He said: “When working with our agribusiness clients, we are constantly impressed by the contribution farming women make to their businesses, families and the communities they live in. But at the same time, we also recognise how important it is farming women get the opportunity to connect with their peers and share knowledge. The opportunity to be involved with and support a conference focused entirely on the professional and personal development of farming women was something we grasped with both hands. We are proud to be a part of a forum that celebrates farming women and supports them in learning new skills, making new connections and planting the seeds for growth and development in their businesses.”

Cameron Weeks, Farm Management Consultant at Planfarm, said: “Women are so often underestimated with regards to the role they play in farm businesses so any forum that brings them together as businesswomen is not to be missed. We welcome the chance to be involved in the summit and hope that we can help inspire the women attending to sustain or further develop their key business roles. The forum will feature leading women in WA agriculture in attendance and, as business advisers, we are looking forward to the event a great deal.”

“RSM have chosen to be a part of INSPIRE again in 2018 following their involvement in the successful INSPIRE 2016,” said Jo Gilbert, director of RSM Australia Pty Ltd. “RSM was established in Western Australia over 95 years ago and in that time we have seen the traditional roles of women in farming businesses change substantially. Women in today’s farming businesses embrace technology and realise the power of connectivity – both with their peers and their advisors. Through our large network of 30 offices across Australia we aim to keep up with the changes as they occur in business and use this knowledge to help our clients confront their challenges head on.”

Please contact:

Partners in Grain WA
Chair
Bronwyn Fox bronwynfox@westnet.com.au; 0427447412

INSPIRE Coordinator
Erin Green
inspire@pingwa.org.au; 0429108936

Perth Media
Cate Rocchi
cate@perthmedia.com.au; 0428431699

ABOUT PARTNERS IN GRAIN WA

Through the opportunities offered, PinG WA hopes to strengthen farm businesses and generate innovation within the agricultural industry.

For more information go to https://pingwa.org.au/
or Like Facebook Partners in Grain WA or follow twitter PinG WA.

Partners in Grain WA (PinG WA) is a not-for-profit organisation that provides locally relevant, personalised training for Western Australian broadacre farmers. As a state based organisation PinG WA has an alliance with similar entities covering NSW, QLD, Vic/Tas and SA. Each state entity operates according to its growers needs.

In WA, the Coordinator and volunteer Board work to facilitate professional development where and when it’s required. This involves coordinating relevant events and opportunities that provide targeted training specific to farm businesses.

As PinG WA is not a commercial organisation, it does not compete with services that are already available. Its role is to provide services and opportunities that are not being delivered or are not readily accessible in rural WA.

According to the Department of Agriculture and Food, wheat is the major grain crop in WA, making up 70 per cent of total annual cereal production and generating around $A2 billion for the state economy each year. Wheat production occurs across the WA Wheatbelt on 4000, mostly, family-run farms ranging in size from 1000 to 15,000 hectares. WA generates 8-10 million tonnes of wheat per annum which is 50% of Australia’s total annual wheat production.