Our Chat with Alan McGirvan

The latest guest to join Steve Healey for a coffee and chat about business is entrepreneur Alan McGirvan.

Right away, Alan is an engaging guest, explaining that his choice of coffee - a soy cappuccino - is due to the negative impact dairy has on his vocal chords. For a man who has built first a career and then an entire media company around his vocal talents, this makes a lot of sense.

Alan McGirvan is the Managing Director of McGirvan Media and has over 40 years of experience in the media industry. He was the first Breakfast host on 2JJ (now Triple J) and went on to a successful radio career at Brisbane's top radio station, even becoming Australian Radio Personality of the Year. 35 years ago, Alan built his own media company, McGirvan Media, which specializes in on-hold audio messages. 

Alan opens up about walking away from radio and how he carved out a new industry niche.  That, Alan says, describes the original French meaning of the word ‘entrepreneur’, which literally translates as 'builder' – meaning someone who creates or builds something where before there was nothing. 35 years later, and McGirvan Media has been supplying premium messages on hold, recorded announcements (IVR’s)  and other audio projects to literally thousands of clients across the globe for both large corporates and SME’s. Alan's success speaks for itself.

Throughout the conversation, Alan and Steve chat about the importance of relationships in business, sharing valuable insights into nurturing business relationships that stand the test of time. This includes McGirvan’s unique approach to client service, in which he aims to become a concierge and help clients find the right place to get what they need. With over 200 corporate clients that have been with him for more than two decades, Alan’s insights are rich in value. 

In fact, QANTAS recently shared that their longest business relationship has been with Alan and McGirvan Media - a true testament to the power of relationship building. For more tips on gaining customers for life (and some bonus rules for life in general) check out Alan’s personal blog, which you can read here.

 Whether you're interested in launching your own business, curious about a 100% referral business model, or just want actionable tips on how to build lasting client relationships, this episode of Coffee Conversations is a must-watch.