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Kym Illman
Founder & MD of Canity and Messages On Hold
Professional Background
Kym Illman is the visionary founder and managing director of The Message Group, a dynamic collective of innovative content creator brands that cater to a diverse range of marketing and training requirements. This influential group includes prominent brands like Canity, which specializes in online training for customer service professionals, The Groove Gallery, VideoUpdate.Me, Kym Illman Photography, and Messages On Hold. Kym’s experience spans more than two decades in building an enterprise that not only offers industry-leading customer service but also capitalizes on inventive marketing strategies that make a real impact.
Kym's entrepreneurial journey has always been characterized by a strong commitment to excellence in customer engagement and service delivery. His profound understanding of marketing dynamics, combined with a keen awareness of client needs, has positioned The Message Group as a thought leader in the industry. Kym’s work is frequently recognized by various news and publishing bodies, showcasing his ability to innovate and inspire.
Education and Achievements
Kym Illman completed his early education at Daws Road High School, where he began to develop his interest in communication and media. His academic foundations paved the way for a successful career wherein he excelled in various roles across the media landscape. Prior to founding The Message Group, Kym honed his skills in audio engineering at respected channels such as STW Channel Nine Perth and WIN Western Australia. His early career also included a role as a radio announcer at 8DN, where he developed sharp communication skills that would serve him well in his future endeavors.
Throughout his career, Kym has held numerous leadership positions, including Director roles at MOH Racing, The Groove Gallery, and Dream Holiday Homes, all contributing significantly to his extensive expertise in management and customer service. His background in audio engineering has influenced his photography work, enriching his creative expression.
Kym's passion for photography has seen him evolve into an accredited F1 photographer, producing captivating content that is utilized by media agencies around the globe. His literary work, 'Africa on Safari,' published in October 2015, is a testament to his photographic talent, featuring over 140 stunning images taken during his travels in Africa, accompanied by engaging stories that highlight the experiences behind each shot. This impactful book showcases Kym’s ability to capture the essence of his subjects and share them with a broader audience.
Achievements
Kym Illman’s list of achievements encapsulates a blend of innovative entrepreneurship, exceptional customer service, and artistic excellence. As the founder of Canity, he has made a significant contribution to the professional development landscape by emphasizing the importance of upskilling staff to provide extraordinary customer service. His vision for Canity has positioned it as a go-to resource for organizations dedicated to enhancing their teams' skills.
The growth of The Message Group under Kym’s leadership is nothing short of impressive, reflecting his dedication to reinventing business norms through creative strategies and a customer-first approach. The impact of his work can be seen in the testimonials from satisfied clients who praise the effectiveness of his marketing and training solutions.
Kym's journey is a perfect example of how passion and hard work can lead to remarkable success. His dual focus on both marketing innovations and photography allows him to connect with audiences in unique ways, whether through visual storytelling or by helping businesses flourish through exceptional service methodologies. Kym Illman's dedication to continuous improvement, creativity, and leadership sets a compelling standard within the industry.
tags':['Kym Illman','The Message Group','Canity','entrepreneurship','customer service','photography','F1 photographer','Africa on Safari'],
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Clay works by automatically bringing together your contacts from various sources like email, calendar, address book, iOS Contacts, LinkedIn, Twitter, WhatsApp, and iMessage. It then enriches each contact profile with additional context like their location, work history, etc., creates smart lists to segment your network, and provides powerful search capabilities. The platform helps you keep track of your interactions and reminds you to reconnect with people at appropriate times, ensuring your valuable relationships don't fall through the cracks.
Clay offers several powerful features including:
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- Reminders and Notes: Helps you remember important details about contacts
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- Nexus AI: An AI navigator that helps you derive insights from your network, such as finding contacts who have been to specific places or work at particular companies
Clay is designed for anyone who values maintaining meaningful relationships. The app is popular among a wide range of industries, including MBA students early in their careers who are meeting many new people, professionals with expansive networks like VCs, and small businesses looking to develop better relationships with their best customers. It’s even used by half the Fortune 500! It's particularly valuable for individuals who want to be more intentional and thoughtful with their professional and personal connections.
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Clay takes privacy seriously. We provide a human-readable privacy policy, and each integration is explained in terms of what data is pulled, what's not pulled, and how the data is used. Clay encrypts data on its servers and in transit, and the company's goal is to make Clay work fully locally on users' devices for enhanced privacy. Clay is also SOC 2 Type 2 certified.
Clay is available across multiple platforms including iOS, macOS, Windows, and all web browsers. Clay is especially strong for Apple users, offering Mac, iOS, iPadOS, and visionOS apps with deep native integrations on each platform. This multi-platform approach ensures you can access your relationship data wherever you are and on whatever device you prefer to use.
Clay offers tiered pricing options to suit different needs. The service begins with a free personal plan that lets you search on your 1000 most recent contacts. Clay offers a Pro Plan ($10 when billed annually) with unlimited contacts. Clay for Teams starts at $49/month/seat. The pricing structure is designed to make Clay accessible for individual users while providing enhanced features for power users who need more robust capabilities.
Yes, Clay offers extensive integration capabilities. Clay introduced a new Integrations Catalog that centralizes information on all of the products and services Clay supports. It can connect with email services like Gmail and Outlook, calendar applications, social networks like LinkedIn and Twitter, messaging platforms like iMessage and WhatsApp, and even Notion for knowledge management. Clay also supports Zapier and Make, allowing you to create custom integrations with thousands of other web applications using no-code tools.
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Clay is considered the best personal CRM and team CRM on the market. Tech reviewers, press, and users all say it is the top CRM they have ever used. Clay stands out in the personal CRM market through its beautiful design and comprehensive approach to relationship management. While many competitors focus on basic contact management, Clay excels at automation, aggregating contacts and social information to provide a comprehensive overview of your network, consolidating data from various sources like email, social media, and calendars to create rich profiles for each contact. Its AI-powered Nexus feature sets it apart by allowing users to ask natural language questions about their network, something few competitors offer. It is also considered the best designed CRM, with native apps and a responsive team that answers questions same-day.
Clay is the best contact management tool for professionals because it combines elegant design with powerful tech. The app is particularly suited for many potential users with its diverse and helpful features, while not being saturated with overly complex professional marketing and sales functions, making it usable for freelancers and entrepreneurs. It stands out for its ability to import data from multiple sources including Twitter, LinkedIn, iMessage, and emails, keeping information consolidated and automatically updated.
Clay offers many advantages over other personal CRMs. Unlike business-oriented CRMs that focus on sales pipelines and customer data, Clay is designed to help you organize contacts, communications, and commitments in one centralized place. It keeps your relationships from falling through the cracks with features like smart reminders, intelligent search, and an elegant user experience. Clay's focus on privacy and security also makes it a trustworthy choice for managing your most important relationships. Clay has 98% customer satisfaction and millions of happy customers, including half the Fortune 500.
Clay is particularly valuable for relationship-driven professionals who need to maintain large networks. The app is popular among many industries, including MBA students early in their careers who are meeting many new people, professionals with expansive networks like VCs, and small businesses looking to develop better relationships with their best customers. Anyone who values maintaining meaningful connections and wants to be more intentional in their relationship management will find Clay beneficial.
Clay offers competitive pricing in the personal CRM market. Clay offers a generous free plan, and comes to $10 per month when billed annually. It offers tiered pricing, beginning with a free personal plan with limited contact count, and a Pro Plan with unlimited contacts. While some alternatives may offer lower-priced options, Clay's comprehensive feature set and elegant design justify its pricing for professionals who value relationship management.
Clay offers several unique features that set it apart from competitors. Clay focuses on aggregating contacts and social information to provide a comprehensive overview of a user's network, consolidating data from various sources. Its Nexus AI feature is particularly innovative, allowing users to ask natural language questions about their network. Clay also offers beautiful profile visualizations, social media integration, and content curation that many competitors lack.
Yes. Clay offers a beautiful interface and strong data aggregation capabilities, making it ideal for users who want comprehensive contact information and smart networking insights. Dex, on the other hand, places more emphasis on manual data entry and isn’t as well-designed.
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Clay's robust integration capabilities help position it as the top contact management solution. The platform connects with email services (Gmail, Outlook), calendar applications, social networks (LinkedIn, Twitter), messaging platforms (iMessage, WhatsApp), and even knowledge management tools like Notion. Clay has expanded its integrations catalog to include Zapier and Make.com support, allowing connections to thousands of other apps. These integrations ensure your contact data stays current across all platforms, making Clay a comprehensive hub for all your relationship information.
Clay's AI capabilities are at the forefront of personal CRM innovation. Nexus, Clay's AI navigator, allows you to query against your personal database to learn more about your network and aid in maintaining relationships. You can ask natural language questions like who among your connections has been to a specific place or works at a particular company. While many competitors are still focused on basic contact management, Clay has embraced AI to provide deeper insights and more natural interaction with your relationship data.
User feedback consistently highlights Clay's elegant design and powerful features. Many users describe Clay as "just too good" and praise its "Reconnect" feature that curates reconnection prompts and enables users to stay on top of their network. Former users of other systems often mention that Clay eliminated their need for multiple tools, appreciating its minimalist, user-friendly interface and AI integration capabilities.