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Category: Sales

Our ever-growing expertise

Posted on by Doug Roots

Having come into telemarketing from the construction industry I had a lot to learn! I knew it was going to be a steep learning curve in order to make the most out of my opportunity and I was willing to take it on.

After thorough training, guidance, opportunities and of course learnings taken from mistakes – I worked closer to becoming an expert in telemarketing. But during this journey I came to understand that I can never truly be an expert because of the variance of campaigns, clients, industries, and requirements that I will work on in my telemarketing career.

But in truth, this continual learning, adapting and challenging myself is what motivates me to push even further in my career.

My knowledge on the science behind telemarketing is now strong and I am proud of this. But outside of this my knowledge now stretches from finance and HR services, to vehicle leasing, data analysis, energy consumption and much more!

The reason for this expansive knowledge? Is that all agents within Air Marketing Group are trained on 5 different campaigns (or more). The result of this? Is that agents are kept engaged and challenged with the opportunity to call on different campaigns – they could be working on telesales, appointment setting, events, market research for any B2B client offering any product or service.

But the benefits are also seen for our clients. Having a wide range of experience means that agents have a deeper understanding of responding to varied objections, they understand key pain points for different industries, and they can begin to build an understanding of approaches that work within different sectors to help clients with their campaigns.

We see ourselves as an extension of our client’s team, a partner. Because of this, we want to learn from our clients (who are the experts in their field) to ensure the best chance of success for their campaigns. With this in mind, we work closely with our clients when developing the strategy, our clients train our in-house agents and we encourage communication between all campaign members and all key client team members. Absorbing this knowledge from our client gives us the ability to truly represent their business in the best possible way.

It’s an ongoing journey, with ever-growing expertise that will never end – but that’s all part of the fun. Our aim to continue delivering outstanding services to our clients and the more equipped we are to do this the more we’ll succeed.

Opinion Piece by Ashley Heyworth, Senior Account Manager, Air Marketing Group

How well do you know your customers?

Posted on by Doug Roots

‘Know your customer’ has become quite a cliché in marketing. There has never been a business that didn’t start out fulfilling unmet needs for a very specific group of people.  

We suspect you probably know your customer  fairly well,  but let’s turn this question on its head and  instead ask: 

 How well do you know your prospects?  

Air Marketing Group know that a lack of qualified prospects moving through your sales process today, can mean trouble for your business tomorrow. We understand that a strong sales pipeline is critical to attain revenue goals 6 – 12 months from now.  

So what steps should you take to build and sustain a healthy sales pipeline? 

Start with enough leads 

Sales is a numbers game and to develop a strong sales pipeline you must accumulate enough leads to drive through your marketing and sales engine. If you have a good understanding of the pipeline process you’ll know only a proportion of your targeted leads will become qualified, and a fraction will convert and be ready to buy at any given time.  

Qualify every lead  

Generating a list of qualifying questions to ask every interested lead will allow you to determine if there’s a real business opportunity or not.  

Ask: Has your prospect got a realistic need you can fill? 

  • What are their major challenges in this area? 
  • Have they tried to solve these issues? If so, how? 
  • How soon do they want to find a solution?  

Ask: Is the prospect an appropriate lead for the value and price point of your offering? 

  • What solutions would they consider? 
  • What is the budget to address this solution?  

Be careful of time wasters. If it appears there’s little budget for your solution, put this lead into your low-quality category and concentrate on higher priority prospects.  

Use lead quality for targeted marketing  

It’s important to use resulting lead quality data to develop more tailored campaigns. At Air Marketing all our campaigns use bespoke lead generation strategies and are tailored to meet individual business requirements. This strategy allows us to provide clients with quality sales leads that meet specified criteria.  

Nurture qualified prospects  

Not every qualified prospect will be ready to buy today. Once qualified leads have been identified you can leverage the use of content based email marketing, and follow up calls, to continue to nurture leads and identify interested prospects.  

Create a next step for every interested lead. Base this on need, interest and timing: 

  • Schedule a demo or follow up call to share additional insights. 
  • Send a follow up email that needs a response within  a requested time. 
  • Send an industry-related article every month to stay in  touch and keep educating them.  

Remaining in front of interested, qualified prospects will mean you are at the front of their mind  to assist when the time of their need arises.  

CRM systems 

A customer relationship management system (CRM) will improve your sales efficiencies, and allow you to track and report on sales opportunities, leads and prospects.  

Remember a healthy sales pipeline will have the following attributes: 

  • Many opportunities at every stage of the funnel. 
  • New opportunities coming into the top of the funnel regularly. 
  • New sales being converted  at the bottom of the sales funnel regularly . 

Here at Air Marketing Group, we pride ourselves on our ability to get under the skin of your business, speaking with your prospects and where possible and relevant warm the lead into a position where they can be converted into an opportunity. In addition to this, we  provide a transparent reporting service, and the delivery of each call recording to ensure our clients that  any leads we’ve secured will convert.  

If knowing your prospect is still an area you would like help with get in touch today to find out how we can help on 03452413038 or get in touch.

Where does your telemarketing campaign fit into the bigger picture?

Posted on by Doug Roots

We are often contacted by companies who reach out to us because they have (rightly) heard that direct telemarketing delivers very tangible ROI or they see us advertising that our average client receives £18 for every £1 invested.

But often telemarketing is viewed in isolation, companies engage with the pilot campaign to test the water and see how it delivers without taking into account the opportunity that lies in the bigger picture.

We know that telemarketing is an extremely effective channel for many companies, but we also know that combining telemarketing activity with other forms of marketing or looking at the campaign as a longer-term investment such as a 6 month or year long tactic to support other business objectives, can deliver even better results.

The set up of a telemarketing campaign can bring up a lot of questions such as:

  • Have you researched your product/service? Do you know how well it will be received by the market? Do you know your competitors? Will it deliver what we say it will?
  • How are we supporting this telemarketing campaign? Do we have a branded email that can be sent afterwards? Do you have a website that echoes the message we are giving? Have you created anything such as a brochure or flyers we can share with prospects?
  • Have you considered your own sales pitch? Is your sales pitch and our telemarketing pitch aligned? Are we both on brand? Will your sales pitch see conversions?
  • Is your data right for use? Do you need to purchase new data? What else can that data be used for?

As a Business Development Partner, it is not our ethos to deliver merely a ‘project’ within constraints that are agreed. Instead, we want to help you look at the bigger picture, understand what the strategy for your telemarketing or marketing in general is, consider all the angles that could be taken to best engage with your target market and really help you generate the right leads for your business.

The visibility and involvement that is available when working with Air, allows you to ensure that telemarketing is firmly set in the bigger picture. Feedback on data allows you to update your CRM systems and instigate actions if needed. Being able to come in and train the team allows you to shape what the tone of voice for your business, the sales techniques and known objections. And being able to monitor calls in live time means you are always on top of what is happening, planning for appointments, understanding objections and client feedback etc.

So, if you’re looking for a partner to work alongside you, guide you and deliver for you, speak to the team here at Air for more information on how we can help improve your business development. Call us on 0345 241 3038 or email us at contact@air-marketing.co.uk.

Let’s start with data

Posted on by Doug Roots

We live in a world where data is everywhere, it’s more widely available than it ever used to be, and we use it more than we’ve ever done before!

As telemarketer’s, data is invaluable to us. The simple truth is that we are only as effective as the data that we use. It is our job to understand who we are calling and to establish a need, all culminating together to create a lead or opportunity for our client. With the correct and clean data, we are able to do this in an efficient manner, understanding the target market, key message and target for our clients.

But, with bad data we struggle from the outset. Using out of date, irrelevant, or confusing data causes delays to our calling, meaning we call less relevant data and have less worthwhile conversations resulting in a worse return on investment for our clients.

Data changes quickly, especially if you are working with large quantities:

  • Staff change roles or leave companies
  • Companies change locations or details
  • Businesses close
  • Company mergers happen

And this can all change the data that you hold about that company.

Telemarketing is still proven to be an extremely effective method of business development when used correctly. Here at Air, we focus on the ROI that you receive when working with us, our average return is £18 for every £1 our clients invest. But to work as effectively as possible we rely heavily on working with the right data. For this reason, we have always partnered with high quality compliant data providers who we can rely on to deliver what we require to meet our clients needs.

With GDPR changes on their way in, data has never been so under the spot light. With this in mind, we’ve created our GDPR Readiness Statement, using plain English to explain how we have got ourselves ready, to give you confidence in our operation and to provide guidance for yours.

If you’re considering starting a telemarketing campaign, get in touch for a chat to find out how we can help you with your business development and data needs.

Have you discovered the full potential of your voice?

Posted on by Doug Roots

We’ve all heard the famous saying, ‘you have a face for the radio’, which can be taken offensively by some who work in the industry, but there is something to be taken from this saying. People who are successful in the radio industry have such huge personalities that they don’t need to be seen to make an impression.

Telemarketing is not too dissimilar to this. Our conversations are all held over the phone, so we do not have the advantage of meeting people face to face or viewing body language. Instead we focus on demonstrating our personality, giving a strong portrayal of the brand and using our tone and inflection to guide the conversation.

I’ve run campaigns at previous companies that have been scripted using tried and tested techniques. But the same question arises – When someone is saying the same thing on each call, how can their results differ so dramatically from call to call?

As I was paid on their results, I made it my mission to understand why this happened, so I listened to hundreds of call recordings. During that time, I found that if one voice tone was used, then within roughly 30-40 seconds the call would often be over. The tone I identified was when an individual’s voice tone/inflection went ‘up’ at the end of sentences. It was the verbal equivalent of having your fingers crossed. Used when someone doesn’t have confidence in what they’re saying or does not understand the subject well enough and even, at times, when trying to ‘fake’ enthusiasm. It was clear that when inflection went up, credibility in the message went down. And this was the difference between the calls using the same script.

What I learnt from this is that when asking questions and closing it’s very important to use a downward inflection in your voice, it commands authority and instils confidence in the decision maker.

For example – try saying with the tone and inflection going down at the end of the sentence, “So John, if you’re 100% happy with everything we’ve gone through, is it fair to say you’d be happy to meet with one of our consultants?”

Now try it again but this time with an upwards inflection at the end of the sentence. Which one would you rather be at the end of?

In understanding this, you can also learn a lot about your decision maker when they throw you objections, what is there tone and inflection; do they sound confident, does it ‘sound’ like a superficial objection or genuine? In understanding how you use your voice, you’ll learn a lot about how others use theirs.

What I have learnt is that voice inflection and tempo are vital and valuable skills that once mastered will improve your telemarketing ability when speaking with gate keepers and decision makers.

To underline the importance of tone and inflection here is a sentence for you to try, “I did not steal the money”. Depending on which word you put the emphasis on it’ll change the whole meaning of the sentence. Go ahead, try it for yourself!

Opinion piece by Oliver Kernick, Senior Account Manager, Air Marketing Group

Motivation in a sales environment

Posted on by Doug Roots

An office full of sales people – some people thrive in this environment, others would rather be anywhere else! It is a challenging environment and not for the faint hearted, with some big personalities and lots of diversity. But the biggest challenge and one of the most important factors for success is motivation for the whole team.

No matter what job you hold, you want to feel motivated and engaged. This is not easy to achieve in our industry, nobody wakes up in the morning thinking, ‘Ooh I can’t wait to jump on the phones and do some telemarketing today’. So, instilling motivation, providing the right incentivisation and a great culture means people enjoy their work and look forward to coming in day after day.

How does Air do this differently?

Motivation is key to ensuring sales people hit weekly, monthly and annual targets. We know that our team of Business Development Executives who are calling on client campaigns are our service, without them we simply wouldn’t be successful at what we do – so we have to look after them. From our experience it takes more than just commission to keep a happy workforce.

Of course, commission is important to most sales people. Being motivated by money and the opportunity of earning more means that we have a healthy commission structure in place. But this is based on results and client retention not purely speed of dialling and quantity of appointment made. Giving our whole team more motivation to work hard on retaining client accounts and delivering.

But on top of commission, we understand that internal culture makes a huge difference to motivation in a sales environment. Internal incentives tailored to help individuals meet client KPI’s and individual targets prove very effective for us. Team socials, rewards, identifying when people do the right things and the freedom of not micromanaging, all make our sales environment stand out from the crowd.

Our Aim – Motivation

As Head of Performance (Account Director), my role is to identify and understand an individual’s motivators, what is it that makes them tick? This can be a whole range of things, some people are purely financially motivated, whereas others are looking to progress their career by gaining more responsibility and further opportunity to do this – and of course those that are in between.

Working alongside colleagues in the leadership team we nurture a very special culture here at Air, where the team are performing at an optimum level and maintaining momentum, clients and crucially motivation to deliver and succeed.

Our workforce understands how important they are to Air and we respect their importance – so together we work to grow the company, our client base and team members careers by keeping people motivated and excited to be part of #TeamAir every day. Can’t believe it, why not come and see it for yourself!

Opinion piece by Marco Alfano-Rogers, Head of Performance (Account Director), Air Marketing Group

Transparency – the glue between telemarketers and clients

Posted on by Doug Roots

One of the most common barriers to using outsourced telemarketing and business development agencies is a perceived lack of transparency and trust.

In our experience many clients come to us, having tried outsourcing their telemarketing before and feeling let down. Unfortunately, our industry is plagued by this reputation, owing to the fact that it’s a low point of entry to become a telemarketing company. Got yourself a phone and a computer? Hey, well done, you can start a telemarketing company (or so you think).

So why does transparency matter so much?

We like to refer to transparency as the glue between us and our clients. Without it we fall apart and cannot have a solid working relationship.

As a business you work extremely hard in setting up and establishing a reputation for yourself within your industry and within your client base. Once this is established you are likely to want to increase your growth at a faster pace, at this point you may not have the resource or capacity in house. Which is why you look to outsource.

This reputation is extremely precious to you – so it should be, you’ve worked hard for it. And when it comes to outsourcing your business development, you have to be confident that your brand, your reputation and your culture is being represented correctly on the phone. Unless you feel your chosen outsourced partner is consistently being honest and transparent it can be very difficult to allow them to become a representative of your brand.

How do you prove transparency?

It’s all very easy to say ‘We are transparent’ but saying it simply isn’t enough. You have to be able to prove it.

We firmly believe that although we are an outsourced partner to your business, we should understand your business to the same level as your employees to feel confident to really express the brand and represent you. Which is why we collaborate with you at every single stage of the process, so you are confident in the knowledge of what we are doing on your behalf, this includes:

  • Setup of a strategy, writing telephone scripts and follow-up email copy with your input and approval
  • We ask all clients to conduct a training session for the team making your calls, so they fully understand your business and are competent in how they are going to approach the task in hand
  • We have a bespoke client portal for clients to access live time information on calls, conversations and time spent on your campaign
  • You will be assigned an Account Manager and calling team who will be your regular and consistent contact throughout the entire campaign
  • All of our calls are recorded, and you can request access to these at any point or we can set up regular sharing of these calls with you

I know that transparency is vital for any relationship especially when we are representing the brand you’ve worked so hard to develop. If you are feeling let down by your current business development partner or you’ve been considering outsourcing but haven’t yet taken the leap, then talk to us about how we could help you. Give us a call on 0345 241 3038, pop us an email to contact@air-marketing.co.uk or visit our website for more information.

Outsourced vendor VS. outsourced partner

Posted on by Doug Roots

Outsourcing has become commonplace in businesses. If you do not have the capacity or resource in-house, then you are likely to look outside of your business for a solution. Whether that is to help you with your finances, your recruitment, you may need consultancy to help change management or operational changes or you’re looking to grow and need help with business development – which is where we help!

The term outsourcing is often used for any external business that you choose to engage with. But there is a very big difference between an outsourced vendor and an outsourced partner.

An outsourced vendor provides a service for an agreed fee. For that fee it is agreed what will be delivered and the vendor will ensure that it is delivered within the agreed timescale, to the agreed spec, for the agreed price. Whereas on the other hand, an outsourced partner will provide a service for an agreed fee, but this will go beyond simple briefing, fulfilment and delivery.

An outsourced partner works with you and has an interest in the company as a whole. A partner is interested in your business goals, objectives, the reasons behind why you are outsourcing and what can really be done to help you fulfil your requirements. You may approach a partner with a requirement and an idea of ‘how you feel it should be fulfilled’. However, a partner is likely to be the expert in what is required (hence why you are approaching them) and by partnering with them they will share their expertise and intelligence to guide your thinking. The right partner will not be motivated by the money they can make from your partnership, instead they will be focused on what they can do to help you grow your business as one team together.

It is very easy to work with an outsourced vendor on a one-off project to fulfil a requirement. However, a partnership is likely to be much more long term. Business culture, values and outlook become more important when establishing a long-term partnership. Working as one team with a like-minded partner will make the whole experience smoother and much more effective.

So, when you are next considering outsourcing a project or business requirement, stop and think. Are you looking for an outsourced partner to deliver more? Sourcing this partner could potentially make a far more positive impact to your business that you may expect.

Opinion piece by Shaun Weston, Account Director, Air Marketing Group. 

5 ways to improve your business development process

Posted on by Doug Roots

Business development strategies are crucial for helping businesses to grow, expand, and reach the next level.

Effective business development is one of the fastest ways to grow your business but it can also be one of the most time consuming as it often requires focus, planning, stamina, and resources. However, when done right, your business development processes can have a huge impact on your growth, your revenue, and your company’s future.

Here are 5 ways to improve your business development process:

Effective market research

Market research plays a vital part in any business development process, helping you to understand your current market position and determine where it is going.

Carry out research into your industry, your geographical area, and the market segment you are targeting. Telemarketing is a great tool for this.

Research contracts, bids, and opportunities for co-operation with other companies – this can help you to increase your revenue channels.

Subscribe to industry-related databases, forums, and blogs. These can be hugely valuable, providing detailed information about projects within your sector. This can save you time when collecting information and reduce your market intelligence efforts.

Focus on your client’s needs

Rather than focusing your business development process on what you’re offering, focus instead on what your client needs, listen carefully to the client’s individual requirements and preferences. If you listen carefully you should then be able to modify your own pitch to match their requirements. This, in turn, should increase client satisfaction rates.

Prioritise client satisfaction

A dissatisfied client could damage your company’s reputation as a whole.

With this in mind, client satisfaction is key for effective business development and should always be your priority. If a problem or issue arises, you need to fix it as quickly and effectively as possible.

Don’t let relationships go cold

As well as providing a good service to your clients, it’s also important to maintain relationships. After all, studies have shown that retained clients spend, on average, 67% more than new customers.

Make it part of your business development process to engage with your clients periodically. Set up Google Alerts for your clients so you know what’s happening in their world or share useful content with them when you come across it. You could even send notes on special occasions, such as birthdays and anniversaries.

Ensure to connect with your clients on LinkedIn and other social media platforms.

Innovate

Innovation is key when it comes to beating your competition. After all, if you offer your clients something unique, there’s a high probability that they will do business with you.

What more can you do with your services? Is there a part of what you offer that needs something extra in order to increase sales? Perhaps you need to integrate services into packages?

Continue to innovate and improve your business development process to benefit your clients and consequently your sales pipeline.

If you’d like to understand how we can help with your business development process, contact us on 0345 241 3038 or get in touch today.

Why telemarketing should be part of your 2018 sales strategy

Posted on by Doug Roots

At the start of the New Year, many of us take the opportunity to re-evaluate our business processes and sales strategies.

When you’re putting together your sales strategy for 2018, telemarketing is definitely something you should consider. With so many new technologies and tools available, it’s easy to overlook the traditional telemarketing approach, but taking this route can play a significant role in your sales strategy. In fact, it’s one of the fastest growing forms of direct marketing today.

Here are 8 reasons why telemarketing should be part of your 2018 strategy:

It’s cost-effective

Telemarketing can be a cost-effective method of selling your business, particularly in comparison to other sales methods. Although there is a common theory that it’s expensive and that costs within telemarketing aren’t easy to control, it actually provides a seriously powerful return on investment. After all, what more should you expect from a marketing channel that connects with individual prospects one on one?

We speak more about the cost of hiring in-house versus outsourcing here.

It’s convenient

Telemarketing is a convenient sales tool, for both you and your customers. This allows you to bring your product or service directly to them, without having to travel and take on the expenses involved.

Unlike other sales strategies, such as email and direct marketing, your customers will be able to ask questions directly and have an immediate conversation, rather than waiting around for replies.

It’s versatile

Telemarketing can be used within a whole host of sales applications. Ranging from appointment setting, lead generation, and follow up, right through to event promotions, re-activation, and market research – telemarketing is incredibly versatile.

Immediate contact

Unlike other methods of contact, the telephone is immediate and attention-grabbing. With technology today your potential customers are available almost 24/7.

High conversion rates

When implemented correctly, telemarketing is known to deliver high conversion rates, particularly of course where there is a focus on quality rather than quantity.

On-going engagement

As well as reaching out to new leads, telemarketing is also a great way to engage with existing customers. Staying in contact with your customers gives you an opportunity to find out more about their needs and build a better, on-going relationship with them, whilst also allowing you to upsell other products and services that they might benefit from.

Expand your business

A further advantage of telemarketing is that it allows you to expand your business by selling to customers in other areas, both locally and nationally. Opportunities to expand are therefore endless, giving you a chance to hone in on your target audience, whatever the area.
Immediate feedback

Telemarketing allows you to obtain instant feedback from your customers about your product or service. This, in turn, allows you to immediately start working on ways to improve your business.

As well as being a great sales tool, telemarketing is also an ideal way to ask your customers if there is anything else that you can be doing for them.

So, there you have it, 8 valuable reasons why telemarketing should be part of your sales strategy in 2018.

If you have any questions, do not hesitate to get in touch, or call us on 0345 241 3038.