Telemarketing Services Bring $1.2M in Quick-Push Sales Effort

Posted on by Kaitlin Dunlap

sales

A long-time customer, who has used Dunlap Marketing’s telemarketing and appointment setting services for 9 years, called with a time sensitive project to promote a special 1-day sale. The project had been labeled as “high priority”. In an effort to compliment a direct mail and email push that the customer had already implemented, Dunlap Marketing called over 9,600 prospects inside of a 3-day period. Their job was to call the prospects and gain agreement to attend an upcoming special sales event.

The database represented up to 3-year-old records of individuals who had expressed interest in services, but had not yet purchased. In many instances, active communications did not exist between the client and prospects.

From all the prospects called, the client reported an immediate $1.2 million in new business sales that were signed on the day of the event. During the telemarketing calls, 287 individuals agreed to attend. Of these attending, 62 purchased and took advantage of great pricing. Because of the success of the telemarketing calls, Dunlap Marketing was asked to implement a follow up appointment setting campaign, calling prospects that initially committed but were unable to attend the sales event. Forty-six face-to-face appointments were set and an additional $354,000 in new business resulted from these appointments.

The customer described his experience with Dunlap Marketing as, “Very successful! I am very impressed with how quickly Dunlap Marketing designed a message and launched a call campaign that created outstanding results and revenue. It is amazing at how they responded to such a large prospect list. We will implement this same strategy again next year.”

Can a telemarketing campaign bring your business more than $1 million in immediate sales? Maybe yes or maybe no. However, if done correctly with a targeted call list, Dunlap Marketing can implement a “quick-push” telemarketing and appointment setting campaign similar to this. Organization, experience, efficiency, and well-trained staff members are all key ingredients to success.

Telemarketing Firm is the Recruiting Solution You Are Looking For

Posted on by Kaitlin Dunlap

light-at-the-end-of-the-tunnel

The search for the perfect candidate to join your leadership team can seem like a grueling task. Not only does this person have to possess a thorough knowledge of the specific subject matter, they also have to be compatible with the existing members of your team. While it might be difficult to see the light at the end of the tunnel in situations like this, XBig6/Dunlap Marketing provides a flashlight and leads the way to a successful hire.

“Magna Energy Services came to us with the need to fill a Safety Specialist role in the spring of 2015,” said Mike Dunlap, owner of Dunlap Marketing. The first step XBig6/Dunlap Marketing likes to take when recruiting for a new job opening is to set up a conference call with their client. “The goal of this call is to learn the ins and outs of the job as well as the culture of our client’s company. It’s a good foundation to start with,” Mike commented. After the conference call, sourcing for the right candidate began. The recruiting team received more than 400 applicants. With the knowledge they gained from the client meetings, they narrowed the list of applicants to 105.

Next, a scorecard was designed that contained two tiers of critical questions and talking points that would be asked to candidates who made it through the initial resume filtering. The first tier consisted of 15 questions such as willingness to relocate, familiarity with the required job functions, certifications, and education level. If potential candidates answered all of the first 15 questions acceptably, they were asked the second tier of questions. This tier consisted of eight in depth questions that were geared toward leadership experience and ability.

The XBig6/Dunlap Marketing team spoke with and vetted 81 candidates by phone. With the help of advanced CRM and computer telephony, the team was able to make simultaneous outbound calls as well as answer the inbound calls from candidates returning calls. With information acquired during the first and second tier questions, the 81 candidates were then filtered down to 16. For each of the 16 potential candidates, the XBig6/Dunlap Marketing team compiled a cover letter that documented notes from the conversation(s) with each qualifying candidate as well as the candidate’s resume. These 16 were then presented to Magna’s Human Resources Director.

Four of the 16 were chosen to have a phone interview with the Human Resources Director. Two of those four were then asked to go to the client’s office for a face-to-face interview with members of the leadership team.

“I have been very pleased with the eager applicants I have received from your team!” stated Beth, a member of the Human Resources team at Magna. “We had a GREAT week of quality interviews.”

After the face-to-face interviews, the leadership team decided on the candidate they felt was the best fit for the role. He has since been offered a job and accepted.

“… A recent example was for a vacant leadership role.  They identified over 100 candidates nationally, then systematically pared the field down to the top candidates for our needs.  My team’s time was maximized by the process, with consensus on our top choice.  A great hire,” stated Dennis Douglas, Magna Energy Service’s CEO, when asked about his experience with the Xbig6/Dunlap Marketing recruiting services.

The XBig6/Dunlap Marketing recruiting team is supremely efficient at finding a needle in the haystack. In a world full of good fits – Xbig6/Dunlap Marketing helps you find the best fit for your team.

Please contact us if you feel your company could benefit from our recruiting services.

Mike Dunlap | 281-496-9870 x 140 | miked@dunlapmarketing.com

John Honeycutt | 972-533-9418 | jhoneycutt@xbig6.com

Kaitlin Dunlap | 281-496-9870 x 180 | kaitlind@dunlapmarketing.com

 

 

 

Business Bankers – Appointment Setting Case Study

Posted on by Mike Dunlap

money chest

Business Bankers – Appointment Setting Services

Goal – To generate a steady flow of “new business” appointments targeting companies with revenues from $2.5M to $10M.

Background – In the fall of 2014, we developed an appointment setting campaign for a regional bank that has 80+ branch locations inside of three major metropolitan areas – their goal was to generate a steady flow of “new business” meetings and to test appointment setting as the method to create increased sales activity. Over 20 business bankers were to participate in the program.

Preparation –
1st – We wrote a message for the telemarketers that professionally represented the bank. The call strategy was low-key and focused on asking decision makers about their current banking relationships and probed into upcoming bank needs.
2nd – Dunlap Marketing built a specific prospect database around companies that produced annualized revenues ranging from $2.5M to $10M inside specific industry classification, targeting headquarter or single location facilities. Once the database was built, we suppressed existing bank customers from the list.
3rd – Internal processes were setup for scheduling appointments and distributing them to the appropriate bankers. CRM applications were built to properly track and manage sales activity. Bankers were held accountable to report on the outcome of every appointment assigned to them.
4th – Kickoff meetings were conducted in all three markets to assure that the calling staff and business bankers were all working in unison with messaging and proper qualification requirements for each appointment set.
5th – Implementation of the calling campaign started and a few days later, appointments were being delivered to the bankers, and steady flow was established and maintained month over month.
6th – Management review meetings were held monthly between the bank and Dunlap Marketing to assess the campaign and modifications were made as necessary to meet bank goals.

Actual Results – 379 appointments were scheduled for the business bankers – after the first meetings occurred, bankers reported:
o 64 of the 379 were considered “immediate opportunities” and
o 138 of the 379 were “interested, requiring follow up steps”
o Significant sales momentum was established that carries into 2015

Because of these sales results, Dunlap Marketing was awarded an agreement to continue appointment setting services throughout 2015.

Summary – The opportunity to significantly increase new business growth is high for our bank clients and the risk is very low. Our pricing is built around a performance-based model; therefore you pay for the appointments we set. Additionally, Dunlap Marketing prides itself on presenting a very professional image to prospecting. Our services are intended to complement business development activities already in place with bankers.

These services are not for every bank – a 15 minute conversation should be sufficient in determining if Dunlap Marketing can become an asset to your business growth in 2015. Please let us know if you have interest in a brief conversation.

Contact Information:
Mike Dunlap
Phone: (877) 386-6275 or (281) 496-9870 ext. 140
Email: miked@dunlapmarketing.com

Interview #1 with a bank client – click here

Interview #2 with a bank client – click here

 

Using Telemarketing for New Hire Screening

Posted on by Kaitlin Dunlap

Your high-turnover company needs 12 new hires to complete an urgent project. If qualified candidates aren’t found, the company could face lost revenue, and damaged client relationships. In order to meet a quick time frame, this company turned to an outsourced telemarketing company to help with initial applicant screening.

“We take pride in responding to client challenges and delivering solid results to them, this is what motivates clients to rehire us over and over,” says Mike Dunlap, the owner of Dunlap Marketing. The company had an urgent need to quickly hire 12 qualified laborers to help staff new crews “We got the phone call and quickly sprang into action. Over the course of two detailed phone discussions, we developed a very specific game plan, gained client approval and began implementation, all inside of two days,” states Mike.

The game plan consisted of two separate parts. The first was setting a group interview date at the client office; the second was reviewing and vetting over 100 potential candidates. Once a foundation of candidates had been gathered, Mike’s recruiters, cross trained in telemarketing, started calling each candidate to qualify them. This process included asking nine qualifying questions specific to job history and capabilities to perform the new job.

If candidates met the requirements, Dunlap Marketing emailed them an application. In the email, the candidate was given a few vital pieces of information: instructions on how to return the completed application, encouragement to complete/return it as soon as possible, and an outline of job duties and contact information. During this period, inbound call activity became heavy as voice mail messages were being responded to and applicants calling with questions.

In the course of six quick days, the field was narrowed down to the top 20 candidates, all of which had returned a completed application. These 20 were then invited to the group interview the following week. Sixteen out of the 20 candidates showed up for the interview, and according to the client, all 16 were well qualified. Following a group presentation, each went through individual interviews and ultimately 12 were selected and offered full time jobs. All 12 candidates accepted the job offer.

What does it take to go from zero to 12 necessary new hires in 10 days? It takes a team who has the experience, desire, and the ability to respond immediately to a client need. Virtually no time was required of the client human resources department until new hire packets were distributed to the 12 employees.