Introducing Consulting Services for In-House Prospecting

Posted on by Mike Dunlap

Dunlap Marketing has recently rolled out two new services we will consult you and your team on: internal lead generation and internal appointment setting.

We are ready to get your sales team geared up to do what we do best – prospecting. Whether you’re adding a prospecting branch to your current sales team, or just refining the skills of your current team, we’re here to help you be as successful as possible at in-house prospecting.

Okay, So What’s The Deal?

Let’s look at the overall sales process as a four-person relay race. Each person runs one lap, passing the baton to the next runner at the end of their lap. In a business environment, each of the four laps of the race represents a stage of the sales process and look something like this: 

  • Lap 1: Prospecting
  • Lap 2: Salesperson Hustle
  • Lap 3: Product or Service
  • Lap 4: Company Name and Reputation

Laps 2, 3, and 4 might look differently at various companies. However, the one consistent variable is that Prospecting is Lap 1. Without prospecting, there would be no other stages of the sales process. 

Dunlap Marketing is passionate about prospecting – it’s where we have made our living since 1996. We have developed and implemented thousands of campaigns – not to toot our own horn, but we know what we’re doing when it comes to prospecting. We can help you get your own in-house prospecting campaign launched within a few weeks.

Very interesting. You’ve caught my attention.

You might be thinking “what needs to be in place for a successful prospecting campaign?”

  • Overall plan
  • Proper messaging
  • Targeted database records (and CRM tool to manage)
  • Staff willing to execute the campaign
  • Staff training
  • Implementation and a set schedule for calling times
  • Calendaring and pacing
  • Reporting and measurement
  • Ongoing management 

That’s a lot…now what?

We’ve got your back. Dunlap Marketing can guide you through the complete process, or we can isolate specific steps inside the process. Our approach is unique, but simple. Prospecting is necessary for every industry, every business, and every sales team. 

Let’s get the ball rolling and determine if our skills are a good fit for your needs.  

Additional Tools:

How to Restart Your Business Now

Posted on by Kaitlin Dunlap

Written by Audrey Tuttle

We are living through a remarkable time that will go down in the history books and be studied through generations to come. The Coronavirus will not only be remembered for its immediate effect on humanity, but also for its destructive impact on our economy and business structures as a whole. It would be a powerful statement to explain to your business partners and to future generations that during this historic event, your business not only survived the wrath of the Coronavirus but it thrived in its aftermath. Don’t wait, restart your business now!

As businesses are reopening and trying to settle themselves into their pre-Corona state, there is no better time to ensure the success of your company. Dunlap Marketing’s Recovery Program will do that and more.

With our extremely affordable Recovery Program options, you will have the opportunity to work with the successful team at Dunlap Marketing who has been working with companies like yours since 1996. We will provide a four-month prospecting and appointment setting program as well as outbound prospecting phone calls with permission-based email follow-ups. We will take care of your recovery needs and put your business back on track towards success.

“Each day you don’t prospect is a day in the future you don’t have anything to sell.”

Mike Dunlap, President

Provided by Dunlap Marketing:

  • 24 years of knowledge and experience in B2B appointment setting and B2B lead generation services
  • Onsite and ongoing management supervision of your campaign – all work is performed in our Houston office
  • Staff members are W2 employees of the company who have an average of 12+ years of appointment setting and lead generation work
  • Assistance in developing an effective call message (script)
  • All campaign programming, setup, and development work

This program is only being offered for a limited time, so take advantage of this great deal while it lasts. Not only are you able to choose which of the three recovery options is the best fit for your needs, you also get the bonus of 25% off normal pricing with each of the programs.

Your business’s success will be an affirmation to your customers and competition on your ability to face adversity. Be the business that goes down in the history books, not as the company that fell apart from this unfortunate virus but the one that pushed past the challenge and flourished in its existence. The future of your business depends on the choices you make today, make the right choice and check out Dunlap Marketing’s Recovery Program. We look forward to working with you.

For questions or inquiries, contact us online. Or, reach out to Mike Dunlap at miked@dunlapmarketing.com, 281.496.9870 x 140 or Kaitlin Dunlap Cuevas at kaitlind@dunlapmarketing.com, 281.496.9870 x 180.

Applying Salesmanship 101 Principles

Posted on by Kaitlin Dunlap

Updated – December 2019

Since this article was originally posted in March 2017, much remains the same with our five-year client. The program has continued to grow in the United States – Dunlap Marketing also has the pleasure of supporting the Canadian team now. The process is unchanged, but has been further refined and additional database files have been built and added to the program.

Defining your target marketing, tactfully and respectfully reaching out to them, then making appropriate follow-up steps are the epitome of salesmanship 101 principles. Nothing fancy, just effective.

Original Article – March 2017

An international oil and gas company, and two-year Dunlap Marketing client, has proven when it comes to selling, salesmanship 101 principals still remain. Dunlap Marketing provides an integral function of making prospecting telephone calls into businesses around the US that have large and medium fleets of vehicles. The objective is to schedule phone or face-to-face appointments with interested prospects and our client’s regional sales managers.

“You guys are on fire in my area! Two proposals went out this week from your leads.” – Mid-states region

Process:

  • Before calling began, Dunlap researched and built a national database consisting of our client’s target prospects, based on industry-type and fleet size
  • Once the database was built, Dunlap called to identify the person responsible for decisions relating to fuel card programs
  • Through tactful persistence, Dunlap makes ongoing telephone calls to communicate with this person – the goal being to learn how their company’s current fuel card program works and identifying potential interest in meeting with our client’s regional sales managers
  • Upon request of the prospect, the Dunlap team will email additional information about the program to prospects who want to learn more before scheduling an appointment
  • Throughout the course of calling, Dunlap adds additional database records to the master list. New records can come from either our client’s CRM or through additional research
  • The ultimate goal continues to be scheduling appointments, with a major focus on new business development

“Thanks for the leads Mike. I sang your company’s praises last week at our national sales meeting. I think your staff does a great job.” – Southeast region

Additional Value-Adds:

  • Maintaining CRM application to properly track/manage appointments we set
  • Blitz programs isolating certain events or markets that include a targeted initiative around selling more fleet fuel card programs
  • Internal, weekly product training for continuous education of the Dunlap staff

“Our sales manager was able to speak with all of the calls scheduled! AND one of them is likely to close a deal with us! Nice job! – Marketing Manager

The success of this campaign is based on applying basic salesmanship 101 tactics. Proper planning, messaging, cold calling, strategic follow up calls, and use of email correspondence are the building blocks of selling.

For questions or inquiries, contact us online. Or, reach out to Mike Dunlap at miked@dunlapmarketing.com, 281.496.9870 x 140 or Kaitlin Dunlap Cuevas at kaitlind@dunlapmarketing.com, 281.496.9870 x 180.

How To Implement A Simple Plan To Sell More Business In The New Year – Utilizing Telemarketing

Posted on by Kaitlin Dunlap

Originally posted on December 30, 2015 as Start The New Year Smart – Sell More Business. 

How do you eat an elephant? What a silly question! Adult elephants range from 6,000 – 12,000 pounds – eating all of that would be a very large (no pun intended) and daunting task. But, hypothetically speaking, if you were to eat an elephant, how would you accomplish that?

One bite at a time, of course.

By the way, how does eating an elephant have anything to do with creating a plan to sell more business?

bitesizeelephant

How To Implement A Simple Plan To Sell More Business In The New Year

Generating 70+ new leads in a year might seem like an unrealistic goal, similar to eating an elephant. However, if you break it down into “one bite” increments, you will see how generating 70+ new leads is, in fact, a very obtainable goal.

To start, keep in mind the mentality behind “one bite at a time” is to keep the task at hand, in this case, generating 70+ qualified leads in 12 months, simple and manageable. With this mind set, you will be able to see the impact this method can have on your lead generation, appointment setting efforts, and ultimately, the ability to sell more business.

Here is how you do it:

January:
200 Start with 200 target prospect records (Don’t know how to build a prospect database? We can help with that – “Identifying Your Database for a Telemarketing Campaign”)
3 Make 3 call attempts into each record on average
8 Calling hours required each week to make 3 calls into 200 records (32 hours per month) – this is equivalent to 1.6 calling hours each business day, or 20% of your day
6 Lead opportunities identified in January (generally speaking)
February:
100 Add 100 fresh, new prospect records (300 cumulative prospect records for the year)
+ 100 Existing/prioritized prospect records that justify continued calling (assuming that 50% of January’s 200 do not warrant additional calls this month)
= 200 Total February prospect records
3 Call attempts into each record on average
8 Calling hours required each week (1.6 hours per day)
6 Lead opportunities identified in February
12 Cumulative lead opportunities identified YTD
March:
100 Add 100 fresh, new prospect records (400 cumulative prospect records)
+ 100 Existing/prioritized prospect records that justify continued calling (assuming that 50% of February’s 200 do not warrant additional calls this month)
= 200 Total March prospect records
3 Call attempts into each record on average
8 Calling hours required each week (1.6 hours per day)
6 Lead opportunities identified in March
18 Cumulative lead opportunities identified YTD

Do you get the gist? …We thought so. If you continue this discipline for April, May, June, July, August, September, October, and November, your December will look like this:

December:
100 Add 100 fresh, new prospect records added (1,300 cumulative prospect records)
+ 100 Existing/prioritized prospect records that justify continued calling (assuming that 50% of November’s 200 do not warrant additional calls this month)
= 200 Total December prospect records
3 Call attempts into each record on average
8 Calling hours required each week (1.6 hours per day)
6 Lead opportunities identified in December
72 Cumulative lead opportunities identified YTD

In conclulsion

There you have it, the results of a disciplined approach to the new year– 72 leads in 12 months and now you are a sales pro! As with any lead generation project, some of these will not work out, but the game of numbers tells us a good amount will convert into proposals, then become new customers for you. Additionally, you will have developed a great database (pipeline) of future opportunities.

Lead generation and appointment setting isn’t as bad as you might have thought. By the way, how did that elephant taste?

Kaitlin Dunlap Cuevas – kaitlind@dunlapmarketing.com – 281.496.9870 x180