Holy cow! We love making our customers happy!

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There’s nothing like starting off the day with a smile. Nothing makes us smile more than happy customers – check out this sequence of events that happened during a project with the goal of setting up appointments.

We picked up 2 appointments yesterday – great stuff! But, is there a way to pick up the speed? Is it possible to get 8 Corporate appointments today?

 

After receiving this request to ramp up, Dunlap arranged to train a few more experienced staff members on the project and get them working on it ASAP. At the end of the day, this message came in from our client:

Home run today! Looks like your team captured 8 appointments that will be followed up on tomorrow. Fantastic! Can we do two more similar days for Corporate and then move to 5 other target locations?

 

And then the next morning, we woke up to find this in our inbox:

Do we have any additional capacity available within Dunlap? I’d love to see 20 Corporate appointments today. Then once we capture that, let’s shift focus to the 5 other locations. I want to push as hard as we possibly can and capture 28 appointments in each of the target locations.

 

Holy cow! We love making our customers happy! It definitely puts a big smile on our faces!

 Holy cow! We love making our customers happy!

Interested in learning more about how Dunlap Marketing’s lead generation, appointment setting, and other telemarketing services can put a smile on your face? Call us today – 281.496.9870 ext. 140.

Quick Blitz Utilizing Telemarketing

Telemarketing, Prospecting, and a Smart Business Trip

When was the last time you had a spur of the moment thought that required immediate implementation, otherwise the thought was useless? In today’s business climate, this scenario happens more and more frequently. Dunlap Marketing has the ability to execute large, quick blitz projects with immediacy.

Quick Blitz Case Study

Late Monday, Dunlap received a very specific appointment setting request from a Regional Sales Manager of one of our largest customers.

I’ll be in the Seattle market this week. If you guys have anything for me in this area, or anything you’re working on there, please let me know. It will be great to fill my free time making sales calls if you can set some up for me.

 

On Tuesday morning, Mike, owner of Dunlap Marketing, replied, confirming action. With the size of this customer’s database, Dunlap Marketing quickly turned on this targeted blitz project. The beauty of blitz call campaigns is being able to touch a large quantity of prospect opportunities in a short period of time.

We can zero in on the Seattle and Bellevue areas for a couple days in hopes of setting appointments for you this week.  Realistically, calls today and tomorrow will probably yield events for Thursday or Friday. Does this work for you? – Mike

The Quick Blitz Process

The setup and programming moved swiftly. On Tuesday morning, after action was confirmed by the client, Dunlap set filters inside our CRM that allowed our staff to only make calls in the specific markets around Seattle. Next, a call script / message was developed and a few key staff members were trained. Within a few hours, calls were going live.

Not only were calls being made, but appointments were being set.

By the end of Tuesday, Dunlap had scheduled appointments for the Regional Sales Manager and sent them off to him. The efficiency of our internal telephony systems and staff members trained on blitz projects were vital in the success of this request.

We just secured a 9:00 AM PT phone appointment for you to talk to a Seattle prospect about scheduling a face-to-face appointment while you’re there. Details to follow. – Kaitlin 

 

With the additional appointments scheduled, the Regional Sales Manager maximized his time in Seattle and spoke with more target prospects. On Friday afternoon, we received the following email from the Regional Sales Manager:

Thanks for the great leads this week. I spoke to the appointment prospect and there is a good opportunity with them. Please tell your team thank you for their quick response for me this week.

 

One of the many benefits of telemarketing as an appointment setting and/or lead generation tool is the ability to quickly direct your efforts to a very specific market. In instances like this, timing is everything!

Start The New Year Smart – Sell More Business

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HOW TO IMPLEMENT A SIMPLE PLAN TO SELL MORE BUSINESS – APPOINTMENT SETTING AND LEAD GENERATION

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 and daunting task (no pun intended). 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 telemarketing?

Generating 70+ new leads in 2016 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 that 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 frame, you will be able to see the simplistic impact this method can have on your lead generation and appointment setting efforts. Here is how you do it:

January 2016:
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 2016:
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 2016:
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 2016:
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

There you have it, the results of a disciplined approach to 2016 – 72 leads in 12 months and now you are a sales pro! Obviously, some of these will not ultimately work out, but certainty, a good amount of them 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 – kaitlind@dunlapmarketing.com – 281.496.9870 x180

Cancer Didn’t Stop This Ironman

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Inspired by “Movember” (November is the month that is associated with raising awareness and funds for men’s health, specifically prostate cancer.) and with the season of giving upon us, we wanted to share a story about Mike Dunlap, president of Dunlap Marketing. The below article, written by freelance writer, Annette Baird, was published in the Houston Chronicle in June 2012. Mike gave his time and energy to raise awareness about prostate cancer. How can you use your talents and skills for the good of others this holiday season?

It’s been about two decades since he saw his first Ironman competition on TV, but west Houston resident Mike Dunlap said the impact of the competitors and their stories stayed with him.

Recently, Dunlap, 51, completed his first Ironman and has his own story, persevering in circumstances that might have stopped the less determined.

Since signing up last June to compete in The Woodlands Ironman, Dunlap went through surgery for a dislocated shoulder, a diagnosis of prostate cancer and subsequent surgery and a bout of kidney stones.

None of these obstacles weakened Dunlap’s resolve, and on May 19 he completed the grueling race, which involved a 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike ride and 26.2 mile run, in 13 hours, 52 minutes and 10 seconds, finishing 76th out of 133 in his age group.

However, it wasn’t his personal accomplishment that Dunlap wanted to bring attention to. Rather, he wanted to raise awareness about prostate cancer and the need for regular check-ups, especially if it runs in the family as did his.

“There’s a ton more information about breast cancer, which is terrific, as compared to prostate cancer, ” he said. “But it’s compounded by the fact that guys don’t want to talk about such a thing.”

Dunlap’s physician Dr. Brian Miles, a urology oncologist, recommended that men age 50 and over should be tested annually for prostate cancer, while men with a family history of the disease or who are African Americans should start at as early as age 40.

“Thirty-two thousand men will die this year from prostate cancer, ” Miles said. “Learn from someone like Mike that this is a real disease that can have an impact.”

Dunlap had set his sights on competing in an Ironman before he turned 40, but life and a passion for tournament waterskiing got in the way. The proximity of The Woodlands competition, however, was too convenient to pass up.

In shape from waterskiing and the Rummel Creek Men’s Boot Camp he helps run, Dunlap threw himself into a rigorous training regimen. But just weeks into training, he dislocated a shoulder and had to have surgery. Undaunted, Dunlap was soon back to cycling and running, holding off on swimming until his rehabilitation was over.

In the meantime, a routine check-up handed Dunlap a not-unexpected diagnosis of early stage prostate cancer. Dunlap’s father had prostate cancer, and two of his four brothers had been diagnosed with the disease just months before.

“I knew I was going to get prostate cancer, ” Dunlap said. “I was prepared to get it, but I was a little angry about the timing.”

Dunlap’s father eventually died of leukemia, while his brothers, ages 47 and 57, are doing well, he said.

Persuaded by his wife Meegan and three daughters to have the surgery sooner rather than later, Dunlap had his prostate removed in January and was lucky enough not to need further treatment.

His training schedule pushed back further, Dunlap admitted to feeling sorry for himself at times, but drew strength and inspiration from family friend 16-year-old Courtney Pette, who had recently overcome lymphoma.

“I thought about how Courtney handled herself against a much scarier challenge, ” Dunlap said.

Dunlap’s friend and fellow boot-camp trainer Lance Mosby never thought the cancer was going to stop Dunlap, despite the looming competition.

“Even after surgery, when it’s very sensitive to ride a bike, he was still going to ride a bike, ” Mosby said.

Ride, run and swim, he did.

Update:

Since Mike’s Ironman in May 2012, he has not slowed down much at all. He has participated in many running events ranging from 5Ks to a 200-mile relay race. His passion for helping others keeps him running on. In June 2014, he did a 50-mile trail race to raise money for Snowdrop Foundation, a non-profit that raises funds for pediatric cancer research.

When Mike isn’t on a training ride or crossing a finish line, he is busy being a husband, father, and business owner. In 1996 he started Dunlap Marketing, a Houston-based telemarketing firm that focuses on lead generation, appointment setting, and survey services.