Dunlap Develops the Future of Business

Written by Audrey Tuttle

The future of the business world ultimately lies within the hands of our current generation of college students, and Dunlap Marketing is doing its part in guiding these individuals to a successful future. Our summer internship program has created an opportunity for these ambitious individuals to work first hand with the leadership team and staff at Dunlap Marketing. The five-year program is moving into its second month of operation this summer, and these five college students could not be happier to continue getting their feet wet within the field.

Our interns have built upon their prior knowledge of business and have gained the skills that are critical to have in your tool box before taking the big step of earning a job after college. They have gained experience in cold calling, lead generation, telemarketing, marketing through social media, data research, B2B operations, and much more. Additionally, through the weekly breakout sessions with Mike Dunlap and Kaitlin Dunlap Cuevas, the interns have gained expertise on the ins and outs of being successful in the work force.

Of course, these statements can only be backed with a fun Q&A with the interns…

What work you have been doing at Dunlap Marketing?

“Making phone calls to capture data, working with other employees on campaigns, acquiring new clients for businesses.” Grant Haney, Texas A&M University, Finance

 “I have had the opportunity to build upon my communication skills through cold-calling and acquiring important information for databases. My other work responsibility has allowed me to expand my creativity as it involves creating and scheduling all social media posts for the company and writing company articles.” Audrey Tuttle, Texas Tech University, Marketing

What skills have you developed while working at Dunlap?

“Through my internship at Dunlap Marketing, I have enhanced my communication skills through phone calls and learned how to be persistent when making sales calls. I have developed a better sense of self-motivation and worked on adapting to whatever campaign I am assigned to.” Grace Mosby, The University of Texas at Austin, Business Major

“Some skills I have developed while working at Dunlap are spreadsheet organization and navigation, phone call communication skills, and more effective time management.” Addi Barrett, Belmont University, Commercial Music/Songwriting

            What exciting things our interns have to say about their internship experience! Don’t worry, we have more responses where that came from! Check out next week’s article for a part two of the intern’s Q&A. You won’t want to miss it.

Six Steps to Redefine Your Target Market

Who is Your New “Best” Customer?

What to do when your current customers are negatively impacted by the economic state and they no longer need or can afford your services

Between oil prices and the pandemic, some businesses have been turned upside down.  Our best customers are no longer our best customers, they have been greatly impacted by either or both of these major economic bombs.  For our businesses to survive, we now have to figure out how to identify a new target market, also known as our best prospects and customers.

We will be discussing in detail the six steps to redefine your target market. Those steps consist of identifying second and third tier prospects and customers, creating your list, researching industry classifications, identifying patterns, researching similar companies that match patterns, and building a list based on research findings.

Let’s start by thinking about who our second or third best customer was prior to the drop in oil prices or the pandemic.  In doing this, focus on who these customers are by identifying what industries they might be in. For example, many of our customers are in different industries and are B2B with us as we perform marketing research services for them.  This exercise is not impactful if all of your best customers are inside the same industry.  Think in terms of “best customers” by different industry types.

My suggestion is to look into your current customer list and flag those second and third tier customers, ideally less impacted by our current state of the economy.  Once flagged, create a list of these accounts and include their address, city, and state.  With this information you are able to research their industry classification.  Document industry classification for each and you might start seeing a pattern of industry segments.  It is helpful but not critical to see patterns.

If you’re starting to see a pattern that you trust; next, think about refining your new target market.  Most common ways to refine include adding annual revenue and/or employee counts into the equation.  Geography might also be helpful.  Once you have captured all the necessary data, your final step will be to match other companies that mirror the final product of your research.

If you do not immediately see a pattern, consider adding more customers to your research list.  Or, you might find that you have a broader profile of customers.  When this is the case, often it becomes helpful to tighten up your requirements by making sure other elements are included in the search.  Often these include annual revenue, number of employees and geography, the same as above.  These elements are important in broad profiles because they allow you to make best efforts at zeroing in on your potential customer a bit more.

The final step is to build a new list of potential prospects based on the research work just done.  There are several list tools available to do this or Dunlap Marketing will be happy to do it for you.  The result is you have a spreadsheet of new prospect companies.  Now its time to reach out and promote the message of who you are and why these prospects should consider your products or services.  At this point you have adjusted your business based on world events, and you are on your way to making new “best” customers.

How to Restart Your Business Now

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.