Marketing Advice

[VMHardSoft]

Hi,

We are a company who specialise in leasing and support IT equipment to small and medium sized businesses. Our main markets are accountants, solicitors, Designers of all types and photographers.

At the moment, we do market and phone these people up in our area but we get little response whereas the same marketing in other areas of the country works. Could you give tips and advice on how to meet these potential businesses in a more friendly manner without a huge outlay.

Additionally, we are already involved in networking groups but find that the business growth is too small.

Thanks in advance for your time.

 

[IainW]

I was an operations manager in this field many years ago, maybe it would be best to say to the companies that you're contacting that if anything goes wrong with their current set up then they should contact you and you'll give them a loan machine while you discuss further negotiations.

You maybe doing poorly in a certain area because another company have got the monopoly on it, so you have to find them, see their prices and response times and then beat it.

Also in this economic climate - breakdown, disaster recovery and so on are considered by some companies as a luxury so they maybe cutting back.

Iain

 

[directmarketingadvice]

At the moment, we do market and phone these people up in our area but we get little response whereas the same marketing in other areas of the country works. Could you give tips and advice on how to meet these potential businesses in a more friendly manner without a huge outlay.

I've got a question.

When you say "the same marketing in other areas of the country works", are you talking about marketing done by other companies in your industry or is this marketing you do outside your local area?

Cheers,

Steve

 

[VMHardSoft]

Hi,

We are part of a franchise so when I mean that the same marketing works in other areas, I means that the mailers that are sent out are exactly the same but different response rates. Because there is another person in around London who also finds that mass mailing does not work as well as we should, I am thinking that perhaps this situation is local to London particularly.

It may be that competition in and around London is particularly fierce and a lot of the people we phone already have someone who supports their IT and are reluctant to change. I guess it is because you can get either good support or not and once you have been bitten with bad support, you do not tend to change from a good support provider. I am not sure really on this variation - just second guess.

Thanks for the tip to research the competition. I will try and look into that.

Any advice gratefully received.

 

[directmarketingadvice]

I'm not convinced the situation is as you think it is.

We are part of a franchise so when I mean that the same marketing works in other areas

Is that an assumption or a fact?

Right now, are these people getting responses to their mailings? Or, are they getting a response to their telephone calls?

If they are getting a response to their mailers, what percentage do they get?

I means that the mailers that are sent out are exactly the same but different response rates.

Are they being sent out to businesses with exactly the same profile?

i.e. are you mailing to the same sorts of business list?

What about your telephone calls? Are you using the same telemarketing company?

If not, are you at least following the exact same script?

It might be that "London doesn't work" because of the competition. But, before you even think about that, you should make sure that:

(a) the system is working for others

and

(b) you're working it in the exact same way

Hope this helps,

Steve

 

[myles-at-icomplete]

Are you on freeIndex.co.uk ?

Have you read the e-Myth?