The lead up to the festive period provides a popular conundrum for those involved in sales and marketing. Some feel decision makers either won’t want to be bothered by sales calls, or they may be too preoccupied for them. Others take the view that it’s an opportune moment to connect with new potential buyers in the Christmas spirit. At Blue Donkey, we sit firmly in the latter camp. In fact, year after year, where other appointment setting companies down tools and knees up, Blue Donkey work hard to eek out the best possible year end sparkle.
Work is much more fun than fun (Noel Coward)
Appointment setting companies will typically have a calendar of projects that require key metrics to be met. Since any kind of uncertainty in marketing (as in life alas) isn’t helpful, the festive weeks are usually avoided for scheduling purposes. For those organisations, productivity is compromised, and possibly loaded into other months of the year. For appointment setting companies like Blue Donkey who choose to maximise this period Christmas is a chance to have a bit more fun. Phone lines are less busy so there are fewer calls to compete for decision maker attention. In fact running a telemarketing campaign at this time of year can allow you to take advantage of the seasonal good cheer that lingers in most offices, so telemarketing is both fun and rewarding as a result of increased contact and lead rates.
According to workplace experts All Business, a fun workplace is an important factor for reducing absenteeism and raising productivity. So managers at all firms, not just appointment setting companies, should look for opportunities to raise sprits especially at Christmas time when we are expecting teams to give that discretionary extra effort required to deliver results when everyone else appears to have downed-tools.
The final hurrah
After a long year of targets, metrics and KPIs, why would the high performing team want to end the year with a nose-dive to the finish line. Since some competing appointment setting companies and internal telemarketing teams won’t be working, the Christmas period allows those that are to get a head start on the new year. By the time January rolls around, many of your prospective customers will already have heard of your brand, your products and your services, allowing you to stay one step ahead of the competition. This head start can be invaluable in a competitive market and could make the difference between your brand having a good 2020 and a great one.
Business as usual
The key to making the most of this festive period is to keep calls light, engaging and interesting, but do stick to the knitting! In other words, the body of the call should be focussed around business discussions, not Christmas. Appointment setting agencies will always stick to the main focus of the call, which is to engage with the decision maker in a conversation about potential needs and requirements, and when the right needs have been identified, ask for a meeting. There is absolutely no reason why a potential buyer wouldn’t accept a meeting for the new year. Like the rest of us, they will want to capture any opportunity to increase their organisation’s effectiveness with the rights tools or services.
To find out more about effective telemarketing techniques, explore our site or get in touch with a member of our team.