Getting the Most from Every Cold Call

Ever call a prospect, get your ‘no’ and then move straight on without asking questions? You could be missing out on key market intelligence which could help you further understand your marketplace and even help you resolve unidentified gaps in your service.

Once your prospect has delivered the news that they’re not interested in your product or service (this will happen loads in telemarketing), why not try getting that little extra out of them to make sure you get something from the conversation.

This could include:

• What was it that made you choose your current provider?
• What is it that makes them different?
• When will this agreement be reviewed?
• What service would you like your current supplier to provide that they don’t currently?
• When would be the best time for us to contact you again?
• What similar areas of work will you be looking into in the future?

aidan@nidomarketing.co.uk

www.nidomarketing.co.uk

"Robocalls" – The New Evil

First New Labour, then The Lib Dems, and now the US Republicans are using automated calls to shout about their bile-driven policies to consumers.

Robocalls are the new evil, but are they a necessary evil? We don’t think so – blanket calls lacking in interactivity are a great way to irritate your target market.

October has shown a 4% jump in the polls for Labour, but a drop for the Lib Dems suggests that Gordon Brown’s financial clout is the reasoning, rather than a practise that the information commissioner considers to be “direct marketing”.

Tell us your thoughts… aidan@nidomarketing.co.uk

Calling all Creatives!

For a long time Nido Marketing have been fierce advocates of supporting the Brighton business community as we think it is the best city in the UK. With this in mind we are proud to announce we are a category sponsor at the forthcoming Digital Media Awards South (DiMAS) for the “Digital 360 Award: Collaborate Award”.

The awards are about rewarding the creative minds that come up with cutting edge digital content and highlight the wealth of talent the South boasts in spades! Applying for the awards has been made very simple and the deadline is fast approaching so check out the website for more details: http://www.thedigitalmediaawards.co.uk. We would strongly urge you to enter if you are in the creative industry as we want to help make the awards a success!

The awards ceremony itself takes place on November 27 at All Saint’s Church Hove we hope to see you there?

www.nidomarketing.co.uk

Indians Abandon Call Centres in Droves

Hardly surprising I think you’ll agree, but as this BBC article shows, the Indian call centre market is rapidly losing valuable, educated labour.

In short, the honeymoon is over. Here at Nido we’re almost a free-range pet rescue centre for undervalued telemarketers to work their verbal communications magic, so we know a bit about this.

Brand

On one end of the phone, the customer hears a dull, hazy message delivered with little enthusiasm and ultimately gives the wrong impression of the brand. Bad for customer experience.

Employee Engagement

On the other receiver, the telemarketer is mentally exhausted from reading the same script 200-300 times during the day. With little prospects and poor working conditions, the employee will want to do as little work as humanly possible and go home.

Ethics

Many UK-based outbound call centres don’t pay very well (we’re talking £5ish per hour), subject people to cramped conditions on automatic diallers, and employ job-lots of staff from agencies to keep those pesky little employment laws at bay.

So it’s not difficult to establish why call centres embrace a ‘revolving door’ staff retention culture, and why they are a breeding ground for the worst examples of telemarketing practice.

Coming soon: We’ll be slating the worst cold calls we’ve received at the Nido office. Have you had any howlers recently? Tell us about them - aidan@nidomarketing.co.uk

Let the Trash Talk Begin…

Nido Marketing in partnership with Cardens Accountants, will be hosting their annual charity 5-a-side football tournament on Wednesday the 29th of October at the Porstslade Community Sports Centre.

As usual there will be 12 teams battling it out on the pitch to become the 2008 Champions, last year Hove based graphic design agency Door 22 managed to defend their crown after a heroic display of grit and determination.

The event will aim to raise funds and awareness for two local charities Honeycroft Under 5's centre and the Rockinghorse Appeal. We managed to raise £720 last and we want to beat this target

Emma Nichol from Door 22 said; “Thanks to all at Nido and Cardens for such a good evening, it's always a really great event that you guys put on. We were of course extremely pleased to retain the trophy and it was a fantastic tournament. I am so glad you managed to raise so much for your charities and we are always happy and delighted to help support and be involved in your events”.

A raffle will take place on the night so if you would like to contribute a prize to this worthy cause it will be greatly received. There is plenty of space for spectators to watch the action from the bar area so bring along your supporters to cheer you on!

Team Registration: Alastair Digby 01273 667979 alastair@nidomarketing.co.uk

Date: Wednesday 29th October

Time: The first game will kick off at 18:30 and the tournament should finish at approximately 22:30

Entrance Fee: £75 per team

Where: Portslade Community Sports Centre

www.nidomarketing.co.uk