TTMC’s telesales integrates seamlessly with Mirror Marketing’s field sales to boost distribution of products into convenience retailers.

Mirror Marketing is an independent field marketing agency with over 25 years of experience in providing direct sales, merchandising and field marketing solutions across the UK. The agency works with brands to increase visibility and sales using an army of field staff to execute brand campaigns. Their bespoke services are used by many major blue-chip clients. Working across multiple channels of retail and services, Mirror have the expertise and customer-focused culture to deliver business solutions and results.

Campaign objective and project background

Mirror approached The Telemarketing Company (TTMC) as they wanted to add an extra dimension to their traditional face-to-face sales campaigns. The goal was for TTMC to make an initial outbound phone call to retailers to deliver the brand message and make a sale over the phone. They would then take a transfer order for the brand to process and deliver through their distributor. A follow up walk-in visit would be made by the Mirror sales team to make a further sale and to site Point of Sale displays and merchandise.

Mirror chose TTMC as their telesales partner as they had the skills and experience to help them realise the sales growth they needed. An outbound B2B telesales specialist with a solid track record calling into retailers and conveniences stores, TTMC was identified as the best fit.

Project execution

TTMC was tasked to deliver a campaign targeting convenience store retailers, existing stockists of the brand products, to drive sales of a new format and new flavour offerings. Data would be provided by the client and calls scheduled quarterly to provide a targeted drip feed of sales activity.

The main objective was to speak to the senior decision maker at each store to review current stock, build awareness of the refreshed brand and secure orders for the new offerings. For any orders secured, a follow up visit would be booked for Mirror’s field team to visit and set up POS (Point of Sale) displays to maximise in-store brand exposure.

Agents were briefed on the brand and proposition including attention-grabbing prize-draw incentives for retailer purchases, as well as a nationwide consumer competition to help retailers boost their sales. Additional KPIs incentivised agents to take orders directly over the phone or secure agreement from multiple retailers to take Free Standing Display Units. The client gave a detailed overview of the competitive landscape so the team could position the recently rebranded product against competitor offerings.

TTMC’s IT team created a custom build to accommodate Mirror’s reporting requirements and variations in the order process between the different retailer fascias. The agency also screened all data against the Corporate/Telephone Preference Service register and fed the refreshed data back to the client.

Results

The client is thrilled with the way the external telesales function has integrated with their field sales model and allowed them to boost distribution into retailers in a cost-effective way. The sales calls now work seamlessly alongside field sales with phone qualification ensuring the field sales team are equipped with the right information to maximise the value of face-to-face visits. The double hit has been an immense success.

Mirror has been particularly impressed with the agency’s flexibility and how the campaign has been tailored to their individual needs. TTMC’s real-time reporting portal has also given them greater visibility and analytics around the process which will help refine and improve the future approach.

For what has been Mirror’s first experience working with a telesales agency, TTMC has been an expert partner and a safe pair of hands that has guided them gently through the process. Client and agency have developed a strong partnership and this initial engagement provides a solid model for the future.