Customer success story

Apetito Case Study



TTMC appointment setting results in 50% conversion for apetito in champion/challenger pilot.


Based in Trowbridge, Wiltshire, apetito produces nutritious, great-tasting meals for hospitals, schools, care homes and community services, as well as bespoke catering models for the hospitality and leisure sector in the UK, Germany, Spain, the Netherlands and Canada. They are the parent company of Wiltshire Farm Foods, the UK’s premier home-delivery service for ready-made meals.

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Since 1958, the organisation has been producing great tasting, nutritious frozen food and ready-made meals to suit every taste and every dietary need. Using the highest quality ingredients, meals are prepared from scratch by skilled chefs and nutritionists, and then frozen within one hour to lock in nutrition, freshness and flavour.

Apetito has twice won The Queen’s Award for Enterprise, most recently for their range of texture-modified meals for people with swallowing difficulties, and they take great pride in their pioneering history of innovation within the food and drinks industry.

Campaign objective and project background


The Telemarketing Company (TTMC) had worked with apetito on a number of projects, promoting meal solutions into the leisure and hospitality sector and targeting staff dining within larger businesses in the manufacturing sector. As the leading food producer for the health and social care sector, apetito had an incumbent telemarketing agency in place promoting their nutritious and sustainable meals to care homes on an ongoing basis.  The marketing manager at apetito, however, wanted to step up efforts to increase market penetration and generate awareness of the full portfolio of the care home meal proposition. He decided, therefore, to review the existing agency agreement and conduct a champion/challenger trial with TTMC alongside the incumbent agency to find the best possible outsource solution.


Project execution


A database of care homes covering five regions of the UK, each with a key account manager, was divided equally and the agencies were tasked to generate phone appointments for the apetito key account management team. During those follow up phone appointments, account managers would offer a free taster session for the relevant individual at each care home. Decision makers would vary depending on the size and type of business and could include care home managers, owners and potentially head chefs.
 
A full briefing provided callers with a thorough understanding of relevant meal ranges including apetito’s special diets and award-winning, texture-modified meals designed for those with swallowing difficulties.  A quality-led approach adopted by TTMC focused on ensuring appointments were only with individuals with decision-making authority, rather than influencers, and therefore with a higher propensity to convert. Strict qualification criteria, established prior to campaign launch, was unpinned by a rigorous QA process using TTMC’s proprietary QA tool, Carbon Quality. Customised call scoring frameworks allowed TTMC team managers to sample, review and score call recordings regularly. Shared call recordings and close collaboration, both with the marketing manager with overall responsibility for the project and direct with the regional account managers, ensured valuable client feedback was captured to hone performance. A solid feedback loop also helped optimise the flow of leads into the pipeline, and this was adjusted to accommodate the internal team’s workload, as it varied. The goal was to ensure a steady flow and prompt follow up (within 48 hours) and the best customer experience.
 

Results


Calling took place over a 9-week period and at the end of the trial period, apetito made the decision to drop their incumbent agency in favour of TTMC, based on the quality of results.

Appointments made by the incumbent agency achieved a 10% conversion to a taster session. By contrast, TTMC’s appointments achieved a conversion rate of over 50%.  In addition, TTMC achieved 156% of target in terms of lead generation, producing 63 appointments, one for every five hours of calling.

Client and agency are now discussing an ongoing campaign.