Case Study:  A marketing proposal for a telco marketing manager.

A strategic process for attracting WARM sales leads.

Objective:

Our objective is to Identify, reach out to, and engage managers and owners of businesses with telco needs using content.  With the aim of building a pool of warm and qualified prospects who know, like, and trust the Telco X brand before they ever speak to a sales person.

Situation:

• Telco X delivers a broad range of telco services based around 3 core services; Phone, Internet & Inbound 1300 & 1800 services.  
• Telco X currently has around 500 customers with a range of business types, industries and account sizes.
• Current revenues have given Telco X the chance to be strategic and develop marketing and sales channels to support continued sustained growth.
• Cold calling SME’s is simply not an option. Market has been flogged, low value tactic, call factory type call centres ruining it for others and extremely low penetration to the decision maker..
• More leads & warmer leads for sales teams are needed. (Goal: 30-50 per month)
• Telco X is developing data analytics and reporting that are exclusive to their business and unique in the industry.

Context:

Every SME in Australia needs a phone line and internet connection. The market is wide open for Telco X to win market share by both signing up businesses to new services as they need them and winning contracts away from other providers as they fall due. Both groups are equally valuable and should be targeted with different strategies.

Telco is a highly competitive industry. Aside from the big brands, there are many smaller players in the market who appear to be offering identical services to one another. Standing out is both difficult and also key to competing and winning.

Solution Summary:

The solution we recommend involves engineering multiple marketing funnels that target both buyer types and product types. The marketing funnel will attract and capture the information of prospects with desirable content, then ascend them through a series of defined stages that guides them through the buying journey,  increases their buying intent, lowers resistance, and delivers them to Telco X when ready to purchase.

Solution Overview:  Inbound Marketing Funnel

1. RESEARCH: Developing the various buyer personas we’re targeting is central to engaging them effectively. We recommend doing phone research with existing clients to get them to answer questions around their motivations for buying, the process they go through internally to make the purchase and the day to day challenges they face as business owners and managers.  These phone surveys will not only inform the strategy we use to reach out to other prospects,  it also provides rich content/research to share with other prospective buyers during the sales and marketing process.  

1. OUTREACH: Once we have identified the target market and understand their motivations, we are positioned to reach out to them and offer to help solve these problems.  Using the research gathered, we design ebooks, info graphics, guides or tools offering insights, education and ideas to help them with their job.  The content provided to them is designed to educate and inform on issues important to them, plus introduce Telco X’s solutions where appropriate.  The final stages involve continued engagement via emails which will send them further content such as case studies and examples of success.  As prospects engage with the content we can identify their readiness and engage them when their lead score indicates they’re ready.

1. ENGAGEMENT:  Engagement gets broken down into 2 areas. Engaging people in your marketing funnel to encourage them to do business with you and engaging your current clients to increase revenue and identify new opportunities to grow their accounts. We will write and set up several email sequences that automatically get sent to leads which are segmented by personas created in step1.  All sequences will be linked to the database, website and dedicated landing pages to capture lead details and track performance while moving each prospect along the funnel.

1. SALES:  The final stage is closing deals.  Once you have engaged the prospect with your ebook and several emails delivering valuable information, they are sufficiently warm to be called by the sales team.   When the sales person calls, the prospect will know who Telco X is, something about their services and most importantly, they will be open to a discussion about their telco needs.  Think about it; After the process of listening to the prospect, offering them help and insight and then making them more savvy consumers, Telco X is well placed to both receive the sale and guide the purchase.

Phase 1:  RESEARCH

The research phase will be constructed as both an information gathering exercise as well as a marketing tool for Telco X customers, staff, and prospects. One option is doing a series of phone calls to ask them a questionnaire that explores their world, seeks to understand their challenges and uncovers actionable information for the participants. If this option is not feasible, email surveys may be considered as an alternate option.

The objective is to understand the day to day pain points for the target market.  What keeps them busy? What causes them hassle?  What do they want from a supplier relationship?  Not only do we get great information and insight, we show the client Telco X cares about them personally and the industry as a whole.

Considerations:

• Call during business hours or after hours?
• Pitch & incentive to undertake interview questions?
• Questions to be asked on phone call/in survey

Phase 2: OUTREACH

Using the research gathered during the buyer persona research,  we design and create a number of assets which will appeal to the target market.   The details will be determined by the research we conduct in phase 1.   We then contact prospects offering insights, education and ideas to help them with their job.  

During Outreach, we are not selling Telco X.  Outreach, whether it be email or phone calls,  is a marketing activity.  The overriding principle is one of engagement and assistance to the prospect.  Helping and informing them on issues related to their day to day operations.  

This process positions Telco X as a market leader and delivers thought leadership in the space. The secondary benefit is the undermining of competitors such as TPG or Telstra.  These businesses generally approach on commercial terms with little regard to assisting the business manager/owner in anything other than signing their contract. Telco X can be positioned as more consultative, more independent, more agile and more solution focused than these larger competitors.

Outreach also involves exposure across the web in places your target market is likely to be hanging out.  Guest blogging on industry sites, advertorial, press releases, display advertising on industry publications and social media advertising eg LinkedIn and other activities will ensure your content is found by your target market.  

Most of this content on third party sites will be linked to the Telco X website and landing pages that capture leads for you and deliver value to the visitor via information downloads.  

3rd Party Outreach Opportunities

Examples of relevant 3rd party sites for exposure:

• www.businessinsider.com.au
• www.fastcompany.com
• www.itnews.com.au
• www.mycustomer.com (call centre blog)
• www.australiansmallbusiness.net.au

Examples of Content relevant to Prospects:

• How to Pick The Right Telco
• 5 Things To Consider When Choosing A Telco
• The CIO’s Guide To Teclo

Phase 3:  ENGAGEMENT

Engaging your prospects using automation builds the relationship without draining resources or wasting sales team’s time with unready or unqualified prospects.

We will engage your prospects ‘before the call’ by delivering useful content and information to them via email (or possibly even direct mail).  The email sequence will invite them to read articles, watch videos, take online assessments or interact with Telco X in some other way.  Each email further educates the prospect and brings them closer to

the brand by linking them to education and offers on the site.  These offers are micro solutions to problems they face or answers to questions they have.  To access them, the prospect has to enter their details.  The more they do this, the more ready they will be to talk when called by sales.

When done correctly, the engagement sequence primes the conversation for the sales person.  We fill knowledge gaps, highlight issues they face and assist them to do their job better, easier or more efficiently.   

Because Telco X has framed the conversation and key concerns for the buyer, the sales conversation will easily flow from the content the prospect has consumed.  The prospect will be primed for informed conversations about phone lines, internet service and the factors pivotal to the sale.

Engagement Setup Process:

1. Develop lead magnet (Content offer) based on research phase.
2. Design and build landing pages offering content and capturing details.
3. Write and setup supporting content (eg: case studies)
4. Set up email sequence that gets delivered over time to engage the prospect.
5. Tracking & Reporting integration
6. Notification system for sales once prospect has completed funnel.

Phase 4:  SALES

Once someone has opted in to your lead magnet offer and received your content they are primed to receive further information from you.  

If you then offer them an event or online assessment they can participate in, the relationship becomes stronger as they engage more with the company and learn about options that weren’t available previously.

After the lead magnet download and education sequence, the sales call and meeting is a logical progression for each prospect, and for Telco X.  The prospect knows the brand, they are somewhat educated on the technology and they will be aware if they have a need and if they fit the criteria.

Marketing Funnel Result

From here, Telco X’s usual sales process will run.  The funnel will have found and engaged likely prospects, building a pool of warm leads ready to have a worthwhile conversation about their Telco needs.   

By default, the prospect will be more open to Telco X as a trustworthy market expert and many common objections will have been pre-handled by the education pieces we have shared.