Telecom 2 is an all-in one, business to business telecommunications provider with an extensive portfolio of technology products and services across the voice and mobile sectors.

As part of an ambitious growth strategy Telecom2 decided to outsource their appointment setting function to a specialist partner who could support a sustained, strategically targeted drive for new business.

The primary objective was to identify and qualify opportunities for Telecom2’s Sales team in the VOIP marketplace and schedule appointments with senior decision makers in medium to large enterprise organisations. There were several potential partners considered as part of a rigorous selection process, and all of them had relevant business development experience with technology focused propositions.

Although there were many businesses evaluated, only a few were considered. Telecom2 finally selected VeriCall and based their decision on their unique approach to sales and customer experience, their demonstrated experience and success operating in Telecoms and across different sectors and their proven ability to engage with senior decision makers at enterprise level.

An initial twelve-week proof of concept was agreed in Q3 2019 with the objective of generating high quality appointments with qualified decision makers.

The first meeting took place at VeriCall’s customer engagement hub in Kirkcaldy, where a Customer Development Manager was assigned to lead a team of Customer Sales Champions who all had experience communicating complex technology propositions and the skills to quickly identify and engage with decision makers and influencers within corporate and large enterprise organisations.

Decision maker details including job titles, direct dials and personal email, as well as business intelligence relevant to their interests and challenges would be documented during outbound calling and email communications to help develop an accurate and up to date profile of qualified decision makers. The proof of concept targeted a wide range of sectors and although mainly focused on new customer acquisition, there was a requirement to increase share of wallet and growth within existing accounts as well.

When considering that Telecom2 offers a number of technology products and services, it was necessary to articulate the benefits and value proposition to help differentiate and encourage engagement in a crowded competitive market.

Whilst the outbound sales activity was aligned with the overall marketing strategy and messaging, it also needed to be able to scale to support short-term requirements such as targeted campaigns into specific segments and increased product penetration for key accounts. To ensure calling remained in sync with other business development activity and make sure feedback added value and helped enhance performance, weekly meetings took place to review activity and to brief the sales team on current priorities.

As VeriCall’s knowledge of Telecom2 has grown, callers have been able to field a wider range of questions and take increased responsibility for the appointment making process, using their judgement to schedule a mix of phone and face-to-face appointments to ensure the most efficient use of resource, minimise drop off rates and increase conversion.

Within 3 months, VeriCall has generated more qualified appointments and proposal requests than Telecom2’s own direct sales team has within the last twelve months.

The success of the proof of concept has resulted in a valuable partnership which has continuously evolved so that telemarketing is now an integral part of Telecom2’s sales and marketing strategy. The relationship has been very collaborative from the start and has now grown into a close, trusted partnership with VeriCall being fully integrated and firmly established as an extended part of the Telecom 2 sales team.

The success of the proof of concept has demonstrated significant value and resulted in Telecom2 signing a 3 year contract with VeriCall to provide them with a team of twenty Customer Sales Champions.