New Press Release

Data & data solutions are the key to the billion pound industry that is direct marketing & data is the power behind all successful one-to-one marketing communications.

It has been predicted that this industry sector will grow by some 50% in the next three years, as well as this growth there are major changes in the ‘data landscape’, particularly with the demise of the electoral roll as a source of information for marketers & the introduction of new legislation (Data Protection Act 1998, implemented in 2000). This in turn has meant that the use of customer data, which should already be a key issue for the success of a business, is becoming more complex & is increasingly seen as a major issue for both legislators & consumers.

Now in 2010, all data needs to be used intelligently & is the driving force behind all successful direct marketing communications.

Data is key to the success of marketing energy in any organisation. Data reveals truths about a market sector even an individual. It guides marketers through complex decision-making processes about their own brands & their customers.

Customers are individuals & increasingly expect & demand to be treated as such, they no longer like to be shepherded in defined pigeonholes, and they want to be treated as people not just records on a database.

In order to achieve this level of individual communication, which is possible & within the grasp of any organisation prepared to critically review their own database, adopt data strategies that conform to any new legislation & consider the new area of permission based data landscape. Marketers who choose not to take action will suffer the losing the ability to communicate effectively with their present customers & future consumers.

The lesson which needs to be learnt by all doubters, who do not perceive data as being valuable is that we must UNDERSTAND the true value of our customers & build from this that the value of the data related to those customers will help drive profitability.

Every business irrespective of its size or industry sector will benefit from intelligent, creative data solutions, but only the companies that embrace the idea of the usefulness of data as a key part of marketing communications can expect to thrive in an ever competitive marketplace.

In the main, senior managers do not give much thought about data, and usually delegate responsibility for their organisation’s most important asset. Marketers should utilise the power of information & be able to turn data into genuine customer intelligence that can deliver real competitive advantages.

To be successful in direct marketing, there needs to be a good customer database. The marketing database is an organised set of data, which has data on individual customers or prospects, including the geographic, demographic profiling of the consumer & buyer behaviour data.

The data can be utilised to locate good potential customers, tailor products & services to specific needs of targeted consumers, and maintain long-term customer relationships.

It is vital for all organisations to realise that by building & using customer databases, it is possible to target specific marketing communications to individual consumers on the company’s database.

Building a marketing database takes some considerable time & can be costly, but can pay handsome dividends if it is set up right in the first place.

Companies however, must distinguish between transactional based & custom-built marketing databases. Transactional databases, are implemented by an accounts department for sending out invoices to be paid for customers etc. The custom built databases focus on what the companies marketing people need to know to serve & satisfy customers better than the competition can – e.g., the most cost effective way to reach target customers, the net worth of a transaction, customers’ requirements & lifetime values, lapsed customers & why they departed, why competitors are making inroads into your market share & where the market share is changing.

When an organisation considers building a database, some careful planning is required, because your database is only as good as the information you hold on it. The more information the better the database, but the information must be relevant to what you want the information is to be used for.

If for example you are dealing with business-to-business databases, there is some specific information you might want to hold on the database, including:

• Purchase history – frequency/product range/data of last sale/value

• Company profile – business type/size/credit rating

• Marketing data – source of name/promotion history

• Influencers/specifies & purchasers in their organisation

If you know what interest a customer might have in other products or services you offer, it enables you to cross sell. This is desirable, but few companies do this, simply because of the lack of information.

If your business relies upon personal selling, a rich database enables you to manage your sales force leads in a sophisticated manner, which in turn helps you monitor & control your sales activities efficiently. If you are constantly acquiring knowledge about people as individuals, you can manage your database to identify your key prospects.

A measure of how quickly direct marketing has changed in recent years, is that the word direct marketers probably use more than any other is ‘data’ & now it is your companies ‘greatest asset’.

direct marketing systems limited – copyright 2010

July 2010

CONSUMERS ARE LIVING THE WEB LIFE STYLE – THE INTERNET IS RAPIDLY BECOMING A NECESSITY IN PEOPLE’S LIVES

“LOCAL COMPANIES NEED TO MOVE TOWARDS INTERNET SELLING” SAYS PETER MILL, MANAGING DIRECTOR OF THE INTERNET MARKETING COMPANY - DMSYS GROUP

The first AOL Europe/Roper Starch Cyberstudy found the European Internet is growing explosively, mirroring consumer adoption patterns in the United States. The study was conducted among online consumers in Germany, Britain and France, and it reported that more than one-third of users had come online in the last year and 20 percent in the last six months alone, pointing the way towards continued strong growth in Europe.

The study also found that a majority of online consumers in these key markets have made purchases online and that over half of these online Europeans said the Internet has become just about a necessity in their lives. More than half (54 percent) of European Internet users report making a purchase online and 43 percent said they do so regularly or occasionally. More than two-thirds (68 percent) of Europeans use the Internet to get information about products to buy. U.K. consumers were even more likely to purchase online than U.S. consumers.

Given these astonishing statistics, Peter Mill, Managing Director of DMSYS Group in Havant has come up with a creative strategy to ensure that south coast businesses are up the scratch with the rapid growth of cyberspace trading.

Peter Mill commented that many websites are no more than “brochure ware” – and they fail to take full advantage of the potential of e-commerce and simply miss the massive commercial opportunities that the Internet offers. Often websites are slow and difficult to navigate and consumers have a poor experience which reflects badly not only on the website itself but on your company.

DID YOU KNOW?

Did you know that most people won’t wait more than 17 seconds for a website to open and less than 10 seconds to decide whether your company can provide the solutions they need? Can you afford to lose money by not using your website to its full potential?

To help local companies capitalise on this Internet growth DMSYS Group are holding an open 'INTERNET MARKETING DAY' for companies across the South coast who wish to find out how they can make money from their website in 2006. 

A networking buffet lunch will allow the ideal opportunity to meet like minded businesses and share best Internet practice and discover how to market your business on the Internet. The open day will be held on Wednesday March 15 at their offices in Havant. There is a lunch time meeting from 12.30pm to 2.30pm and another at 6.00pm to 8.00pm at the DMSYS Group’s offices at 4 Oakwood Business Centre, Downley Road, Havant, PO9 2NP

For more information contact Peter Mill on 023 92476007 or log onto the DMSYS Group website www.dmsysgroup.com

> name Peter Mill

>
> age 48, (only just)
>
> job title Managing Director, direct marketing systems limited
>
> Describe what you do in a sentence, direct marketing systems is a marketing consultancy that specialises in generating new business for companies.

> Do you enjoy your job and are you in the right career? I am very lucky in that I have always been involved in all aspects of sales and marketing management a disciple which I find comes naturally to me. I am certainly in the right job.
>
> Would you advise people to go into your line of work at the
> moment? Only if they like working long hours, chasing suppliers and dealing with problems and getting stuck in traffic jams, long meetings with accountants, train trips to London and missing lunch breaks.
>
> How did you get into your business? I completed a degree in business studies and could have gone into recruitment or marketing. Luckily the first job offer I received was from McCarthy and Stone in Bournemouth, they needed a marketing assistant and I fitted the bill. It all just grow from there really.
>
> If you weren't in this job, what would you want to be doing? I don’t know probably herding sheep in New Zealand or sailing around the world, or perhaps frying fish and chips.
>
> Who is your inspiration? I don’t have one single inspiration, but I do enjoy discovering success stories from all walks of life, sporting achievements, from Europe winning the Ryder| Cup to building the international space station which people from many different countries and cultures have to work together in the extremes of space – amazing.
>
> Do you have any business heroes? I admire visionaries who can build new markets, I am particularly impressed by Henry Ford who designed and built the Model T Ford and sold over one million of the cars whilst most of the world was still using the horse and cart.
>
> If you could be in charge of any business, which would it
> be? I would love to run a successful formula one racing team, if I couldn’t do that how about Eden Project in Cornwall
>
> Describe your management style. Open, trusting and focused on the objectives set for the business
>
> Magic wand time ---- what could help make your
> business more successful overnight? The gift of telepathy, so I would know what people are thinking and be able to act on it.
>
> What is the best business decision you have ever made? Starting direct marketing systems and DIRECT MAIL WORKS
>
> And the worst? I have actually been pretty lucky - in that more often than not I seem to make good decisions. However there was a time I ended up with over 16,000 plastic random number generators which made excellent land fill.
>
> What is your biggest headache at work? Lack of time. Where has the year 2010 gone can some body please tell me
>
> What could the government do to make life easier for you? Reduce red tape, stop using businesses as unpaid tax collectors, reduce the rules and regulations that prevent business growth and reduce taxation.
>
> What three qualities do you most need to succeed
> in your business? Amazing attention to detail, an excellent customer base, brilliant staff and luck ( I think that’s four)
>
> Should Britain enter the euro or not? Not at the moment. The Euro is a great concept but I believe that it could be disastrous to have Germany dictating interest rates
>
> In five years time where will you and your company
> be? By the year 2015 I expect to be turning over in excess of £3 million and have developed the business into an international advertising and marketing company
>
> What do you do to relax? Lie on the beach, play with my children and eat ice cream.

New telemarketing operation is launched

Direct marketing systems limited, the Portsmouth based advertising and marketing company is to open a new telemarketing suite at Gosport’s new Heritage Business Park in late October 2010.  This new venture is an expansion to the business and is to take place due to an increase on demand for telemarketing in London and South East  

The suite will house a professional telemarketing team supported by advanced telephoning technology, it will enable the company to expand its’ range of telemarketing work, both in-bound and out-bound.  The new telemarketing services will include; market research, offer sales service and database enhancement.

Company Director of direct marketing systems limited said “our objectives are to extend our telemarketing expertise to ensure that we meet our customer’s needs, and opening this new telemarketing suite provides us with the additional capacity to fulfil this commitment.  The telemarketing team are very excited about the move, the demand for this new service is coming from local businesses.”

A quality telemarketing team is vital in ensuring that the telemarketing campaigns are managed effectively and are ultimately a success, therefore the telemarketing team’s input and professionalism, enthusiasm and skill injected into each campaign is vital.”

The new telemarketing suite offers a great deal more than typical call centres.  The telemarketing suite will be more sophisticated in its’ approach in delivering positive and professional telemarketing.  It will also offer flexibility in providing advice on data selection and preparation, data collection, sale lead generation, telesales, response management, reporting and data building and cleaning.  direct marketing systems limited has a broad range of advertising, marketing and management experience.  The company can draw on over 100 years of combined commercial experience.

The phone is a widespread everyday tool and so telemarketing is understandably unequalled in its’ ability to communicate a businesses message.  It can be targeted, measured and tested, and produces an immediate result.  Telemarketing is also an accurate, cost effective and efficient way of producing results and providing the clients with the opportunity to reach further than ever before, whether it is to sell, promote or reinforce brand loyalty.

In 2009 telemarketing grew by 21 per cent to £3.9 billion.  Call Ratios – when comparing outbound sales calls to field sales calls the pure ratios favour telemarketing.  On the average, field salesperson can make five to six calls a day – twenty-five to thirty a week; on the average, a telemarketing salesperson can make twenty-five to thirty decision-maker contacts (DMCs) a day – 125 to 150 week.  Put another way, to achieve the same contact level, on average five field salespeople would have to be added for every telemarketing salesperson.

The management approach of the Telemarketing Suite will be to build a long term business partnership with the clients through commercial understanding of the client’s business needs and a strong working relationship.  To work together as an integrated team to maintain a successful and enriched relationship that will ensure long-term success.

To deliver positive and professional telemarketing a business needs to look at key features to secure a successful partnership:

1) Look for a partner, rather than a supplier.  Treat the telemarketing agency as a long-term business partner to get the best results.  Building understanding and a strong working relationship, working together as an integrated team is always best.

2) Look for a business partner that will work with you to think clearly about your strategic objectives.  Your partner’s experience, knowledge, skills and expertise will add value to your planning and delivery of a telemarketing solution that will ensure that you achieve your goals.

3) Selecting the right partner is vital to the success of your telemarketing project.  A telemarketing partner needs to understand your requirements and the needs of your business and work with you to achieve results you need.

4) The people on the phone are the most vital element of a successful campaign.  Delivering results comes from a combination of training, phone based selling skills, listening, and negotiation expertise.  With positive and professional communication skills your telemarketing partner will generate results. 

5) Telemarketing is an excellent media for developing brand values and enhancing customer service.  Whether the purpose of your telemarketing is to acquire new customers, cross-sell, up-sell or retain existing customers. Each and every contact leaves a lasting impression of your organisation.

6) Information is everything.  Telemarketing is an excellent method of generating feedback from the market place.  How the information is managed, processed and ultimately used is vital to the on-going success of your project, and impacts on your organisation’s bottom line.

7) Buy experience, knowledge and skills.  Don’t be afraid to invest in the expertise of the telemarketing company.  It will pay dividends, particularly when your partner can demonstrate a previous track record in either your marketplace or achieving similar objectives for other organisations.

8) Work with someone that relishes a new challenge and can refine your selling proposition for maximum results.

Due to the difficult pressures to slash budgets many companies are turning to below the line marketing mediums, however Telemarketing is proving to be far more competitive to its rival marketing methods as it is relentlessly delivering its desired results.

direct marketing systems limited is highly competitive in delivering its’ range of advertising and marketing services:

• Quality sales lead generation
• Database cleaning and enhancement
• Appointment setting
• Market research
• Questionnaire surveys
• Direct mail / e-mail shot follow up
• Customer retention programmes
• Customer satisfaction surveys
• Seminar / event invitations and bookings
• After sales servicing

 Direct Marketing systems limited manage telemarketing under a Total Quality Management System (TQMS), which means we GUARANTEE to beat or match any genuine telemarketing fulfilment and production price.  



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