NEWS
ON TARGET MARKETING
Refine the
message to suit the target market
ANDY GRANT, DIRECTOR, BOWAN ARROW
Demand Generation is a term that is used heavily in business development and marketing planning meetings up and down the country. Business success is often measured by growth, and for the people who are charged with the task of growing their business units they will often start with the statement, ‘we need to create some more demand’. So where do they start and what is the best approach?
Demand Generation can be defined as a targeted approach to a specific market to drive awareness and interest in a company’s products or services. This approach can involve several marketing disciplines and may also be referred to as part of an integrated marketing approach. The elements of a demand generation activity can often be blurred by sales people believing that relationship building can be classed as, and paid for, as a demand generation activity (ie, marketing not sales budget). Roaring around the track at a Palmer Sport day is a lovely day out and great for developing relationships and common memories, but is it a demand generation activity? If the marketing team registers a claim for such a relationship event into a vendor’s funding program I am positive that they would get a swift response saying, ‘sorry we won’t be funding that activity’.
On the other hand, if you wanted to use the relationship activity at the end of an integrated marketing approach and get approved funding from your vendor, then I would urge you to follow these simple steps. Define the target market: Do you know the vertical market you would like to target, and who to speak to in each organisation? Do you have access to a database, or can you purchase the data, and how much is it going to cost? Be very careful with using existing data and be sure you know where the data originated. There are strict data protection laws in the UK and companies who do not abide by these guidelines will be prosecuted.
If your message does not hit the right audience, the hard work you have invested is wasted. Always remember to refine the message to suit the target market, and select the method of communication... email or direct mail, and then have the appropriate call to action with the addition of quick follow up like outbound telemarketing. The key to success is to have a seamless flow when you get a response. This is the area where most businesses fail to capitalise on the enquiry.
Acquisition completed
RAINBOW Telecom has complet- ed the acquisition of Kent-based Matrix Telecom, a specialist in mobile technology. Dave Corgat MD, Rainbow
Telecom: said: “This is our seventh acquisition in nine years, and each one has been targeted according to Rainbow’s expansion plans. “We had a need to expand our
current mobile operation, especial- ly in the mobile data market, and Matrix ticked all the right boxes.” David Jeal, MD at Matrix, said:
“The mobile industry has moved rapidly, and now with the funds and expertise offered by Rainbow this is an excellent opportunity to reach out to our existing customer base and offer the full range of telecom solutions.”
Mitel rewards
Charterhouse
CHARTERHOUSE
Voice &
Data has been designated the Mitel Unified Communications Specialist Partner status. Campbell Williams, Marketing
Director at Charterhouse, com- mented: “We have seen an increase in customer demand for UC solu- tions over the last year. “It is easy to tell people that
you are a solutions expert but the fact that we have the official Mitel accreditation is a proof point.”
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Outsourcery raises stakes
OUTSOURCERY has re-affirmed its channel-centricity with the launch of a new initiative, the introduction of a broader product focus and the appointment of a key figurehead at the vanguard of the company’s new channel campaign. The man at the centre of this scheme, called InPartnership with Outsourcery, is incoming channel heavyweight Simon Howitt, for- merly Sales and Marketing Director at Yes Telecom. His remit is to spearhead
Outsourcery’s new Channel Bus- iness Unit following a root and branch review and a big investment in infrastructure. Piers Linney, joint CEO of the
hosted services and mobility pro- vider, said: “Having invested sig- nificantly in our data centres and developed our hosted services to complement our mobile solutions, we have a complete product set for our partners. The channel offers us perfect reach and will become our most valuable route to market.” Howitt said: “The vision of the management team is inspiring. We are confident that we can build a channel that is truly distinctive.” In the past Outsourcery’s chan- nel business has been focused in mobile provision. Now there is an increasing focus on support-
Simon Howitt
ing partners for business mobile, hosted IT and UC services. Howitt added: “Mobile is a strategic part of the Outsourcery business but it is only one part of our total solution. We need to equip channel partners to ensure they are up to speed with the latest hosted communications tools and are able to promote all the elements of our solutions.” Partners can now engage with the firm on three levels – the resell- er model, the dealer model and the introducer model. Howitt explained: “There are a number of potential partners that we could deal with who currently don’t bill their customers and don’t want to get involved in running and maintaining billing systems. “We want partners to under- stand that they can enjoy a flexible relationship with us.”
AVST bolsters play in EMEA with the appointment of Massingham
APPLIED Voice & Speech
n
Technologies (AVST) has bol- stered its play in EMEA, and the man at the centre of operations is Ian Massingham, the incoming Regional Sales Director who aims to drive the CallXpress channel. With more than 20 years in the telecoms industry under his belt, Massingham brings broad experi- ence in both mature and start-up organisations with specific chan- nel management and operational capabilities. He reports to Paul Cheslaw, AVST’s Vice President & Managing Director, EMEA. Cheslaw said: “Ian has devel- oped many strategic relationships
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14 COMMS DEALER JUNE 2010
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sponsors the
positioned to address the growing demand for next generation com- munications solutions.” Prior to AVST, Massingham was
Ian Massingham
and has established valuable tele- com-specific expertise that can be immediately leveraged as we focus on our growth in the region. “By adding additional resources to our EMEA team we are better
Business Development Director for Servassure, a Daisy Group business. And he held strategic sales, market- ing and business development roles with Cisco and Avaya. AVST has also bolstered its EMEA team with the addition of Simon Turner as OEM Account Director for Aastra, a strategic part- ner of AVST’s.
Got a news story you want to share? email:
sgilroy@bpl-business.com
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