Advanced Solutions International Drives Sales with Annual Surveys and Seminars
Background
Advanced Solutions International (ASI) is the leading provider of software for nonprofits and the developers of iMIS, a software system that supports constituent relationship management, website management, e-commerce, and e-marketing.
The Challenge
ASI has a customer base of more than 2,500 nonprofit organizations. It wants to up-sell those customers on a regular basis, but has a limited field sales force and cannot contact every customer for that purpose. The company also wants to generate new leads routinely, but cannot squander sales representatives’ limited time pursuing ones that might be questionable.
The Response
ASI turns to Foundation Marketing Group to initiate the up-sell process and generate leads.
Each year, ASI conducts a telephone survey of its customers, retaining Foundation Marketing Group to make the calls.
"We identify a selection of customers and try to reach all of them,” says Edward Wendling, director of marketing. “We want to go into considerable depth in the questions and we want to be sure that the results of the research reflect the customer base accurately. Our goal is to reach everyone, not just a 20 or 30 percent portion of them, like most customer surveys."
“We ask 10 questions, update all the contact information, and initiate the up-selling process. Not a simple telemarketing project by any means. And because Foundation Marketing Group is calling our customers, it’s sensitive—not like calling a list of suspects. Last year, we gave them a list of 1,000 customers to call. They were able to get complete results for more than 900 of them."
“I like the fact that the firm is not only effective, but much more flexible than the large telemarketing companies. I gave them 1,000 names to call and said I wanted 250 contacted each quarter and the project to end by Thanksgiving, so I’d have time to analyze the data. They developed a program and make it work exactly the way I asked. We’ve done the customer surveys for three years in a row, and it’s been a very strong source of leads for add-on sales to customer every year. It’s well worth the money."
“ASI also uses Foundation Marketing Group to support its seminars—a key source of qualified leads for us. This is another project that demonstrates the firm’s flexibility."
“Our seminars aren’t a corporate program. Instead, they are driven 100 percent by our sales representatives, who are based all over the country. Corporate has to remain in a reactive mode to suit the needs of the field sales team. Understanding the situation, Foundation Marketing Group helped me design a process whereby they call prospects and feed us seminar registrations, which we in turn confirm by email. We know from experience that half of the prospects who register by phone will confirm, and half of those will actually show up at a given seminars. So we can accurately predict how many registrations we need to fill a seminar room and hold a successful event."
“We’ve promoted seminars by direct mail and email, but have found that telemarketing really makes the seminars work. We want five different organizations and 10 people to show up at each one. Foundation Marketing Group makes is happen by scheduling and completing the outbound calls at just the right time."
“Foundation Marketing Group provides me the customer service and attention of a boutique, but the results of a large telemarketing firm. They don’t turn your work over to a low-level project manager. You’re always monitored by top management and given a level of service that simply doesn’t exist with the large telemarketing firms.”
In addition to acquiring attendees for ASI’s live seminars, Foundation Marketing Group drives attendance for virtual seminars (“Webinars”) that are produced by the company.
|