Thanks in part to prospect modeling, Birch Telecom’s teleservices sales have grown in three years to account for 20% of its business.
Birch, a Kansas City, MO-based local phone, long-distance and Internet service provider, primarily targets small and medium-sized businesses with one to 25 phone lines. Its average revenue per customer per month is $200.
Historically, field representatives have played the greatest role in Birch’s sales efforts. In 2001 it set out to build an outbound telesales channel, as well as an inbound teleservices operation supported by direct mail. The goal, according to marketing director Tom Edmondson, was to add channel diversity and lower the firm’s acquisition costs.
To do this, two models were created, said Matt Garrett, senior vice president of client strategies and business intelligence at Integrative Logic. A top-line revenue model and a response model were then overlaid on one another.
Having only short-term vision is a mistake, Garrett said, adding that for a prospecting program to work, a marketer needs to be aware of the long-term costs of acquisition and customer lifetime value.
Birch is working to extend its direct marketing efforts to the field channel, and has built a prospecting database for that purpose. The company also is attempting to better utilize information gathered in the sales process, and to make the sales channels work together better, said Edmondson.
Edmondson noted that telereps with customer service rather than sales backgrounds have worked better for Birch. No scripts are used. Instead, reps are taught as much background about the company and its products as possible, so they can communicate with customers effectively.
Edmondson and Garrett discussed the program during a session at the National Center for Database Marketing conference held recently in San Francisco.
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