Frequently Asked Questions

Cost is obviously a very important aspect of this process. Could you explain about this?

Costs depend on the variables of the contract.  For example, how much data is purchased, the amount of telemarketing or other marketing activities required and the length of the contract.

Many clients do not know initially what they should budget for marketing activities.  A discussion with us will help you to understand the options and decide the best programme for your business.  This will also ensure that you achieve a good return on your investment.  Please feel free to discuss your requirements in confidence and without obligation with Patrick Williams, Managing Director.  Contact Us.
 

Where is the data purchased from and how do you know when to contact each prospect?

We purchase your data from reliable sources trading as List Brokers.   They have dedicated list broking and management teams and we select from the most experienced and respected in the UK.  List Brokers offer a personal service that allows us to manage our direct marketing campaigns most efficiently.

Our primary task is to call these prospects, verify the information we have purchased for you and also seek further information pertinent to your defined projects.  For example, renewal date, type of business, types of insurances required, premium, turnover, staff number, existing broker and insurer etc.  Having obtained this information, usually directly with the insurance decision-maker, we then position ourselves to call prior to the renewal date when the topic is of interest to the prospect.  If suitable for our client, we will also arrange appointments outside of the renewal cycle where possible.
 

When we purchase data full of prospects from you do we then own that data indefinitely and/or is that database ever re-sold on again?

The data purchased and the work done with it is completely owned by you.  It is never re-sold.

Detail and quality on appointments is crucial to increase the likelihood of securing new business.  How important is this to Excel?

It's of paramount importance.  We pride ourselves on creating quality appointments that are rich in detail and potential.

We have a number of qualifications we apply which we believe give us the edge over our competitors including confirmation of a willingness to change brokers.  New clients nearly always express their surprise and delight at the quality and depth of information that we provide compared with other telemarketing companies they have worked with.

Is there a call centre mentality at Excel?

Absolutely not.  We are proud to say that we are a relatively small firm and we employ experienced, professional telemarketers who are very knowledgeable in the commercial insurance industry.

Our mentality is to consider ourselves as part of the new business department for each of our clients.  We focus on obtaining the fullest facts possible to give your executives the best possible advantage when they make contact with the prospect.  We do not just secure ‘numbers’ and then leave you to stumble along hopefully.  All of our leads and appointments will be fully qualified and the prospect will be waiting for your contact.

If you make contact with a potential prospect and discover the turnover is lower than the set target market, what happens?

At the start of the project, we will agree with you the level of premium-spend you would like for Appointments and what level you would like to manage as a Lead.  Our definition of a Lead is a scheduled telephone conversation between the prospect and an individual from the brokerage.  This is usually prior to the renewal date and if so, there will be an agreed opportunity to quote.

If the turnover and premium spend are considerably less than the set target market, the Telemarketer will politely and competently withdraw from the conversation so that neither the prospect’s or your time is wasted.

Excel expects to make a minimum of 70 calls a day.  Will we have the facility to view the call logs and responses from the customer?

Every call made is logged on the database and the details can regularly be made available to you.  If using a web-based database, you can view these details immediately on line.

Every month, a full database report is produced which will show the number of calls made and the number of prospects in each Prospect Status code which enables progress to be determined.  There will also be sector analysis, showing which sectors are producing the most success and a summary of all Leads and Appointments made.

We also have state-of-the-art call recording facilities and samples of the call recordings can be provided if required.Excel’s baseline is honesty, integrity and experience.  We have nothing to hide.  We completely understand the need for you to have a clear understanding of the work being done for you and are always open to adapting to meet all constructive advice and requirements.

Do you work with competitive brokers in our area?

Possibly, but we will never target the same prospects.  We will ensure that all the data matches the criteria you have specified, including location, which could be local or nationwide.  We will advise you of any prospects that we are already targeting on behalf of an existing client so that you may target these yourselves.

We have tried Telemarketing before but had limited success.  We found ourselves trapped in an unwanted contract.  Is there a way to ‘try before you buy’ with Excel?

Absolutely.

There is no reason why you shouldn’t run a short test pilot of a potentially longer-term project to check that you are comfortable that it is going to work for you.  We have great confidence in our business model and in our commitment to customer service.  We are sure that we can work out a plan together that will allow you to progress according to your confidence in our results.

There are numerous ways to market your business including one-off data cleansing projects, lead generation on short and long-term projects, brand awareness promotions etc and we would be delighted to discuss these with you.

Please call us to discuss ways in which we might help you increase your new business opportunities.  There will be no pressure or obligation to use our services.  Contact us on 0117 902 5405 and ask for Patrick Williams, Managing Director or Jane Barber, Operations Manager.