Follow us on Twitter Connect on LinkedIn Visit our Flickr gallery Visit our YouTube channel Blog Feed
Sprockets
Think of our blog as a window where you can see what's new with us, our clients and the demand creation world we operate in. To close the loop between advertising and sales, we find ourselves in interesting places: cornfields, laboratories, retail stores, bank lobbies and more. Enjoy our tales. Be sure to share yours.

Category Archives: The MIC

December 10, 2010

Spirit Week at the MIC

We’ve always known that our associates in Research Triangle Park are of one mind when it comes to their dedication to engaging clients and prospects in dynamic conversations.

But on one recent day at the MIC, they were of one mind and one look, as well.

“Twin Day” kicked off Spirit Week, and from the looks of it, folks got a kick out of dressing alike.  (Get a load of the battling brothers in white.)  Spirit Week also included – among other things – “Tacky Day,” “Team Day,” and “Flip Flop Day,” as well as a Potluck Cook-Off.   For his mouth-watering, prize-winning entry, Tarik, one of our team coaches, took top prize – and now has everyone guessing about the “secret” ingredient in his Alfredo Pasta with Tomatoes and Sausage.  (C’mon Tarik, we won’t tell anyone!)

This was the MIC’s 3rd annual Spirit Week – a great employee recognition tradition – where everyone steps away from their usual business casual routine (did we mention “Tacky Day”?) and has a lot of fun – and food!

We can’t wait to see what they come up with next year!

Author Cheri
0
August 4, 2010

MIC Increases Capacity By Over 30%

Our clients needed it, so we delivered.  We’re pleased to announce that this month, we’re increasing the capacity at our Marketing Interaction Center (the MIC), by over 30%.

That kind of flexibility is essential to us.  From the very beginning, we’d designed the MIC to be different.  We’d worked with other call centers, on behalf of our clients, but none of them lived up to the high standards of Technekes.  Sadly, we heard too many “robotic” callers.  Too many disinterested callers.  Too many improperly or incompletely trained callers.  There’s a reason folks hate to be called by people like that.  Who wouldn’t?

That’s when we knew we’d have to build our own Marketing Interaction Center – from scratch.

The great thing about starting from scratch is that we could make it whatever we wanted.  We could make it exactly what our customers needed.  And we can continue to evolve as our customer needs change.

Yes, the MIC is a structured call center, but it’s also a place where innovation thrives.  At every level, associates are encouraged to share their ideas and best practices.

We hire top level talent.  You wouldn’t believe how many of our folks have degrees and specific job experience in the industry.  We’ve got ag folks who have their own farms.  Financial services folks working on MBAs.  And healthcare folks with years of experience.  Since they already understand and appreciate the industry and because our training is so thorough, our callers can engage in dynamic and conversational interactions with our clients and prospects.  A customer never feels that he or she is talking to someone who doesn’t know or doesn’t care.

We care.  We coach, we connect and we celebrate with our employees.

So please, don’t refer to the MIC as a “call center.”  Even with an increased capacity of over 30%, we’re surely not.  And proud of it!

Author Preston
0
August 4, 2010

A Record-Setting July – And We’re Not Talking Temp!

Sure, July was hot here in North Carolina, but the folks in our Marketing Interaction Center (the MIC), were busy setting a few records of their own.

For one SMB (small/medium business) customer outreach program alone,

• More than 25,000 outbound phone call attempts were made
• Nearly 5,000 decision makers were reached
• Over 3,000 sales appointments were secured

That means our MIC team achieved an appointment success rate of over 70%!

On another key account acquisition program, the MIC team rallied to deliver 200% of the sales lead goal program-to-date.

Those are the kinds of results any client would be thrilled to have. Way to heat things up, gang!

Author
0
July 20, 2010

A TOAST – To Our New Sales Training Program.

We’ve all heard them.  We’ve all been victim to them.  We all dread them.

You know — those dull, dry sales calls, where you can tell that the person on the other end of the line is reading a script.  (And often, not very well.)

Sure, he or she is only trying to make a living, but there’s got to be a better way.   In fact, maybe those calls are particularly annoying to us at Technekes because not only do we know there’s a better approach, we employ a better approach – every day at the MIC (Marketing Interaction Center).

We’ve rolled out an entirely new sales training program – TOAST – to help our sales support associates engage decision makers in conversations, not sales presentations.

TOAST (Technekes Outreach Associate Sales Training) was written and developed based on our own strategic use of the phone and best-in-class sales training.  The premise is simple:  engaging decision makers is an art, and with proper training, it’s an art that can be mastered.

With TOAST, traditional sales “spiels” are eliminated.  Our trained associates don’t use scripts.  Instead, striving to acquire the extra bit of valuable information, folks at the MIC tailor their approach to the client’s unique selling proposition, uncovering and then, discussing a customer’s “pain points.”

Once a Technekes associate has been “TOASTed,” he or she can be confident combining artful conversational skills with expert product knowledge, and instead of interrupted and annoyed, the person they’re calling will feel understood and appreciated.

So here’s a TOAST – to the end of dull, ineffective sales calls!

Author
0