21 Questions

an occasional series of interviews with sales professionals

Our roving reporter tracked down Bob Jolley, Commercial Director of Maple Lake UK at a very busy time. Bob spends his time not only running the UK operation of this Canadian business but spearheading the sales operation aimed at developing new business from major international retail chains. Their client base is an interesting cross section of different retail sectors, geographies, sizes and approaches and includes major High Street brands such as Barneys New York, Hard Rock, Arcadia Group , ASOS. com, Ted Baker, Aeropostale and recent new customer Levi Strauss ( to name a handful) . Bob is 58 and has had a lifetime career in sales and senior commercial management.

1. How would you describe Maple Lake as a business ?

Maple Lake is a specialist software provider and developer of innovative solutions for retail.

2. What do you do and who do you do it for ?

Maple Lake develops specialist software applications for retail that enable retailers to plan their merchandise and store portfolio in an organized and cohesive manner. The intuitive and comprehensive way that our software works enables a greater return on stock investment through improvements in stock holding and increased margins.

3. What is the average length of your sales cycle ?

Our sales cycles vary enormously with a typical duration of 9 months but a variance of anywhere between 5 to 18 months being the norm!

4. An average order value?

The average “new business” deal will consist of software and professional services, with the purchase value dependent upon the size and complexity of the buying retailer but always a 6 or 7 figure sum.

5. What made you start to investigate an outsourced telemarketing service in the first instance ?

We are a small company who prefer to run with a very low cost base, as such we have a very small and specialist sales team whose focus and skill is in running a sales cycle not lead generation. Our commitment to growth means that we had to look outside our business at methods and at companies that we felt could help fill our pipeline. Telemarketing was one initiative that we considered was worth further consideration.

6. To what extent had you used telemarketing before (either internally or externally) ?

In previous roles and in similar businesses I had tried telemarketing with very limited success. It would be fair to say that whilst I was prepared to be open minded and take a fresh look at whether this was a media worth progression, some of my fellow directors were not convinced.

7. When you set out to source an external telemarketing partner what were your criteria for choosing one?

The criteria was simple, I had to find a company that (a) had a team and premises that, in my mind, were conducive to professional cold calling, (b) they had to instill confidence in me that they knew what they were doing and that they were a team with whom I could work, (c) the services had to be cost effective. The second criteria was the most difficult to address as many telemarketing companies are capable of portraying a strong marketing message. Fortunately however, most are not used to selling to a salesman!

8. What did your process of selection involve

(a) Recommendation
Yes

(b) Initial sourcing on web ? If so did you make a short list and how many companies were on it
Four

( c ) What did you look for on web site that helped you make a decision to short list
Something that was not too corporate and looked a little different.

(d) After short listing how many companies did you actually talk to / subsequently visit
Three

9. In the end how many candidates did you narrow it down to ?

Two.

10. What made you eventually choose Broadley Speaking?

In the end the choice came down to the company with whom I felt the most comfortable and whom I felt genuinely wanted to work with Maple Lake to help us grow our business, not just take our money.

11. What were your expectations from the initial pilot project?

Qualified appointments were the retailer was expecting to meet me and had a purpose in the meeting.

12. In regard to these expectations to what extent has Broadley Speaking met them?

Every meeting generated by Broadley Speaking that I have attended has been productive and I am closing my first deal through a lead achieved through Broadley Speaking. Other sales cycles are in progress.

13. How would you describe your experience as a customer of Broadley Speaking – in terms of service , attention etc ?

Excellent, attentive but not intrusive, detailed but succinct.

14. How would you describe your experience as a customer of Broadley Speaking - in terms of results ?

Quantifiably better than I or my fellow directors had expected.

15. What have you most enjoyed about working with Broadley Speaking?

The people and the results.

16. When you went to the initial meeting did the prospect give you any feedback on the initial approach and its quality ?

Yes, all very positive.

17. Was the prospect clear about why you were there and what you hoped to achieve ?

Yes.

18. In hindsight were you sufficiently briefed before your meeting with the prospect ? If no could you give us any guidance about how to improve this ?

Briefing was exactly at the level and in the detail that I expected and required.

19 . Would you recommend Broadley Speaking’s services to a colleague or friend ?

Yes, I would recommend Broadley Speaking to a business colleague whom I thought had a product or service that could genuinely benefit from professional telemarketing.

20. If you met a colleague in the bar how would you describe Broadley Speaking to them ? How would you describe the impact they have had on your business so far?

It would be dependent how many drinks I had consumed prior to the conversation but I would say simply that they had been the first telemarketing company with whom I had worked that had delivered and were continuing to deliver, to expectations.

21. The 21st Question – when in Toronto ( home of Maple Lake) , Blue Jays (baseball) or Maple Leafs ( NHL) ?

It's a hockey town !