About Ecorus

Bauke Bakker has been director of Ecorus Home since March 2018. The company was established in 2010 as a joint venture between Groep Coenen and Beaurega BVBA. For companies, housing corporations and landowners Ecorus provides the entire solar energy process. From subsidy application, permits and financing up to realization and commissioning.

Create speed with remote telesales

“From the moment tenants from housing corporations have a say about the commissioning of solar panels, Ecorus experienced that it did not have the capacity itself to take on the sales and after sales. “The consumer in this segment is very skeptical, we know from experience”, says Bakker. For that reason we were looking for a telemarketing agency that distinguishes itself in enthusiasm and involvement, but from seniority.”

“We do not want greenhorns on the phone, it’s more than telesales only”

“In May we started with WeCallForYou from Monique Hoogkamer. The ladies who work for us have a ton of experience and they have people skills. Together we were able to shape a tone of voice which strengthen our wish for a personal and professional approach. We also pursue the same philosophy with our advisers at the door. The team of Monique generates leads for our consultants, which makes an integral approach essential. Both teams must sense what is going on, what doubts there are and how to tackle them. And that starts with really listening and asking questions. ”

“At one point our agents spoke to a number of troubled tenants of a housing corporation. They clearly indicated that something had to be done on their roof first, before talking about solar systems. We then informed the corporation and were able to remove the turmoil and set up the sequel step by step.”

More than a high conversion
“We have compiled a good offer and were optimistic about the intended objectives. Precisely because of the mature approach, the results were quickly positive. The conversion was between 20% and 30% and that was in line with our expectations.”

“But the efforts of WeCallForYou gave us even more. Of the leads that these ladies generated for our consultants, the deal was closed in 95% of the cases. ”

Advice for the future
“I would like to advise everyone who wants to work with a telesales agency to invest in quality. Telesales is so much more than just repeating a script. It is an ongoing process where continuous improvement is possible. The ladies from WeCallForYou are eager to learn more about our company and the technical details. Therefore they advise better. That entrepreneurial spirit is essential. We expect that from all our partners. With larger numbers, structure and reporting are also important. We are also succeeding in this, together with WeCallForYou.”

“I deploy telesales with a strong belief. All data is recorded in the CRM of Salesforce and translated into tailored interaction in areas of interest with the different target groups. Both inbound, via events and downloads from the website, and via outbound contact. In addition to direct sales, the knowledge gained is used for the continuous enrichment of profiles, the sales and marketing strategy and for white spot analyzes.”

Cold calling is very difficult. Never giving up is perhaps the most important quality.
Angelique works with various agencies at various levels. The choice per agency depends on the specific target group and objectives. “Through contact with Lisette she came into contact with Monique. That felt great from the first moment. “Through contact with Lisette she came into contact with Monique. That felt great from the first moment.”

“A previous agency scored well on the agreements and was also accounted for, but the leads were not properly qualified and so the end result was low. That is deadly sin. Because you put a lot of time together.”

“WeCallForYou already ran a project in the field of GDPR. Unfortunately, we were too early in 2017. The market was not ready yet. In addition, the summer period was not the best period afterwards. But we saw the potential, it felt good. WeCallForYou is now calling the local government target group for the introduction of a new appliance. We do not have a large marketing machine for this and the personal contact with IT architects is important. We do not have final results yet, but agreements are made and call-back requests are planned. This process runs according to expectations and in line with international projects.”

“Monique and her female team bring something extra with their seniority and people knowledge. Partly for this reason Monique also coaches one of our project managers and we want to use her Telemarketing skills for recruiting new Service Providers. WeCallForYou can serve both the commercial and non-profit sectors because the team understands people. Of course, it helps in IT when there is a call from women, but it is more. They are attentive, seek the interaction, regularly choose an unexpected approach and record agreements in the agenda in a very structured way. But perhaps the most important thing is that they never give up.”

“Monique came to our office, really understood us and worked along the sales agents. You do not often see such an investment at other agencies.”

Qualification
“Expectations in a commercial organization are always high. Especially on sales. But there is more than just scoring short term contracts. We gauge needs, we discover the “not” and must be able to adjust continuously. That requires flexibility, perseverance and dedicated people. A previous office scored well on the agreements and was also accounted for, but the leads were not properly qualified and so the end result was low. That is deadly sin. Because you put a lot of time together.”

My motto
“My motto is therefore to select your agency per assignment. think about the specific objective, the target group and the tone of voice. Do you need native speakers, for example, or specific technical knowledge? You reach SMEs through methods other than the top 100 clients or the government. A telesales agency must fit as a tailor-made suit.”

About Vrendly
Maurits Geelkerken is entrepreneur and founder of Vrendly, which offers companies advanced IT solutions in personal debt management. In line with the business of Vrendly, the marketing is organized in such a way that everything went automatically. Customers signed up and we sent out mailings. The click behavior was monitored extensively, but because we had no focus on sales and too little time, the leads were left behind. Moreover, we noticed that it was not our favorite activity and we are not so good at it. At least not vigorously enough. The pile of leads was not followed consistently and we left too many opportunities. That just feels bad.

Convert leads to users
“We had just started, Vrendly was live and wanted as much direct feedback from our customers as possible. Many first users were friends and acquaintances and they were less critical than we wanted. In order to optimize the process and the systems, we needed critical clients. All leads therefore had to be set up to actual users. We could not do that without help. For that reason I contacted Monique I had previously worked with. Monique is a real stickler, someone who always fulfills her commitments and listens carefully to what the customer needs. Moreover, I knew it would be nice to work together again. ”

“We left too many opportunities and that just felt bad.”

“WeCallForYou was more on top of the start, thorough but in a pleasant way. Even before we were internally ready, the team was ready to get started. That was a big win. Without too much explanation and with some examples WeCallForYou started. Especially because the team dug deeper. And that also gave immediate confidence. Only if there was a problem with the customer, there was contact. We were simply unburdened. And that’s also how Monique is: proactive, she sets clear goals and goes into action. No worries.”

“With this personal approach we have brought out many things that we would not otherwise hear”

Driven
When we sent a mailing for the collaboration, we had an average conversion of three to four new customers. From the start with WeCallForYou that became much more. And that proved to be a substantial improvement compared to our own method. With this personal approach we have brought out many things that we would not otherwise hear. Customers indicated what they missed and we acted on that. In the meantime our customer portfolio has changed and we do not do the lead follow-up ourselves anymore. That way we continue to improve.

We now know that our actions are more profitable if we outsource the telephone contact. That also takes away stress.

Advice for the future
“The realization that you as an organization can set up the marketing, but don’t do well in the follow-up is enlightening. We now know that our actions are more profitable if we outsource the contact by phone. This took away a stress factor. It really felt like we got a colleague. And that colleague was good for a turnover growth of 400%. It made the investment worthwhile. I would do it again without hesitation. And after several experiences with telesales organizations, I will not be joining forces with another party so quickly.”