Getting the best out of your client-agency partnership.

We put agencies in front of businesses and organisations that match their customer profile. We build relationships with key decision makers and stakeholders uncovering new business opportunities, and help you convert them into business and grow.

When we work with new clients, the first thing they ask themselves is: will it work? AND will I get a return on my investment? As a business development agency with more than 40+ years’ experience in outbound marketing, we have become pretty good at spotting what works and what doesn’t. Our job is to nail down the value proposition with you before we press the ‘GO’ button.

However, most campaigns have the potential to achieve far greater results if they are delivered the tried and tested Bluestone way. With our experienced team and process in place, we deliver against expectations enjoying long-term relationships with our Clients.

Experience tells us that the traditional agency – client relationship structure: you yell, we jump! does not yield the best results. The best results come when we have formed a 50/50 partnership with our Clients. Think of us as part of the team!

Which leads us to our most recent client partnership with DMA Partners.

DMA who?

No – they are nothing to do with the Direct Marketing Association, the “DM” of DMA relates to the Founding Partner, David Mears, and they are a delightful little marketing agency that have carved out a niche for themselves over the last 15 years, delivering exceptional creative communications for some of the biggest players in the Travel and Financial Tech sectors. Long term relationships with companies such as Amadeus, Deloitteand Smiths, they’ve got some great stories to tell and have a compelling value offering.

I first met with Phil Martin, Managing Partner two years ago, shortly after joining the FreedomWorks Co-working community in Worthing. Bluestone is all about building relationships, which is what we did with DMA Partners. We position ourselves that prospective customers know who we are, what we do and that we’re there when they need us – a safe pair of hands to turn to when the timing is right, and they are ready to grow.

Roll on almost two years, and Phil came to me with his growth plans for 2019 – which looked exciting, and something I knew our team would want to be a part of.

After fleshing out the details of their value proposition, looking at a number of potential campaigns we could work on together and completing the set-up, we pulled the trigger and launched phase one of the process.

It’s about here that I believe many of our competitors especially the classic ‘telemarketing Agency’ miss a major opportunity. This is when the ‘us vs them’ mentality often kicks in. Almost without exception, the exercise becomes all about the volume of leads, rather than quality of engagements. Indeed, calling staff are often only incentivised on this. This is far from the Bluestone way.

The dialogue between agency and client generally lacks the complete two-way communication to get the best results. We believe the only real way to achieve this is through transparency and a comfortable flow of information. This is what enables us to support each other while keeping the same end goal – namely to create opportunities and turn them into revenue.

It is no coincidence that in the first six weeks of working with Phil and DMA Partners, we have been able to generate eight new business opportunities (meetings and conference calls) one of which was converted, covering DMA’s investment with Bluestone for the next six months.

Sure, it’s a great start to the campaign, but we all share the same feeling – this is just the start. With a highly motivated business development team, proactive client and creating lots of exciting opportunities fed into the pipeline, anything is achievable.

DMA PARTNERS CASE STUDY – MAKING TRAVEL TECHNOLOGY EASY TO UNDERSTAND.

Challenge:

An up and coming, European travel technology company wanted to broaden their existing customer base, and further afield than Europe (e.g. North America). To be able to explain what they do best and the real benefit for their target customer: Online travel agencies and Travel Management Companies (TMCs). To tell their brand story in a SIMPLE way.

Our offer:

To provide a simple way to express their story. Deliver a campaign that would help them stand out at their next large event the Business Travel Show in London. Our value to them is our experience and knowledge on travel technology and great results already with global companies in this sector. We were able to explain clearly how we could help and build brand awareness with a consultative approach, always matching the need.

“James and his team have blended into the company culture very quickly engaging potential customers in a way that makes it easy for us to take the baton and continue the relationship, they completely understood us. Converting our first prospect was because of the match with the client and our value to them. We like their technique and style, it makes a good fit that build our brand awareness.”

Phil Martin, Managing Partner – DMA Partners

If you are looking for a business development partner to help you build a pipeline of new business opportunities for your Agency and turn them into revenue, visit us at www.bluestoneb2b.co.uk or call us on 020 3727 6200.

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