brightlights marketing - any experiences with them?

brightlights marketing - any experiences with...

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came across this company on Google and I was wondering if anyone had any bad/good experiences they would like to share

www.brightlightsmarketing.com

many thanks

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By cymraeg_draig
12th Aug 2010 07:59

A general warning

Never heard of this particular company but we dont hire "marketing companies" so no surprise there.

However, it's a marketing company - and the FIRST sale they need to make ........is to YOU. They sell for a living which means its more important than ever tha you get everything in writing and take time to check it. 

If they are paid by results then there's not a lot to lose, but, if there's an upfront fee I would be cautious.

One point - if they put you under pressure to "sign up" then bear in mind that they will put potential clients under pressure too - is that what you want - clients who sign up to get rid of the saleman, then change their minds ?

 

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By Bob Harper
12th Aug 2010 09:03

Are you good enough?

Understand that they are the messenger so they can only ever be as good as your message.

I recommend you think niche and value and create campaigns. Ensure they are not just calling for the opportunity of a free meeting with you! No disrespect but that will only get quick wins and is likely to bring in price sensitive prospects.  Slow the sale down and the price will rise.

Before you invest in promotion make sure your infrastructure is good enough. Is your Website good enough to support prospects researching you? Do you have the systems to carry out effective sales management?
Have you got a lead nurturing process?

Above all, ensure your sales skills are excellent because any opportunity they create is only 20% of the work. You are responsible for success after that.

You could expect to pay £200 to £500 per lead, depending on your target demo graphic, and the average close rate from telemarketing in the profession is 25%.  Are you prepared to spend £500 to £1,000 per sale?

There is no reason why you can’t get to 50% to 75% but you’ll need an attitude adjustment, some training and coaching. This is not about bring the cost down but winning £50k in the year rather than £25k with much less time and energy.

Would be great for you to go for it and see how they did. I’ll be in touch with them soon because I have not come across them before and I’d like to know more than their Website.

Bob Harper

Marketing for Accountants

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By bernard michael bayly
12th Aug 2010 10:03

Telemarketing company

I note there is another  marketing company called Bright Light Marketing that is not the one to whom you refer.

I should have thought that a marketing company would be sensible to have a name that distinguished them from other companies

Also the registrant of the domain name brightlightsmarketing.com is based at the same address as  S L Accountancy Services in Exmouth

The golden rule is don't deal with anyone who does not identify themselves properly on their web site by stating an address and company.

I guess too much dealing with Bond Partners Network has made me suspicious

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By Bright Lights Marketing
04th Jan 2011 13:22

Response

Hi there, My name is James Luscombe and I’m a director at Bright Lights.

I’ve only just come across this page so apologies for not having replied sooner. I agree with the general responses given here; regardless of who you end up using for a telemarketing campaign, you should be very wary of anyone who wants any payment up front.

In my experience there are a few ways of paying for telemarketing services; the most common being by the hour or per appointment attended. Paying by the hour means you will know up front how much you’ll be paying per month as long as you agree on a set amount of hours to be completed, so the ROI should ultimately be easy to calculate. If you use a company that charges in this way be sure to get them to specify how many appointments they expect to get per month so you can work out how much each appointment costs.

The only problem with this method is that inevitably with telemarketing, some appointments that are made will not be attended for one reason or another; usually because the prospect has to reschedule and the lead eventually goes flat, so you should clarify with your telemarketing supplier what happens in that event. If for example they say they will get you 5 appointments per month and only end up getting 3 per month for 6 months, they should then owe you 12 appointments at the end of that period. What would happen if that were to occur; would they make those appointments for you free of charge?

The way we generally operate is to charge per appointment, and the amount will vary according to what kind of company were targeting on an accountant’s behalf, geographical location, complexity of issues being discussed etc. I would advise getting in touch with us for a tailored quote, but I will say that our average rate is definitely at the lower end of what Bob is suggesting above, and nowhere near the top! Ultimately it all comes down to whether you’re getting a good return, so you would need to be sure that any fees you sign as a result of telemarketing leads far outweigh the fee per appointment, and for smaller practices this might mean setting your sights a bit higher than normal. I’m not suggesting that you try to go after FTSE 100 audit clients, but if your average fee per client is £500 for example, then unless you’re willing and able to service larger clients who will bring in at least £1,000 per annum then I’ll be honest and say that unless you can get it very cheaply (and bear in mind that as with anything, you get what you pay for) then telemarketing probably isn’t for you.

Another thing to note, and something that we’re always eager to be upfront about with our clients, is that telemarketing is something that you need to do for at least 6 months in order to get a proper idea of ROI, because in many cases it’s unlikely that a prospect will sign up with you there and then, even if they want to change, for a variety of reasons. There are of course exceptions to the rule and I’m happy to say that some of our clients have signed fees very quickly which cover our telemarketing charges for a year, but you should know at the outset that some prospects will want you to go and see them a couple times before switching, some just want to meet speculatively to get a quote for when they go out to tender later in the year etc.

There will also be lots of people that tell us “I’m interested in meeting, but call me back in 6 months”, and it’s important to keep that pipeline alive. That’s not to say that we will tie you in to a contract for that length of time, but if you expect to get quick signings and don’t have the cash available to persevere for a couple months without seeing anything tangible then again, telemarketing might not be right for you.

One last thing is that you should also try to get some info about the people who will be making calls on your behalf. Here at Bright Lights any calls will either be made by one of the directors or by our small team who work under our very close supervision. Our employees are all salaried, which means that they don’t work on commission and don’t therefore feel the need to push through appointments that don’t really want to meet with you, but do so just to get them off the phone. Any appointment we make for you will be with the business owner or equivalent, who has expressed an interest without being given the hard sale. If for any reason the meeting doesn’t go ahead or is unsatisfactory then the appointment will be replaced free of charge.

As for Bernard’s comment that our domain name is based at the same address as S L Accountancy Services in Exmouth, I believe that is related to the fact that when the domain was registered several years ago when we were working on a much smaller scale from home, and that my next door neighbour is a CA and we share a telephone exchange with him or something along those lines. We certainly have no ties with him as a company.

Thanks for reading and sorry to have gone on a bit!

James Luscombe

[email protected]

01395 222984

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By The Doctor
17th Jan 2012 20:45

I can recommend

Brightlights are fantastic, I've been using them for a while now and they are very professional, have got me in front of some great clients and I have a very healthy return on investment.

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