The Great Guns Marketing Blog

I’ve been thinking for some time now about penning a piece on the relationship between marketing and PR but various other topical issues have intervened. So now as the political furore around our change in government has just about subsided, I thought it would be a good time to get back on track with a blog about what I do best – telemarketing!

Now I know I have written, on a number of occasions, about how to make the most of a telemarketing campaign – what works well and what doesn’t – so I thought I would broaden this out further to talk about what I see to be the intrinsic relationship between telemarketing and PR.

At Great Guns Marketing, we don’t shy away from a challenge: we pride ourselves on being skilled communicators and that means through our knowledge and experience, we can secure opportunities for just about any company, regardless of their industry or sector. But one of the toughest sales jobs for us is trying to make appointments for companies that don’t have any brand awareness whatsoever.

You wouldn’t believe it (or maybe you would!) but it is truly amazing how much of a difference even the smallest amount of PR can make. It’s not rocket science, the same theory applies to almost everything. We are programmed, by nature, to go for the things we know and trust. So if we have a choice between a company that we know is out there spreading its message and a company we have never heard of and don’t really know what it does, nine times out of ten we will go with the one we recognise. Unless, of course, it is the wildcard option we are after, and then it becomes a very different ball game!

But it’s not just about awareness. PR is also essential in helping to create a brand for a company. Through positioning exercises it is possible to give an organisation a credibility that just isn’t achievable with any other medium. And inevitably that transfers down the communications channels. So as soon as one of our team picks up the phone on behalf of that better-known brand, it becomes that bit easier to start a conversation. The recognition is there from the outset and the door has been opened. Hence why we are delighted if one of our clients tells us that they do have a proactive PR agency.

But that doesn’t mean to say it’s not possible to have the same level of success for a company with no previous market presence; the conversation just starts off slightly differently and may take a little longer, but we get there in the end!

Last night’s Ask the Chancellors debate on Channel 4 has certainly signalled the start of the election… Finally!

It’s not the first time they have debated with each other on television but as the economy is now perhaps a more important issue than it has ever been at any general election since at least 1992. It was good to see the Chancellor and his shadows actually speaking policies and answering genuine questions from the public rather than churning out the same political spin every time they appear on our screens.

As a business owner, I think there were two key points made last night. Firstly, George Osborne, Alistair Darling and Vince Cable all said that they will make jobs a priority, and secondly the much talked about National Insurance Contributions.

It is clear that unemployment is a problem in Britain at the moment and with so many people deferring jobs to stay in education, the problem will only get worse unless it’s tackled properly. Vince Cable mentioned an important point – the Government can’t create employment, but it can make sure that banks lend to small/medium businesses, something that the Labour government has failed miserably on. The UK’s SMEs need the support of whatever party wins the election because they’re the ones that actually create the jobs.

George Osborne called Labour’s planned National Insurance Contribution increases the “economics of the madhouse”, and I am inclined to agree with him. By increasing staffing costs 1% many businesses out there will consider freezing recruitment, which will make things even worse. It’s a tax on jobs, at a time when we should be encouraging employers to bring in new staff. If anything we should be thinking of reducing National Insurance tax.

The Conservatives may have taken a lot of flack over the last 24 hours for the plans to reverse Mr Darling’s National Insurance increase, but I personally don’t believe that the party’s latest policy is unwise and I’m fully behind it. What many people seem to be overlooking is that employed people create more wealth for the government. The treasury receives more revenue from income tax, there is a reduction in the amount of unemployment benefits being paid out and VAT income will increase because people can spend more.

All in all, I agree with political commentator Iain Dale’s view that the next Conservative government will have enterprise at its core and that is undoubtedly a good thing for business and Britain as a whole. I’m not quite sure if the same can be said for Labour and the Liberal Democrats.

For now, the election run is on and I’m looking forward to see the would-be leaders take part in their own debates over the next few weeks.