Reviewing 2020

Firstly, as always thank you for taking the time to read this, I hope it finds you, your family and colleagues well.

Well what a year 2020 has been, It feels like a long time ago now since I was writing a review of a tough 2019, that was a walk in the park compared to this year as little did we know what 2020 had install for us all, I bet none of us saw that coming. The good news is that as each day passes, we’re closer to normality and there is light at the end of the tunnel!

So, here is a roundup of 2020, a look into the future and what we are looking to achieve in the Advance office in the coming months and years.

At the start of the year we had some lofty ambitions for our sales and business growth put in place given the new arrival of our sales director Guy Statham. We set him some stretched turnover goals. This was looking achievable given the fact that March 2020 was our biggest revenue month in our history, however, then came the 23rd March and the realisation of the impact of Covid-19.

Working through a period of time within rules and restrictions affecting us beyond our control. We shifted our focus to supporting the Team and working with a smaller group of our clients that remained relatively unaffected given their targets. With the highs of March being short lived and followed so swiftly by the lows of April and May, which were some of the toughest months we have lived through as a country in recent times.

But, what doesn’t break you makes you stronger, we dust ourselves off roll up the sleeves and go again, what it did do is give me a renewed vigour for the business and with it levelling the playing field we knew that we had to re-build but stronger than ever before, now with the advantage of having the additional years of experience of running a successful business from scratch again.

All this being said we are happy to announce that November didn’t turn out to be our 2nd busiest month of the year, it surpassed March to become our busiest month of 2020! With the hard work of the whole team we finished the year stronger than we could have expected.

So, what else did 2020 bring?

We launched our new bespoke CRM system, we implemented some structural changes into our management, giving specific roles such as Team Manager, Quality Assurance and Client Relationship Manager, rather than having just one person looking after these areas of the business and becoming overwhelmed we now have clear lines of demarcation with each offering a much better experience for our clients.

We have developed more partnerships within the construction industry with some truly great businesses, working towards mutually beneficial ends.

We launched our new website in September, setting out our stall as the number 1 construction specific telemarketing company in the UK. We welcome competition and thrive on the challenge of going head to head with anyone on new business meetings, we cannot promise we will be the cheapest but we stake our reputation on being the best quality driven

telemarketing provider to our clients and partners. As the age old saying goes ‘the price is what you pay the value is what you get in return’.

As part of want to keep learning and bettering ourselves we recently we conducted an opinion poll about what businesses (and people) look for when selecting to outsource a service.

‘What do you consider when you are reviewing a new service provider to use for your business’?

· Their background & experience 18%

· Feedback from their clients 47%

· Case studies of delivering ROI 24%

· None of the above. If so what? 12%

Choosing to outsource your telemarketing and lead generation can be a tough decision to make. A lot of businesses believe that they can do this themselves and utilise their staff to perform to key performance indicators, pressure, and unachievable sales targets.

The benefits of outsourcing your telemarketing & lead generation needs can be huge. With a dedicated team of construction industry experts and a specific focus. Advance Group can provide return on investment, quality appointments and generate qualified construction leads. Working with you to make sure the service will fit your business an provide the return you need.

We have recruited some talented new team members in the final 2 quarters of the year, they have come on board with great enthusiasm and generating amazing results. Welcome to the team Romany, Charlie & Gary.

What is on the horizon for 2021?

This just a snippet… We plan to move to a new office, a couple of reasons but the main one being we need somewhere bigger. Growth plans for the office coincide nicely with our team expansion and revenue targets.

These are two of the first things for the coming year, obviously we have a lot more install but we will be releasing this information at the right time in the year ahead, though we believe actions speak louder than words, watch this space.

To summarise, 2020 has been tough, tougher than anyone could have expected not just for Advance but for the world.

However, in the words of the outstanding MLK

At Advance we have bounced forwards not back.

So, here is to 2020 and thank you for the challenges you brought, roll on 2021 we are ready to smash it as always.

If you would like to discuss how we could assist you & your business call our office on

0151 357 2166 or email us on info@advance-tm.co.uk

Many thanks,

Mike