Promote your products and services by phone to the public sector

More Than Words’ public sector calling list contains the contact details of over 250,000 decision makers with government, local councils, the NHS, and more.

The decision makers on our database work across 88,000 different public sector organisations located at over 118,000 sites.

Get in touch with the right decision makers within key public sector organisations in the UK to promote your products and services by phone with our telemarketing database.

Over the 12 months of your licence, promote your company, what you sell, and the benefits your customer derive from your products and services.

Give your company the opportunity to build up awareness and credibility among the important public sector decision makers with a budget and responsibility for your products and services.

And, over the course of a year, you’ll have complete access to your account manager, our technical support team, and our advertising and marketing support specialists.

On our public sector calling list database

Use our public sector calling list (part of our wider UK public sector database) to generate new leads and close new orders from the public sector organisations and departments with the greatest operational need for your products and services.

Telemarketing is an important way of giving directors and senior managers within the public sector the information they need about what you sell on complex tender-led purchasing decisions.

They’re also a way to increase the number of sales you make for ad-hoc sub-£100,000 orders which do not go out to tender nor have the multiple layers of scrutiny involved on tenders.

Get in touch with us – speak to one of our account managers to identify the most appropriate and most responsive decision-makers and influencers within the public sector organisations you wish to sell into.

The main reasons to select our public sector calling lists for your telemarketing team

More Than Words is more than a database provider – we’re also a full service marketing company.

Prior to starting your calling to the targets on your database, why not send over the script you propose to use on your campaign?

We have experienced in-house telesales script writers who will offer you feedback on your opening, advice you on how to handle objections over the phone, and how to structure the close.

Our technical team is also available for you to speak with in case you have any issues with database you’d like us to walk you through over the phone.

And for the 12 months of your licence, your account manager is responsible for making sure that whatever you need us to do for you is done correctly, quickly, and efficiently.

Order public sector telemarketing lists for your company

Let us know more about your company, your products and services, and which advantages your products and services deliver to the public sector organisations you wish to target.

Within 24 hours, we’ll get back to you with a full count and quote for your public sector calling list.

We offer accuracy guarantees on all of our calling lists – if we fail to hit our target, we refund you pro-rata or issue you with replacement records.

To speak with one of our account manager, please call us on 0330 010 3495 or you can email our telemarketing database team by clicking here.

When you call, please ask us about our managed outsourced telemarketing campaigns to the public sector.

Making the most from your public sector calling list

The public sector has a much longer buying cycle than the private sector and one which is built on establishing and nurturing relationships rather than the “hard sell”.

Using a public sector calling list requires an effective telemarketing strategy designed to create  and find new opportunities that can then be nurtured into leads over time.

More Than Words can help you with your marketing campaigns to businesses in the public sector.

As well as providing you with the data, our team will also assess the telemarketing scripts you’re considering using offering feedback and advice to help you to make the most impact.

Here, we outline our recommendations for planning a successful telemarketing campaign:

• what can you use a public sector calling list for?
• which areas of the public sector are relevant to your business?
• understand your target market
• how to generate enquiries and leads
• analysing telemarketing data

What can you use a public sector calling list for?

There are a number of effective ways to make connections in the public sector through telemarketing.

These include:

Appointment setting

The public sector takes more much time over purchasing decisions than the private sector.

Decision-making is complex and relies on input from multiple fellow decision makers and influencers.

Public sector decision makers often want to find out as much about a potential supplier as possible before making a commitment.

Using calls to book appointments with budget holders in your chosen sector offers you a set time with a prospect.

During your appointment, your sales rep can explain what it is that you are offering and the value that your company delivers to its public sector clients.

Remember that a strong value proposition is necessary in this type of call to convince your prospects that setting an appointment will be of value to them.

Lead generation

Whilst the public sector relies on tenders for its largest purchasing decisions, those purchases under £100,000 and for certain products and services go through procurement departments.

Using your public sector calling list you can speak with the key decision makers involved in making these purchases to find out what their needs are and how your company can provide them with a solution which saves money and/or leads to better outcomes.

A telemarketing call is also a great opportunity to find out more about:

• what the organisation buys,
• how they do this and
• when they are likely to have a need for your product or service in the upcoming months.

Market research

Within your target market there will likely be a mix of potential customers.

These include decision-makers and influencers, buyers, managers and advisors but also, to some extent, sub and prime contractors.

Sub and prime contractors are excellent contacts to have as they are not your direct competition and they have insider knowledge of how organisations are run.

Use your calling list to ask questions and get the contact information for others involved in the organisation.

The objective of your campaigns should be to understand who you can call in the future, in order to find out:

• what upcoming opportunities there are,
• what a buyer is actually looking for,
• how the procurement will be run, and
• what opportunities there are to collaborate with other businesses.

This provides you with the information that you need to retarget each contact at a later date with a marketing campaign specifically tailored to their needs.

It is also a good way to perform data enhancement in your current contact list – you have more information on each contact and their needs which you can use in future marketing campaigns.

Event promotion

Taking part in industry-specific events and trade shows is a way to demonstrate your expertise to public sector contacts and build trust in your company.

Telemarketing calls can be used to inform your contacts about these events and request their attention in a way that is easy to say yes to.

Which areas of the public sector are relevant to your business?

The organisation and departments within the public sector relevant to your business will help you to decide which areas of the market you should approach.

Research is key to understand the relationships between various organisations within the public sector as well as who makes the buying decisions.

For example, if you provide a product or service for schools, who you contact will depend on what it is that you do.

The schools themselves will be in control of their own budgets in some areas (say, stationary) whilst other areas might be controlled by the Local Authority (IT or building maintenance).

You can use your public sector calling list to identify the budget holders for the institutions you are targeting and thus direct your sales content appropriately.

Understanding your target market

Whilst many public services are still managed and paid for by the state, many departments and organisations within these overarching institutions now rely on private service contracts.

Public services managed by the organisations themselves (instead of the government) are referred to as public service markets.

This is an often overlooked but important target market.

The contracts you win in these markets are between you, the service provider, and a public sector body such as a local authority or clinical commissioning group.

However, it is the point-of-service employees who are most affected by the suppliers chosen so it is these people that you need to impress.

Whilst budgets are important, the majority of public sector contracts will not go to the lowest cost option.

Instead, buyers are instructed to achieve the Best Value for government services, taking into account what is being offered and its value to the institution instead of its price.

Thus, your telemarketing calls must aim to inform the prospect about the guaranteed outcomes they can expect from choosing your product or service.

You can also use these calls to ask the buyer directly who they are already working with so that you can identify and research your competition.

Understanding your competitor’s benefits and pricing can help you to make a more effective pitch at a later time.

How to generate enquiries and leads from your public sector calling list

Once your research is complete then you can start making calls.

We run telemarketing campaigns to the public sector and our advice to you would be to follow these four steps.

1. Have a plan

Decide and write down an objective for every call you make.

If you have segmented your list and you are approaching different types of prospect as part of a larger telemarketing campaign, the likelihood is that you’ll be making calls to achieve a variety of reasons.

Plan for every outcome and know what you will do if the first person you speak with is not the contact you are hoping to reach.

2. Write a script

A script is essential to the telemarketing process, providing a roadmap for the conversation to help you achieve your objectives.

You do not have to follow a script word for word – in fact you shouldn’t – but it will guide you through the call.

We offer a telesales script writing service – please ask your account manager for more information when you call.

3. Speak slowly and naturally

It is natural to be nervous when making a telemarketing call or be tempted to rush through the first part of your script.

However, this style of delivery actually makes prospects less likely to listen to you.

Force yourself to speak slowly and in a relaxed tone of voice that displays confidence and authority.

4. Have a conversation

Remember that you are opening a dialogue about what you can offer them.

Be prepared to have a conversation and answer their questions.

Analysing telemarketing data

The majority of digital marketing approaches provide automated data reporting that analyses the success of your campaign on your behalf.

Telemarketing is a more traditional medium requiring you or your telemarketing team to report each call and analyse the data manually.

There are plenty of telemarketing report templates available online but it will be useful to create a specific report for your own campaign.

Take a basic template and add sections for the specific information you are hoping to gather during each call.

Using your segmented public sector calling list, you could also run A/B testing on different scripts and strategies, analysing the success of each to refine your campaigns over time.

Public sector calling lists - FAQ

What is a public sector calling list?

A public sector calling list is a database of the telephone contact details of decision makers within parish councils, the NHS, Parliament, local government, housing associations, higher education, further education, dental practices, central government, and care homes.

When you speak with one of our account managers, they’ll help you select the decision makers and influencers most likely to have a budget and an operational need for the products and services you sell.

You don’t have to buy the entire public sector calling list – if we find there are only a few hundred decision makers of interest to you, that’s what we’ll present you with.

When you have your telemarketing list, you can use it in one of two ways:

• your current in-house telemarketing representatives contacts the decision makers on the database or
• you outsource your telemarketing to a third-party provider if you don’t have a telesales team at the moment.

If you’d prefer us to make the calls for you, please ask your account manager about our telemarketing campaigns to the public sector.

Should I use telemarketing or telesales with the public sector?

There is no clear and widely agreed distinction between telemarketing and telesales however, internally within More Than Words:

• telemarketing refers to booking appointments, generating leads, conduct market research, and promoting any events you’re attending or hosting and
• telesales refers to making sales over the phone where a transaction is agreed and paid for without the need for a face to face meeting.

We cannot recommend strongly enough that you use the gentler and more consultative telemarketing approach rather than telesales.

This is for two reasons:

• decisions within the public sector are often taken by multiple directors and managers all of whom have to be won over to your company and its products and services prior to purchase and
• scrutiny over spending is much greater because funding for the public sector comes wholly or mainly from general taxation.

When you speak with your account manager, s/he will advise you on the most constructive and successful approach to take when in conversation with your target decision makers.

What information is included on my public sector telemarketing list for the contacts themselves?

On each of the records on our public sector telesales database, the following information about the contacts are included:

• salutation – Mr, Miss, Mrs, Ms, Dr – etc
• first name
• last name
• contact initial – the contact’s first name abbreviated to the first letter
• job title
• qualifications – the highest know educational or vocational qualifications the contact has achieved
• seniority – the contact’s level of Management of the contact within the organisation
• contact phone – the direct number for the contact (if they’re not available the main telephone number)
• main phone – the main switchboard number for the organisation the contact works for
• department – the internal department the contact leads or manages

Do you provide information on the departments the contacts work for?

On the same records as the decision makers, we include the following information about the departments and organisations they work for:

• annual organisational spend expressed in millions of pounds
• county – the county in which the organisation or department is based
• main site – this lets you know whether the contact works at head office or from a different location
• organisation name – the official legal title of the organisation
• staffing levels – the number of staff employed at all levels across the organisation
• notes – we include information of importance about each organisation upon discovery including forthcoming changes, mergers, and so on
• higher organisation description – for example, whether the organisation is an NHS Trust, Local Authority, etc.
• lower organisation descriptions – used to describe departments within organisation or to give more information about a larger organisation, for example Acute Trust, Metropolitan Council, etc.
• Economic Planning Region for which the contact has responsibility (London/South East/etc)
• Town or city – the town or city in which the contact is based
• General area of government, for example Local Government, Regional Government, Central Government, NHS, QUANGOs, etc

Can I target parish, town, or community councils by size of population?

When choosing the contacts you wish to get in touch with, please ask our account manager to select parish, town, or community councils containing the desired level of population.

We can include the banding of each parish, town, or community council on each record of your database for a small additional fee.

For NHS organisations, what additional information can you search on to make my targeting more precise?

You can search for an NHS organisation’s official practice code, the numbers of GPs within practices, and the population covered by GP surgeries (provided in bands).

For an additional charge, we can include this information on the database you purchase from us.

With which additional criteria can I select decision makers within local government?

You can select which decision makers appear on your telemarketing list of local government offices by the following criteria:

• forthcoming date of the next election date,
• number of seats within an local authority,
• official LA code,
• political party in control,
• population covered,
• the year in which political control last changed, and
• ward names.

What additional information does your telemarketing database hold on Housing Associations?

You can select Housing Associations to include in your telemarketing campaign using the following criteria:

• number of units or houses owned/managed,
• parent organisation name (if applicable).
• type of housing,
• type of tenants, and
• whether the association intends to build new homes or units.

Can you select telemarketing data for me based upon the size of each FE and HE establishment?

Yes.

When you call us, let us know the minimum and maximum numbers for the universities or colleges you wish to target.

Can I choose care homes to target by type of size?

Yes.

Please let us know which types and capacities of homes you wish to contact and we will run a count for you to let you know how many we have.

Which types of contacts do you have on your public sector calling lists databases?

We have grouped the contacts on our public sector calling list in the following way:

Central government, further education, higher education, and Housing Associations

• Chairman
• Vice/Deputy Chairman
• Chief Officer
• Clerk/Secretary
• Top Level Director
• Second Level / Head of Service

Local government

• As central government plus…
• Deputy/Assistant Chief Officer
• Third Level/Head of Service/Manager

NHS, NHS Management, and GP Surgeries

• As central government plus…
• Third Level/Head of Service/Manager

NHS consultants

• Chief Officer
• Top Level Director
• Second Level / Head of Service
• Third Level/Head of Service/Manager

Care Homes

• Chief Officer
• Top Level Director

Dentists

• Chief Officer

Parish councils

• Chairman
• Chief Officer

The reason we have grouped the contact in this way is that each organisation within the public sector has a different internal structure.

They also often use different terminology to describe the same jobs.

We therefore use a system of seniority – the higher up the bullet points, the more responsibility they have for making purchases.

Next to each contact on our telemarketing database is an indication of their superiority together with a description of the products and services they’re responsible for buying.

Can I append email marketing data onto my public sector calling database?

Yes – you can add public sector email addresses to your calling database.

Please bear in mind that we only have email addresses for around 40% of the decision makers whose contact details we’ve recorded.

If you wish to have the ability to promote your products and services by both phone and email, please ask your account manager to make sure that both fields are fully populated on your database.

Can I append postal data to my public sector telephone list database?

Yes – you can add public sector postal addresses to your telemarketing database.

Please ask your account manager when you get in touch for more information.

Are your public sector telemarketing lists GDPR compliant?

Yes. Your use of our public sector calling list is compliant for the following three reasons:

• you are approaching the individuals on the database in their capacity as a decision maker for the organisation they work for,
• the products and services you’re promoting benefit the organisation and not the individual in a personal capacity, and
• marketing is a “legitimate reason” for using a contact database.

If you are concerned about GDPR, please ask your account manager for our GDPR policy when you call – we’re happy to answer any questions you have.

Can I still use the data once my licence has expired?

No – once your 12 month licence has expired, you need to renew the licence for another 12 months in order to be able to continue contacting public sector decision makers by phone.

There are three exceptions to this rule though and they are as follow.

You can continue to stay in touch with a contact if they have responded directly to a telemarketing campaign and they have:

• purchased from your company,
• negotiating with you but they are yet to purchase from your company, or
• indicated that they wish you to stay in touch with them in writing (please keep these records safe).

Buying a public sector calling list from More Than Words

We’re open during office hours between Monday and Friday.

Please call us, email us, or fill out the contact form and let us know what you want to achieve when you buy a telemarketing list from us.

We’re available on 0330 010 3495 or you can email our marketing databases team by clicking here.

We’re based in North Shields town centre if you want to come and visit us. There is plenty of free parking outside and we’re only three minutes’ walk from North Shields Metro station.