Belkins

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

As the Senior Director of Technology I help our company focus on getting our message to our target market and work with new clients to introduce our unique team approach to staff augmentation. Programmers.io is recognized as one of the fastest growing IT Services companies in this space by INC 5000 and DFW Fastest Growing Companies recognition.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Belkins?

Our challenge was breaking through the daily clutter of spam being sent to everyone and finding a way to deliver our value added messages directly to the right person at the right time.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

We searched for good partners and had several failed attempts at finding a company that provides a unique offering in the digital marketing space. Belkin offers a wide range of services and has the experience to adapt to change and isolate issues quickly while adapting the program to our specific needs.

Describe the project in detail and walk through the stages of the project.

After the initial meeting we agreed to try several different campaigns to see if we could find what works best. The first few weeks started slow but their ability to take our feedback and understand our unique value quickly turned into results. They are delivering above expectations after the first month. The frequent planning meetings and in-depth reporting on activity is amazing.

How many resources from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

We have worked with a project manager and two digital marketing specialist. Everyone has been open to feedback and very responsive to our needs. They have a friendly disposition while staying laser focused on results.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

They are providing multiple qualified leads to our team every week. The process is simple and the meetings are with high value companies who genuinely need our services.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Outstanding. Their communication model is second to none.

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

Their creative approach to breaking through the clutter of digital marketing is impressive. Also, their problem solving skills when making sure our message is being received. They have this stuff dialed in.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

None.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the CEO of Go Fast Don’t Die, a lifestyle brand dedicated to people who live their best lives. Those who admit the risk, but choose the potential rewards. Our brand emerged in 2016 when we felt that the mantra of “Go Fast, Don't Die” should emerge into the marketplace, and encourage our customers and our crew to live a life worth living. “Go Fast Don’t Die” pays homage to what our mothers used to tell us before motorcycle trips: instead of “Have fun, be safe!” we heard “Go Fast, Don’t Die”, thus the brand was born.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Belkins?

We were in search of new wholesale partnerships and hired Belkins to find leads for us.

SOLUTION

How did you select this firm and what were the deciding factors?

We searched among popular appointment-setting companies that offered acceptable prices for SMBs. Belkins looked trustworthy, professional, and creative to us.

Describe the project in detail and walk through their service package.

Belkins was tasked with finding small merch shops with items related to motorcycling and extreme sports. They offered a partnership in selling our clothes and products.

How many resources from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

Belkins project team consisted of an account manager (our point of contact), SDR, an email deliverability specialist, lead researcher, and content writer.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the engagement that demonstrate progress or success?

After only one month, Belkins helped us get a substantial number of prospects in our pipeline. These were converted from nearly 1,000 leads accumulated by the Belkins team, which was a great result. The outreach campaign had impressively high open and reply rates.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The Belkins manager was always ready to answer our questions and deliver updates. Moreover, the Belkins team sent weekly reports, keeping us informed on the progress of the outreach campaign.

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

Belkins was creative in approaching our potential customers. They targeted owners and sales reps of small merch stores, even though these people only sometimes had LinkedIn accounts and corporate emails.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

I can't think of any.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

We are a SaaS company. I am the manager of Business Development.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Belkins?

Our company is growing quickly, however we don't have the team in place to manage the lead generation at the pace we need. We hired Belkins to do that outreach for us and handle the initial appointment setting.

SOLUTION

How did you select this firm and what were the deciding factors?

We have worked with other companies in the past and was not seeing the results we needed. We did more research and found good reviews on Belkins. We also looked through their feedback on G2 and Clutch - they persuaded us to book their services.

Describe the project in detail and walk through their service package.

Their team is responsible for developing lead lists that meet our ideal client. They researched our different market categories, and came up with a list of prospects to target. They created an email copy for every niche, emphasizing the value proposition.

How many resources from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

We work with an account manager and sales representatives who take care of industry campaigns. Also, we know that there is a team back end doing work including: tracking deliverability, content creation and prospect research.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the engagement that demonstrate progress or success?

In the months we have been engaged with them, they manage to continue to book us appointments and meet the needs of our growth strategy.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

The workflow is smooth. They communicate with our team appropriately, and the Belkins team is open to suggestions and discussion. Together, we built an efficient strategy and implemented it with exceptional results.

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

We expected to get 20 calls maximum and were impressed by the results. Besides, we are impressed with their friendly vibe and easygoing approach; for us, it's a one-of-a-kind experience.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

I can’t think of anything I don't like about our cooperation.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the CMO of our company. Our company sells supply chain software with advanced analytics on costs, service levels, CO2 emissions, and risks. With our platform, supply chain teams leverage powerful and intuitive technology to optimize supply processes. It also empowers demand forecasting and inventory management.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Belkins?

We needed to offer our product to large enterprises. So we contracted Belkins to set appointments with international corporations with billions of revenue.

SOLUTION

How did you select this firm and what were the deciding factors?

Belkins was among the top lead gen agencies in the U.S., and they had an excellent portfolio. We believed they could accept the challenge, and they coped with it well.

Describe the project in detail and walk through their service package.

Belkins was supposed to find leads that matched our ideal buyer and reach them through cold emails. Guys tried various approaches while creating pitches for our potential customers. They thoroughly analyzed how each email worked and never got tired of testing new copies. Their insistence resulted in 23 appointments set with prominent corporations.

How many resources from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

An entire team worked on our project: lead researchers, email deliverability specialists, copywriters, appointment setters, and a manager. However, our point of contact was the account manager.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the engagement that demonstrate progress or success?

Belkins has booked 25 meetings with highly qualified leads for 5 months of work. They also showed a 40% email open rate.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Belkins is very collaborative and hard-working. It felt like we had equipped our team with top specialists who were professional and ready to share their knowledge. In addition to regular updates on our campaigns, our manager was available on messenger once we needed something urgently.

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

They always tried to improve the process and came up with new ideas.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

Not really.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the business development manager for Genius Avenue, a software development company. We write software and work with companies that need to move data through pipelines and channels to get it out to the people that need it. We also primarily work in the benefits area, such as group benefits and health insurance.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Belkins?

We needed help with lead generation and call center services.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

We initially provide Belkins with a list of companies we want to try to find new business in, and they make the calls and appointments. Then, they help us fine-tune everything to ensure it’s running smoothly.

We work closely with the team, and they do everything remotely.

What is the team composition?

We have 3–4 teammates working almost 24/7. Additionally, there’s a supervisor that acts as our client success manager.

How did you come to work with Belkins?

They were already part of the team when I got here.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent over $50,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in January 2020, and our relationship is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

In 2–3 years, we’ve had 25–30 appointments. Our work is boring, but they’re able to explain what we do, which is a gift. Even though I sell this stuff, sometimes I can’t articulate what we do, but Belkins’ team is great at it. They’re a huge help.

Moreover, our clients always know the name of the person they talked to. Belkins is involved in multiple touch campaigns.

How did Belkins perform from a project management standpoint?

Project management is great. We use Monday, but we get most of the appointments over email. They like using Google Meet; we have a meeting every Wednesday to go over what’s going on, so they give us a recap of their efforts for the week. Overall, they’re always on top of things and thinking about how to do better.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They do an excellent job. Team members are very smart in how they perceive what we do. We’ve dealt with the same people for an entire year, which is rare in a call-center environment. Overall, they’re a great organization to work with; Belkins is always on top of things.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, I honestly wish we weren’t such a specialized company so we could see what they could do with something that wasn’t so odd.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

What works with us is just the effort that they put into it.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Koda Health is an innovative product that helps seniors plan their healthcare programs and formalize necessary documents without leaving home. Our B2B enterprise SaaS solution powered by AI simplifies the communication between advanced care planning providers and their elderly patients.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Belkins?

We needed dedicated sales reps who could help us set appointments with large health care organizations. We planned to target niche health insurance players, Accountable Care Organizations, and other large health systems.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

We searched the popular platforms to check for top appointment-setting agencies in the U.S. Belkins was among the several companies we paid attention to. It had relevant cases, years of experience, and positive testimonials from existing customers. So we decided to try collaborating with Belkins.

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

Belkins had to target pretty niche specialists in large corporations. We gave them the list of leads to reach, but soon they started their own research. Their campaign was successful. As we often visit conferences, Belkins came up with the idea to communicate with participants of those events, and this approach also brought us leads. In addition, Belkins offered to re-engage the existing clients as we ran out of leads at some point.

What was the team composition?

Five people from Belkins worked with us: an SDR, an Account Manager, two lead researchers, an Email Content Writer, and a Deliverability Specialist.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

We were impressed by the nearly 7% reply rate of the outreach campaigns launched by the Belkins team. This seemed impossible until we saw how guys approached lead generation. Belkins contacted CEOs and niche specialists like Chief Medical Officers or Chief Customer Experience Officers. They also went the extra mile and reached lower-level executive personas using referral approach. So Belkins reps managed to set 20+ appointments with highly-qualified leads. These are health insurance companies with 5,000+ employees.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

In addition to regular calls and updates, Belkins sales reps have always been one Slack message away. Ready to consult and assist. So the communication was flawless, and the workflow was super effective.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

The exceptional quality of their leads is impressive! The first appointment Belkins set for us was with a 10,000-employee company. For the three months of our cooperation, Belkins had arranged more than 20 meetings with the decision-makers of top niche players. We expected many no-shows or calls with non so relevant prospects, but all the discussions were straight to the point. So the results were really fantastic.

Is there any area for improvement or anything that could have been done differently?

Maybe we could have skipped trying our email template, as the ones crafted by Belkins were much more effective!

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Intelligent Merchandising helps US Brands drive sales and create a competitive advantage at retail. We develop service strategies based on weekly store sales analysis to provide clients with real-time sales trends and help them with merchandising decisions.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Belkins, and what were your goals?

It was important for us to find new clients and expand our audience. Therefore, we chose a basic lead generation service expecting about 400 leads in our pipeline.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

A friendly competitor with whom we regularly collaborate with had already worked with Belkins, so we contacted them right away. After a few Zoom meetings we were convinced that Belkins could help us to get meetings with qualified contacts that were in need of our merchandising services.

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and marking tools used.

During the first month, Belkins examined our marketing data and ICP and tested different strategies. The next month we started driving leads. The specific results will be given below, but looking ahead, we can say that the research and strategy provided by Belkins helped us to get meetings with prospective clients, and to bring several of those clients on to our account roster. Currently, we are working on a new campaign that involves finding merchandisers with the correct level of experience to work with within our new and existing projects.

How many resources from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

We were supported by an AM, a lead researcher, and a sales development representative. The AM has been very intuitive to our needs and is doing an amazing job helping our company to grow.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

In three months, Belkins brought us 24 opportunities, several that have already been converted in to clients. Now we have a full pipeline of qualified leads to transform into new clients. We are sure that by the end of the year, we will funnel the result of Belkins great work to accelerate our business even more.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

We quickly got along, and they seamlessly integrated into our team. Belkins team is incredibly communicative, smart, and proactive. They always give feedback and heed our suggestions. I feel that they have become a part of our company.

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

We were pleasantly surprised when we started getting appointments with decision-makers that worked for household worldwide brands. We were skeptical at first, but we are believers now!

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

No - the responsiveness of the team at Belkins has been incredible. They are now a permanant part of our marketing strategy.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Semify is an SEO reseller service that provides white label SEO services, to agencies in the US and Canada. We provide quality customer support, and our NPS performance is one of the best in the world.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Belkins, and what were your goals?

Every time we wanted to buy leads on our own and conduct successful lead generation, we were disappointed with the results. Therefore, we turned to Belkins’s specialists for outbound marketing services.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

We had heard about Belkins a few times, and when we had to choose a lead generation company, we immediately addressed them.

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and marking tools used.

As expected, Belkins identified our target audience first. Their team used LinkedIn to generate leads using keyword search and then moved on to manual lead generation. While choosing a strategy, Belkins tested the referral approach, which eventually ceased to be effective. Tweaking the tactics and adjusting cold email messages yielded excellent results. Then, Belkins did the routine work, set up appointments, which turned out high-quality, by the way, and put them on our calendar. They literally did our work on their own, constantly improving their approach and paying heed to our requirements.

How many resources from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

Their AM controlled the whole process, an SDR was responsible for the outbound strategy and mailing with prospects, and the team of researchers found leads according to our ICP. Also, I know that there were two teams behind the scenes. Belkins deliverability specialists did a great job making sure we hit inbox, and content creators designed original messages and constantly improved them.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

During our 7-month collaboration, they booked us 99 appts. We also were pleasantly surprised with a 50% reply rate, which we thought was impossible.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

We quickly got along. At each stage, we always consulted and took into account their advice, which helped us grow faster.

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

Our team was delighted with the professionalism of Belkins. They paid attention not only to some general factors but also to the smallest details. This made it possible to create excellent custom email messages and get leads interested.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

I don’t think so. Everything was great.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the COO of a technology company that provides services for market research and earned media measurement.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Belkins?

We needed help with email marketing. We’re a very lean company, so we don’t have business development representatives. Thus, we thought that outsourcing companies to help us with some of those efforts would be helpful.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Belkins helps us with our email marketing. Initially, we had a very formal onboarding process, which was very helpful. It started by them providing us with specific documentation we needed to fill out around our ideal customer profiles, messaging, and positioning. After filling out the documentation, we onboarded them, ensuring that they had access to enough resources, including one-sheets for prospects, pitch decks, and other marketing materials, so that they could better understand our solutions.

During this process, we also provided them with the email copy we had created, but they still incorporated their own best practices for cold email outreach as well. Once we went through the onboarding process, we decided on three industries we wanted to focus on.

Since then, Belkins’ research team has helped us put together contact lists, which we evaluate on a weekly basis. Every week, they also provide us with metrics around how many emails were sent, how many engagements they achieved, and how many meetings were scheduled.

Their email marketing process is to set up a number of domains on behalf of our company, as well as the stand on behalf of our actual sales employees. This process is heavily automated; once their research team manually creates the contact list, the email copy is pretty standard for each recipient.

What is the team composition?

We work with two main points of contact from Belkins: one person who provides oversight on the project and another person who works with us regularly and helps manage the campaigns. We also work with an assigned email copywriter and two researchers, but we don’t interface with them directly.

How did you come to work with Belkins?

Belkins came up very high on Google search results. We reached out to them because we read really good reviews of them on G2.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent around $60,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together around October 2021, and our engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement? 

Belkins has been very flexible. During the first few months of outreach, they scheduled a lot of meetings, but they weren’t necessarily the best quality meetings for us. However, it wasn’t their fault; it was more related to the industries we had assigned to them. Still, they were very agile as we iterated on our outreach, quickly helping us realign their market research team to target the companies we’re now seeing more success with. Since that happened, we’ve seen a lot of improvement.

Now, Belkins averages 5–10 meetings scheduled per month. We haven’t closed business from those meetings yet because our sales cycle is a little long, but we’re still fairly active in doing so. Overall, they’re very adaptable, and they’ve been very good partners for us.

How did Belkins perform from a project management standpoint?

Belkins has performed very well. We work very closely with them, which makes them feel like an extension of our team. Every week, we recap how our potential meetings turned out, discuss any opportunities, and talk about pivoting our strategy if needed. 

Budget management is not an issue with Belkins because, based on our contract, they’ll send a fixed number of emails per month, so there’s nothing else that would fall out of budget. Other than that, the person managing our account is on top of everything else. We communicate via Slack.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Belkins has a very established process for onboarding their team and taking things off quickly and seamlessly. Compared to other vendors we did research on, Belkins was, by far, the most organized team, and they offered the fastest turnaround times for kicking off their outreach efforts. Overall, their processes are very effective for driving results quickly.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Sometimes, we get some meetings with junior employees and other leads that fall a little bit outside our ideal customer profile. However, having cold leads is expected when doing cold email outreach.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Come in very prepared with details on who you want them to target and what the key messaging will be. It will help them start the project on the right foot.

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

X3 Marketing is an outsourced marketing agency from Denver, CO. We work with small local businesses and help them grow. We assist with promotion, website design, information campaigns, advertising, etc. In general, X3 Marketing allows its clients to develop and increase revenue.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Belkins?

Our work with Belkins aimed to find new clients and set appointments.

SOLUTION

How did you select this firm and what were the deciding factors?

Previously, we had already worked with another lead generation company, but they disappointed us and no longer understood our goal. Therefore, we started looking for a new vendor. After some brainstorming, we opted for Belkins.

Describe the project in detail and walk through their service package.

We have been working for 5 months and contracted for 1500 leads per month. As expected, the work process began with the study of our company. Belkins devoted enough time to this and proceeded to the main part. Our target was small businesses. It's important to note that I wanted to attend all meetings with potential clients personally, so Belkins selected companies for us from Denver and nearby cities.

How many resources from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

An account manager and an SDR worked with us.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the engagement that demonstrate progress or success?

In five months, Belkins managed to achieve an excellent result, and we have already closed 7+ deals.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Both our and the Belkins team put great effort into this partnership. It was not complicated to work together because we were moving towards a common goal and did it very well.

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

I wanted to attend all the meetings personally. Accordingly, we needed clients who were close to us. Belkins was open to my wishes and gave their best. Also, I was glad they designed an individual template for us with a proposal for a face-to-face meeting.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

Not much - I have been very pleased with Belkins and continue to partner with them for the foreseeable future.