Do unto your customers as you want to be treated when you are a customer. That is the whole of customer service. The rest is commentary.

a fundamental aspect of modern marketing

First, here’s something that is fast becoming the most fundamental aspects of marketing to get right, especially if you want to build a truly sustainable high quality organisation (of any size) in the modern age:

Ensure the ethics and philosophy of your organisation are good and sound. This might seem a bit tangential to marketing and business, and rather difficult to measure, nevertheless…

Price is no longer the king, if it ever was. Value no longer rules, if ever it did. Quality of service and product is not the deciding factor.

Today what truly matters is ethical and philosophical quality – from the bottom to the top – in every respect – across every dimension of the organisation.

Modern consumers, business buyers, staff and suppliers too, are today more interested than ever before in corporate integrity, which is defined by the organisation’s ethics and philosophy.

Good sound ethics and philosophy enable and encourage people to make ‘right and good’ decisions, and to do right and good things. It’s about humanity and morality; care and compassion; being good and fair.

Profit is okay, but not greed; reward is fine, but not avarice; trade is obviously essential, but exploitation is not.

Psychological Contract theory is helpful towards understanding and developing fair balanced philosophy, especially in meeting the complex needs of staff, customers and the organization.

People naturally identify and align with these philosophical values. The best staff, suppliers, and customers naturally gravitate towards organisations with strong philosophical qualities.

Putting a good clear ethical philosophy in place, and communicating it wide and far lets people know that your organisation always strives to do the the right thing. It’s powerful because it appeals to people’s deepest feelings. Corporate integrity, based on right and good ethical philosophy, transcends all else.

And so, strong ethics and good philosophy are the fundamentals on which all good organisations and businesses are now built.

People might not ask or talk about this much: the terminology is after all not fashionable ‘marketing-speak’, nor does it correlate obviously to financial performance, but be assured; everyone is becoming more aware of the deeper responsibilities of corporations and businesses in relation to humanity, and morality, the natural world, the weak and the poor, and the future of the planet.

Witness the antagonism growing towards certain multi-nationals. People don’t rail against successful corporations – they rail against corporations which put profit ahead of people; growth ahead of of society and communities; technology and production ahead of the natural world; market domination ahead of compassion for humankind. None of this is right and good, and these organisations are on borrowed time.

People increasingly prefer to buy from, deal with, and work for, ethical, right-minded organisations. And whether an organisation is ethical and right-minded is becoming increasingly transparent for all to see.

So be one.

Aside from which – when you get your philosophy right, everything else naturally anchors to it. Strategies, processes, attitudes, relationships, trading arrangements, all sorts of difficult decisions – even directors salaries and share options dare we suggest.

And it need not be complicated. The ultimate corporate reference point is: “Is it right and good?… How does this (idea, initiative, decision, etc) stack up against our ethical philosophy?”

Organisations are complex things, and they become more and more complicated every day. A good ethical philosophy provides everyone with a natural, reliable reference point, for the tiniest detail up to the biggest strategic decision.

So as you start to write your marketing plan, be it for a new start-up, a huge corporation, or a little department within one, make sure you put a ‘right and good’ ethical philosophy in place before you do anything else, and watch everything grow from there.

More than a third of smartphone users in Europe are thought to pay for applications via operator billing, according to research released on Wednesday. An online consumer survey of more than 2,000 smartphone users in the UK and Germany, carried out by billing firm Mach and research agency Opinium in April, found significant demand for direct operator billing, suggesting it could be the preferred payment method of choice for apps and in-app purchases.

Carrier billing proving popular in Europe

On a conference call with investors today, Nokia CEO Stephen Elop reaffirmed his company’s commitment to Microsoft’s Windows Phone operating system. Despite obvious struggles with its ongoing transition, Elop says Nokia’s strategy to compete with Android is through Windows Phone and the Lumia product line. “We need to compete with Android aggressively,” said Elop. “The low-end price point war is an important part of that.” Answering a question about Windows Phones with lower price points than Nokia’s Lumia 610, Elop said Nokia is “absolutely” planning to do this.

Nokia to make even cheaper Windows Phones to compete with Android ‘aggressively’

We can help you increase your sales

More than just another Telecoms Wholesaler – We’ve raised the bar…

LionHeart offers a complete Voice and Data wholesale package, with free of charge On-line Management Portal, 24/7 support, White Labeled Billing and Direct Debit Collection facilities. Our partners keep ownership of their customers, set their own pricing and keep 100% of their margin. With our 30 day rolling wholesale agreement, they stay with us because they want to, not because they have to.

In order to strengthen our offering of forward thinking services, we’ve teamed up with integrated sales and marketing company Caluna. Having worked with the company for the past few years, we’ve seen first hand how their services can help businesses grow through a common sense approach to sales and marketing.

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Are you looking to increase your sales?

Over the past 16 years, Caluna has helped over 1000 clients from SMEs to large corporate and public sector companies to increase their sales activity through integrated sales and marketing campaigns.

Caluna has worked with the likes of 3 Mobile, The Co-Operative, Cable & Wireless, HSBC, NEC, Michelin and DHL. It was the only company to be awarded the contract with Lloyd’s TSB to advise SME banking customers to grow their business through the outsourcing of all or part of their sales and marketing activities. This was branded as ‘Prospect Finder’ and launched nationwide through a TV advertising campaign.

What is Caluna Response?

“Through the use of this service, we achieved an improved 60% conversion rate on a recent campaign which identified both bread and butter business and a pipeline of future opportunities.”

“Decision makers became more receptive to our calls due to brand recognition which resulted in valuable, free-flowing conversations.”

 What’s the added value?

•  Outsource to a company that has 16 years experience in successfully increasing the sales activity of companies in the UK.
• Content created by a skilled marketing team, who work to get your message to market clearly and effectively.
• Flexible access to sales support which doesn’t demand commitment for longer than is needed.
• Focus on the core competency of your business while still increasing sales and raising brand awareness.

How does it work?

• Caluna designs, creates and delivers an effective email message and supportive landing page to promote your products or services to a minimum of 500 companies per month.
• Their unique email monitoring software enables them to track the customers’/prospects’ activity in terms of opens, clicks and forwards, ensuring you have the intelligence to actively engage with the right person at the right time. 
• Caluna identifies immediate or potential business opportunities, also providing a valuable dataset to be used as a pipeline for future business relationships.

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Our unique partnership means that we can offer discounted rates saving you up to 15% on Caluna’s standard pricing

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What does it cost?

Caluna Response is a cost effective solution available through LionHeart from just £298.50 per week.

Caluna also offers support with data supplementation and cleansing, market research and telemarketing. The Response package usually starts from £348.50 per week.

If you’d like to trial the service, call Caluna’s Heather Carter directly on 07944 633388 or email heather.carter@caluna.co.uk quoting ‘LionHeart’ to receive the discounted rate of £298.50 per week.

Dave Falberg – Director, LionHeart Communications

“Business Development is the most fundamental building block in any business. Having spent over 15 years providing solutions directly to SME, Corporate and Public organisations and also building and developing channel centric businesses I know, not only from my own experience but also from my channel partners, the cost, effort and expertise required to build and maintain a healthy opportunity pipeline. We’re very excited about our new relationship. Our partnership with Caluna provides a vital building block in our partners’ businesses that will help realise and exceed their objectives by delivering a managed opportunity pipeline that will help them to close and win more business.”

Click here to read over 15 recommendations for Dave’s work

Call Dave on 07792 138625

Heather Carter – Business Development Director, Caluna

” I have now spent the past 25 years helping my clients grow their businesses through telemarketing and email campaigns in UK and internationally, across both the private and public sectors. I don’t believe in the ‘rocket science’ approach to building a business. I believe sales and marketing are all about treating people how you wish to be treated and acting with common sense. We may live in a fast-moving and technological world, but we should never lose sight of the fact that people buy from people. LionHeart understand that while providing a wide portfolio, fantastic support and extremely competitive pricing is imperative, by adding business development and lead generation services, the value that they can provide to their partners is priceless.”

Click here to read over 50 recommendations for Heather’s work

Call Heather on 07944 633388

LionHeart and Caluna

We’re proud of our partnership and want to help as many businesses as we can to increase their sales and reach their objectives.

We’d love the opportunity to speak to you about how we can help your business grow.

Your Team

Each business is unique, with different needs, messages, products and ideas. We don’t believe that one size fits all so our package is tailored to your business. We make sure that by understanding your goals and objectives, we are best placed to deliver your ideal opportunities.

Our Team becomes Your Team.

Working with you

Contact us now to see how you can boost your growth and deliver the business opportunities you’ve always wanted.

Helping you grow your business. Connect with us…

contact@lionheart.uk.com

Or call us on 01582 220101

It’s been a long time coming, but London’s free Tube Wi-Fi network has finally gone live today in two stations, with four more to follow by the end of this week. Travellers at King’s Cross St. Pancras and Warren Street will now be able to browse the web from the stations’ platforms. To access the service, Transport for London (TfL) says you simply need to connect to the network and register your email address. The two launch stations will be joined tomorrow by Oxford Circus and Green Park, with Victoria and Euston set to go live on Saturday. In total, TfL plans to install wireless networks at 80 Tube stations by the end of July, expanding to 120 by the year’s end. The free Wi-Fi is provided by Virgin Media and is being launched in preparation for the 2012 Summer Olympics, which kick off on July 27th.

London Tube Wi-Fi network now live at King’s Cross St. Pancras and Warren Street

Mobile phone giants Vodafone and 02-owner Telefonica, have announced plans to create one shared grid in the UK. The move is designed to improve existing coverage and to speed up the roll-out of superfast 4G services. The firms say it will mean 4G mobile services, which allow users to download music and videos to their phones at high speed, can be delivered by 2015. That is two years ahead of regulator Ofcom’s requirement of 98% coverage by 2017. The two firms will continue to compete but will pool their network infrastructure.

NEWS: Vodafone and Telefonica team up over 4G

NEW – LionHeart partner with the best in opportunity generation – Helping you grow your business

Lead Generation and Pipeline Management

Building a successful business requires a lot of hard work, dedication and expertise. Whether you are a start-up or an established business, generating and maintaining a pipeline of prospects can be costly and difficult to pull off.

Many businesses do not have the funds, expertise or man power required to put together the tools necessary to achieve a sustainable lead generation and pipeline management program.

How can we help?

We have designed a program that specifically deals with the challenges faced by businesses looking to gain traction or move on to the next level.

In partnership with Caluna – the UKs leading Outsourced Business Development Company – we walk you through a tried and tested process that enables you to create business development strategies that engage your target market and utilise your available resources to build effective campaigns. We work to deliver you new opportunities now and in future. 

This is not a pay per appointment service.

Unlike more traditional telemarketing services offered that charge a fee per appointment generated, Caluna’s Response service works to generate warm opportunities that are presented as a result of inbound engagement from the receipt of a tailored and effective e-marketing campaign that is designed, created and monitored by a team of experts.

With your input the content is always relevant and targeted at your desired prospect profile. As a result all leads provide you with prospects that have expressed a clear interest in the products and services that you offer and are keen to speak with your company. Your pipeline of prospects is managed and monitored to ensure that every potential opportunity is presented to you and that you have the power to close business from every lead generated.

We already provide a fantastic range of Voice, Data and Mobile products and services, and now we provide a growing range of tools that will help you build the opportunities that you need to reach your objectives.

Call us on 01582 220101 to find out how we can help you win new business and build and manage your pipeline so that you don’t miss any opportunities in the future.

LionHeart and Caluna. Together we’re helping you grow your business. Connect with us…

COMING SOON – Database management and cleansing, outbound telemarketing services, full suite of outsourced sales and marketing services.

Cost effective recruitment solutions – We are partnering with the NSA enabling us to provide fully and part government funded sales apprentices.

During the Olympics, wi-fi access will come to the London Underground system for the first time. Virgin Media is working with Transport for London to wire up around 80 stations. The service will only be available on platforms rather than on trains, but it is expected to prove popular with passengers checking up on travel information, sending emails or using social networks. Technology correspondent Rory Cellan-Jones got a sneak preview at one station where the equipment is being tested. Click the Link…

INSIGHT: New London Underground wi-fi put to the test

A Facebook smartphone has reportedly been in the works for some time. In 2010, Techcrunch reported that Facebook was “secretly” building a smartphone – although this particular project is said to have broken down. The company’s desire to enter the smartphone market could be a result of increasing pressure to improve the potential of mobile to make money. In a statement for potential investors ahead of its initial public offering earlier this month, the company admitted it had concerns about more users accessing Facebook through their mobile – a trend which could make it more difficult to sell advertising.

NEWS: Facebook smartphone to be ‘released next year’