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Euros 2024: Using Worldwide Events to Engage Your Employees

Posted on 25 June 202425 June 2024 by Mango

And just like that, the UEFA Euros 2024 Championships are here!

With 24 nations taking part in games across Germany until the final on 14^th July, excitement is well and truly underway after a long four-year wait.

In our eyes, a special worldwide occasion like this is worth celebrating – even in the workplace!

Why? Not only is it a fantastic opportunity to engage staff, but it’s also a great way to boost motivation, performance and camaraderie across the company.

Want to know more? Here’s some insight into the steps we take to make the most of world events like the Euros:

Step #1 – Strategise

It all starts with an idea – and ideas are only brought to life with the help of collaboration and brainstorming sessions!

To make sure we’re always ahead, we host a monthly Employee Engagement meeting to discuss upcoming events and new activities that will interest staff. We also use this time to bring forward staff suggestions, so everyone plays a part in shaping our strategy.

From this, we realised that promoting the Euros on a company-wide scale is achievable through blending innovation and teamwork. As such, we sought support from all departments, and came up with the below plan:

Each Team Leader’s team represents a country competing in the Euros, with agents acting as ‘players’ and back office staff acting as ‘coaches’ to keep motivation high and join in on the fun!
With the help of our inhouse IT team, and our existing custom-built incentives app, we created a points-based system relating to performance, with data presented on a real-time league board to show which ‘country’ is in the lead
On 14^th July, the winning team will be entered into a big prize draw!

Step #2 – Action

With a solid plan in place, the next step is assigning roles and actioning tasks to make the idea come to life!

From purchasing decorations to designing promotional material, building IT algorithms to briefing wider teams – there’s a lot to consider! And it’s important not to miss a beat when using a worldwide event like the Euros to engage your employees as these deadlines are immovable!

As such, it’s important everyone understands the role they play, and necessary deadlines so plans run as smoothly as possible. We normally take a ‘divide and conquer’ approach, with all departments involved being briefed together via Teams, and everyone being made aware of one another’s tasks, so everyone is in the know of timescales and progress etc.

Step #3 – Decorate!

We love a bunting…or 50!

A Friday decorating session is a great way to raise awareness, spread team spirit across different departments, and get everyone in a feel-good mood! We gave each team decorations (to reflect their competing country) – so the team enjoyed decking out their desks and building anticipation together.

We also adorned the kitchen with football buntings, ceiling decorations, country flags, banners and a game tracking chart, as well as ensuring the games are always available to watch in the staff areas! This is to ensure the atmosphere of the Euros feels closer to home, without the travel to Germany!

Step #4 – Communicate

To create a buzz and keep up momentum – consistent communication really is key. To ensure this, our Marketing and HR departments come together to lay out a comprehensive communication plan from launch to finish.

To get the message across and build hype when hosting something company-wide, we do this in several ways:

Utilising our inhouse messaging channel, MChat, to create group chats for each country’s team so managers, coaches and players can spur each other on and chat about matches etc.
Pinning posters up around the building and leaving flyers in the communal kitchen
Sending email newsletters internally
Briefing teams via internal meetings/catch-ups

Step #5 – Award Accordingly

With the Euros revolving around football, celebrating this world event at work will naturally stir up friendly competition. That’s why it’s important to recognise and reward staff who show commitment to their work and team.

As such, we have implemented a ‘Player of the Week’ award, given to a staff member for special effort over the previous week. Not only does this spotlight give staff a ‘job well done’ for their great work, helping them feel valued and celebrated, but it also creates a higher sense of drive and determination across the company – especially when there’s a trophy and surprise prizes at stake!

To keep up with our Euros 2024 shenanigans, make sure to follow us on social media via Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, X and LinkedIn!

General Election 2024: Why Your Party Needs Telephone Support

Posted on 11 June 20242 July 2024 by Mango

The General Election 2024 is fast approaching, and the competition for political parties across the United Kingdom to get their message and values heard is at its peak.

As 4th July approaches, we understand time really is of the essence! With campaigning in full swing, parties need efficient, effective communications to secure support from volunteers and voters alike.

To make sure you don’t miss any opportunities, we’re here to lend a helping hand as a seamless extension of your political party.

Ways to Spread the Word

There’s lots of ways political parties can promote their views to the public.

For example, there are traditional methods such as advertising displays, newspaper ads, billboards, street signs, brochures, articles, flyers, letters, radio/TV interviews and door-to-door knocking.

Parties can also make use of modern features via social media and online advertising.

However, the most direct and impactful option is undoubtedly via telephone support. Here’s why…

How Political Parties Use Telephone Support

Telephone support is the simple act of connecting with potential and existing voters over the phone to have meaningful conversations about what matters to them, and how your party can help.

It involves outbound calling to a range of individuals for different purposes. For a political party, these could be:

Volunteers e.g.:
- Recruiting new volunteers to increase circulation of the party’s mission
- Managing existing volunteer schedules to ensure attendance at events

Voters e.g.:
- Gauging support for the party (survey calling to assist with campaign strategy)
- Discussing party and candidate stances and values
- Persuading people to register to vote and cast their vote on election day

Regardless of the reason for calling, telephone support enables you to reach more people using fewer resources – and the benefits don’t stop there…

The Benefits of Telephone Support During a General Election

Through telephone, you can:

Reach a larger portion of the electorate faster than door-to-door canvassing e.g. a volunteer can knock on an average of 20 doors per hour, dialling can ring 50+ numbers every hour
Save time on canvassing efforts by using assigned contact lists
Build relationships with the public through highly experienced and specially trained representatives
Generate more proactive outcomes and positive results with pre-written scripts and objection handling techniques easily accessible on screen
Understand the level of support a potential voter may have for you or your party
Discuss your political policies and share your messaging with the electorate
Answer and alleviate people’s concerns through tailored training and ready-made FAQ responses
Generate a pledge-to-vote list to help your GOTV (get out the vote) strategy
Further party promotion and public interactions with complementary services including Social Media, Live Chat, Email Management and SMS Responses

With telephone support proving its worth, the next step is finding an agency who can execute the above (and then some!) on behalf of your political party…

Why choose Mango for Telephone Support?

At Mango, we have extensive experience working with a diverse range of political parties to boost their connections with the public.

Here’s how we can help you make a real difference this General Election:

✅ Our services are extensive, covering not just telephone, but also volunteer recruitment/management, survey calling and added value services including Live Chat, Email, SMS and more!

💰 We are extremely cost-effective compared to competitors, without compromising on quality.

👍 We can be ready to make your calls within 24 hours. Being experts in the Call Centre industry, we promise a quick yet efficient turnaround time, and can get the ball rolling as soon as you like.

🕐 We operate 24/7/365 – so you can sleep easy knowing that your party’s message is being spread by a highly trained team on your behalf, regardless of the time of day (or night!).

📞 We offer a wide range of costing models as well as flat rates depending on volume – working with you to tailor a solution that suits your party’s exact needs.

Telephone is a vital tool in securing support, but at the same time, it is about building relationships with the masses. By having a good script, efficient software, and expert representatives, you can create strong grassroots support for your campaign.

If you would like to have a chat about what Mango can do for you, please email josephine@talktomango.com

What is On Hold Marketing? & How it Can Boost Your Business

Posted on 16 May 202416 May 2024 by Mango

We know what you’re thinking – no one wants to be put on hold!

But during this rare pause, your callers are at peak engagement, giving you the perfect chance to tell them more about you!

Known as on hold marketing, this phenomenon is proving popular with organisations of all sizes.

Let’s find out why exactly…

So, What is On Hold Marketing?

On hold marketing offers a fantastic window of opportunity to provide information about a product, service or event to callers who are queueing, holding or transferring via the phone.

The situation is so unique in that you’re in direct contact with a captive audience that’s already actively listening out for a call to action. So why not use this moment to showcase your brand and tell them something they don’t know about?

Whether you’re a retailer wanting to offer an exclusive deal, or a charity wanting to educate callers on the amazing work you’re doing – you really can’t go wrong with leveraging the power of on hold marketing.

Some ‘On Hold’ Stats…

They say the proof is in the pudding! Here’s some interesting facts we’ve learned about the increased popularity of on hold marketing…

60% of callers hang up if there’s no message or music;
73% of consumers want to hear something other than beeps or silence while on hold;
90% of callers hang up after 40 seconds if they’re not engaged by a voice;
30% of customers who hear an on hold marketing message make a purchase of that product or service!

That last statistic really does speak volumes. A single pre-recorded message has the potential to yield 30% extra conversion. Yet there’s so many organisations that haven’t tapped into this additional, lucrative revenue stream!

The Benefits

As the stats above show – having a professional, personalised on hold marketing message can open a lot of possibilities – but below are a few core reasons why on hold marketing is so useful for boosting businesses:

Reduces Hang-Ups

As we’ve discovered, 60% of callers hang up if there’s no message or music, so it’s vital to acknowledge and hook callers from the get-go to keep them engaged.

With on hold marketing, you are heightening the caller’s customer experience, making it more likely for them to stay around and take action. If a caller must be placed on hold, here’s a few ideas on how you can fill the silence:

Telling the caller interesting facts about your business
Describing loyalty programmes, current promotions and events
Inviting callers to follow your social media channels and browse your website

TOP TIP: Regularly change your recorded messages so returning customers don’t get fed up with hearing the same thing repeatedly.

Plus, on hold marketing has been proven to lower a company’s complaints rate by giving customers reassurance that their call is still connected and reminding them of the reasons that they should choose you compared to competitors.

Increases Sales

On hold marketing means you can effortlessly offer your callers better value for money and drive sales through upsell and cross-sell promotions.

Through pre-recorded on hold marketing messages, you can more easily tell your callers about exclusive discounts, which will encourage repeat sales and strengthen customer loyalty.

For charities, you could use on hold marketing messages to boost donations and even generate leads e.g. enticing callers to sign-up to give a donation to receive a free t-shirt, badge or tote bag for example.

Low-Cost Solution

The cost of on hold marketing is significantly lower compared to other marketing methods, yet is much more effective at getting your customer through the sales process.

For example, most on hold marketing packages are paid monthly, which is the perfect solution for small businesses. At Mango, included in your package, we offer all the below free of charge:

Telephone audio marketing
Licensed on-hold music
Voiceovers to suit your branding

All produced in our in-house recording studio!

Mango’s On Hold Marketing Solution

Making a great first impression over the phone can make a significant difference to your sales figures, customer loyalty and their experience.

Maximise your business opportunities with Mango’s on hold marketing services. We also offer high-quality phone answering and message taking services as part of an overall package, so you don’t ever have to miss a call again!

To find out more, talk to Mango today.

How Mango Help the Housing Association Sector

Posted on 2 May 20242 May 2024 by Mango

The housing association sector has become one of Mango’s specialities over the last 15 years.

Housing associations provide an essential service; offering shelter and support to their residents, which may be across thousands of different properties up and down the country!

But how exactly do we help housing associations? From 24/7/365 out of hours support to overflow cover – there’s not much we can’t do!

In this blog, we take a closer look at the housing association sector as a whole, and how we can aid the important work these organisations do.

Housing Associations: What’s Involved?

The housing association sector exists to provide their residents with guidance and assistance with a wide range of queries and requests. Whether they be simple or complex, housing associations have a big responsibility over the welfare of their residents, and so must focus on accessibility to ensure nothing’s ever missed.

There are lots of reasons why residents might want to contact their housing association, some of which include, but are not limited to:

To report damages or faults so the housing association can quickly repair and maintain the property in accordance with the law
To obtain information about a property e.g. whether rent has been paid yet or to update personal details.
To inform of an emergency in relation to the property e.g. a gas leak or fire

From working as the first point-of-contact for several housing associations across the UK, we know how important this responsibility is and that when residents get in contact, they deserve a reliable, speedy response.

On Mango’s side, we exist to help housing associations ensure that no query goes unacknowledged. Oftentimes, we see housing associations struggle with the following:

Resource restraints e.g. not having the inhouse capacity to manage peaks in calls or offer out of hours support
Managing expectations e.g. residents not knowing what services they are and are not entitled to
Keeping up with technology advancements e.g. missing multi and omnichannel opportunities to reduce high call volumes and boost first contact resolution via Live Chat, email, social media messaging, video conferencing/WhatsApp

How Do We Help the Housing Association Sector?

Covering Manchester to Cornwall (and beyond!) – we are experienced in offering first-class tenant support services. Our housing association contact centre services are extensive, covering the below (and then some!):

Emergency Lines
Day Time Cover
Out of Hours (24/7/365)
Overflow
Incident Reporting
Outbound
Lone Worker Checks
Escalation Services
Payment Lines
Decanting Services

Our expertise in the above means we can offer these services on a round-the-clock basis, giving clients and their tenants peace of mind that whenever support is needed, there’s always someone there to answer the call.

What are the Benefits?

Through a combination of industry knowledge and proven proficiency, the Mango team offer many benefits to housing associations, including:

Increased accessibility: By offering and managing several channels of communication such as phone, Live Chat, social media and email – we enable tenants with any and all preferences to reach out to have their queries resolved.

Greater flexibility: We understand that call volumes for housing associations can be unpredictable, making it difficult to organise internal resources. We act as an easy, scalable solution, with our out of hours and overflow services providing a reassuring fix to this common problem.

Bespoke reporting: We provide tailored result reporting, so all essential data is included for clients’ records, allowing performance to be accurately tracked and actively optimised.

Faster resolution times: With more queries being handled with our help through various channels, we ensure issues are addressed and resolved more quickly, which is critical to improving tenant satisfaction, meeting regulatory measures and first-time resolution, helping to reduce repeat calling and overall call volumes.

Regardless of the size of the housing association, we understand the importance of being resident-centred and always available. If you have any questions about our housing association services, please feel free to talk to Mango today!

Why is Omnichannel Customer Service so Important?

Posted on 8 April 20248 April 2024 by Mango

In 2024, customer expectations are higher than ever before.

Nowadays, it’s not about the customer conforming to restrictions, like waiting for business opening hours to ask questions and receive answers. Instead, the tables have well and truly turned, and now customer preferences prevail!

With this shift in mind, more businesses are adopting omnichannel customer service solutions to appeal to the masses. But what does this mean? And how is it beneficial to be open-minded about omnichannel approaches? Let’s take a closer look…

What Does Omnichannel Mean?

Omnichannel is best described as a business strategy that aims to provide a totally seamless customer journey experience across all channels including in-store, over the phone and online.

As an omnichannel Contact Centre which supports new movements in the industry – no matter which methods your customers prefer to use, or how an interaction shifts between channels – we make it our mission to facilitate and integrate!

We believe omnichannel customer service solutions offer a truly unified communication experience for your audience. Not only this, but we know having a Contact Centre to manage all the moving parts ensures greater visibility over customer interactions across every channel they use, helping you understand them even more.

In our opinion, the best hybrid customer service solutions include email, SMS, social media (Facebook, Instagram etc.), Live Chat and voice.

While this may sound like a lot of maintenance, there are many benefits to offering a broad range of channels…

The Top 3 Benefits of Omnichannel Customer Service

It’s no surprise that companies that provide omnichannel support perform better across key customer experience metrics, such as faster response times and higher customer satisfaction scores. It’s simple: the more you’re there for your customers, the more rewards you reap!

Here’s a few benefits we have seen become a reality for our own clients:

Meets the Needs of More Customers

The more options you offer, the more you are tailoring your customer service experience to people with different preferences. One customer may prefer to have a conversation over the phone, whereas another may choose instant messaging via Live Chat. Either way, having plenty of alternatives and avenues available with the latest technology at the fore is sure create a seamless, more personalised customer experience.

Improves Resolution Rates

Long gone are the days where customers must wait until 9am to get in touch. By having a 24/7/365 omnichannel solution, this reduces any backlog that would have otherwise built-up overnight several years ago! Plus, the more questions that are answered promptly, the greater relationship you are building between you and your audience.

Creates Greater Loyalty

By investing in offering multiple channels and lines of communication, this demonstrates a real commitment to your customers. In turn, customers will appreciate and praise your business more if they know you’re there for them regardless of the time or day. This plays a huge a part in cementing loyalty, boosting reputation, and ultimately, helping your business grow.

Key Omnichannel Statistics and Takeaways

We like to keep on top of the trends, so here’s a few key statistics we think really emphasise the prevalence of omnichannel customer service in today’s world:

The customer retention rate of companies with omnichannel customer service solutions is about 89%.
Retailers that do not adopt omnichannel in their businesses lose between 10-30% on sales.
Businesses with omnichannel customer support will have 23 times higher customer satisfaction rates than those that don’t.
Customers want more convenient customer service. In fact, 87% of them want brands to put in extra effort to provide a more seamless experience for them.
64% of consumers agree that the best feature of omnichannel contact methods is that availability is round the clock with no waiting involved.

Fascinating, right? With these stats in mind, if you want to gain plenty of new customers, you need to be available for them across different platforms.

At Mango Direct Marketing, we offer extensive Contact Centre services, helping our clients fulfil and exceed their omnichannel customer service strategies.

We know there’s a lot to consider and operate when it comes to omnichannel customer service – that’s why we’re here – to make it all easier for you!

If you want to learn more about both our hybrid and standalone Contact Centre services, please feel free to talk to Mango today and we’ll get straight back to you. Alternatively, if you want to keep up with what’s going on at Mango – you can follow us on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and TikTok!

4 Call Centre Management Best Practices

Posted on 20 March 202420 March 2024 by Mango

If you’re curious about the call centre industry, you’ve come to the right place!

It’s not just picking up the phone and having a chat – there’s so much more to the world of call centres to ensure everything runs as smoothly as possible.

What Does Call Centre Management Involve?

From strategy to scripting, call centre management is a group of methods, approaches, actions and determinations that are used by a widely skilled team to manage daily operations and upgrade efficiency.

As a full-service telemarketing agency that’s been operating for over 15 years – it’s safe to say we know a thing or two about running a call centre. Below, we uncover our top four best practices, so you have an idea of what high standards to expect.

1. Internal Communication is Everything

Regardless of what role you play in a call centre, no two days are ever the same. With its fast-paced, unpredictable yet exciting environment – you are always kept on your toes – and teamwork really does make the dream work in this setting.

Whether you are a Team Leader, Client Manager or IT Developer – internal communication is paramount to ensure success.

We know all too well that campaigns are never static – they are ever-evolving to truly maximise potential. Only through each department collaborating together is this end result possible.

Ensuring strong internal communication is imperative. When we are talking about employee satisfaction, there is no better way to discover it than through internal communication.

For example, agents should feel valued and appreciated, and this can be achieved through regular one-to-one sessions, company-wide shout-outs and ‘thank you’ prizes for a job well done. By making this practice a staple part of our day-to-day, our staff feel motivated and engaged to do well, helping the call centre perform highly as a result.

2. Prioritise Employee Engagement

An engaged, happy, valued team makes for seamless operations and excellent services.

The more an agent is invested in their role, the more productive they will be, and this needs to be nurtured consistently. As such, we make it our mission to prioritise employee engagement activities to maximise overall output – and because we have lots of fun doing it!

We implement a monthly engagement calendar, with feedback from staff members at the forefront of our plans. From in-office activities to outdoor challenges, we like to make sure our work culture is both stimulating and exciting for all.

By doing this, it helps improve efficiency, provide better service, make callers happy and cement a positive brand image. We also love giving back to the community – another goal we can achieve while bonding as a wider team! Anyone want to help us plant trees or be part of our next beach clean?

3. Stay Up to Date with Legislation

The call centre industry is a constant work in progress, moving at a fast pace to keep callers and their data safe and secure in line with legislation and best practice.

With legislation covering all areas from health and safety to data protection and GDPR – call centres big and small can’t afford to miss out on any major or minor changes.

It is call centre management’s responsibility to know and understand all laws associated with the company, and a perfect reputation in this area is essential to ensure future success.

That’s why we recommend involving as many management staff as possible in trade memberships, so you know you’re always being kept right on all things legislative.

4. Invest in Technology

Every year, new technologies appear! From updated systems to advanced features, call centre solutions are being continuously refined to make interactions easier for agents, callers, and management too.

From IVRs to intelligent routing, we really would be lost without investing time. Effort and financially into these innovations. Just imagine trying to sift through a customer base manually without search or filter functions – what takes a system seconds would take us hours!

To ensure we’re always on top of the tech world, our very own Technology Director leads our IT team in new developments across systems, telephony, development, reporting and data analysis.

As a result, we have robust and reliable third-party software integration, internally designed, purpose-built call monitoring functions and real-time dashboards – to name just a few!

Just like in every industry, it takes years of trying and testing to get it right – as well as staying in the know to keep operations as smooth as possible!

If you’re looking for a call centre management team that has its best practices pinned down – talk to Mango!

How You Can be Always Available with Call Answering Services

Posted on 22 February 2024 by Mango

When you’re at your busiest, that always seems to be the prime time for your phone to ring off the hook!

You then make a split-second decision to answer as it could be a potential lead, losing your train of thought on your current task.

Or when you’re in meetings all day, how often do you return to your desk to find 20+ missed calls to catch-up on, to find that only a handful are genuine compared to spam after you’ve already taken the time to call them all back?

We understand all too well that as much as you probably wish you could – you can’t be in two places at once! But thankfully there’s always a solution, and it’s known as call answering services.

Call Answering Services: What Exactly Are They?

Well, they are pretty much exactly what it says on the tin – professional phone answering completed on your behalf for when you can’t be there to answer.

For example, if somebody calls you and you’re unavailable, this will be answered by a highly skilled agent who is trained on your operations and seen as an extension of your team. From taking messages to appointment setting – they help manage your opportunities while you’re focusing on other important areas of your business.

And even when you’re not focusing on your business – if you’re benefitting from this service – you can enjoy having your calls taken during the night, the weekend, and bank holidays!

Why Use Call Answering Services?

There’s lots of reasons why companies big and small may use call answering services. For example:

Better customer experiences – reducing long wait times and frustrations
Drives extra business that could otherwise be missed
Employing a full-time receptionist salary can be costly
Getting existing staff to step in when needed and taking them away from their day-to-day tasks can be counterproductive
Call answering services provide peace of mind – especially when it stops the distraction of what feels like endless phone ringing!
It’s a flexible service, which can be started/stopped as and when needed, with a quick and easy setup process
It doesn’t have to stop at phone answering and message taking – you can combine this service with other helpful inbound solutions such as Live Chat messaging and social media monitoring for example

Call answering services are there for companies of all sizes and all call volumes. Whether they want to cut overheads or boost internal efficiencies – there is a phone answering option for all!

What to Expect from Outsourced Phone Answering Services

We understand that handing your calls and associated messages over is a big decision, but it can be as simple as 1, 2, 3, 4…really!

Here’s what you can expect from Mango’s call answering service at its most basic level:

A call comes through to your business line
One of our agents (who belong to a fully trained, dedicated team for your account) answers, confirming your business name and following your approved script
Using a friendly, welcoming tone, they explain that you’re unavailable and ask if they can take a message to pass over to you
The caller’s details and message are taken and delivered to your inbox instantly for you to review (this can either be done via email notification or SMS messaging)

This service can be setup for you in as soon as 24 hours. Not only this, but you can expect this new-found convenience at a low-cost flat fee, so you know what you’re spending each month.

See? It really is that simple!

What are the Next Steps?

If you’re contemplating a call answering service for your business, our best advice would be to take one week where you monitor call volume and how this impacts your workload.

Use this checklist to help give you an idea:

How many calls do you receive each week?
What methods are you relying on to handle them currently?
How are these calls effecting your day-to-day operations? E.g. roughly how long are you spending managing these calls yourself?
How many calls are genuine vs spam?
Is there a special circumstance that may increase your calls during a certain period where you will require help e.g. flyer drops, the launch of an exclusive deal, post-networking event, social media advertising – or will you need help on an ongoing basis

If you find answering calls disrupts workflow by taking you/your staff away from what they do best, or that you are losing business and getting customer complaints – then introducing a call answering service may be the answer. Whether it be for a short trial period or on a rolling basis – at Mango – we can give you a speedy, tailored solution to suit your exact needs

From a dedicated team to bespoke reporting – we ensure your account is maximised at a low cost, giving you and your team the freedom to take your business to the next level!

If you have a question or are ready to get started – talk to the Mango team now!

Committing to the Community: Mango’s Local Sponsorships

Posted on 8 February 20248 February 2024 by Mango

Here at Mango, we’re big, big advocates for promoting the local community to help it prosper.

So, we’re always looking for new ways we can play a part in the bigger picture, by giving local organisations and associations alike a well-deserved boost to create new opportunities and maximise civic pride.

As such, we’ve been pretty busy making waves with NI-based charities and clubs, finding out how we can aid them in making their hopes, dreams and missions a reality.

You may have seen us in the news the last couple of months, with the announcement of our corporate partnership with local charity NI Children to Lapland and Days to Remember Trust to expand the reach of their impactful work for children (more on that later!).

Well, we have recently added another much-loved organisation to our roster…

Bangor Football Club

Last week, we announced our brand-new local sponsorship deal with Bangor Football Club!

The club, founded in 1918 and based in Clandeboye Park, has an extensive and impressive history that we are proud to now be a part of.

The club has come a long way with developing the stadium grounds and league teams, as well as invoking a strong sense of community amongst football fans across the city and beyond – something we are super excited to join in an official capacity.

Bangor FC Chairman, Graham Bailie, said: “We are delighted to secure the support of Mango, which is a high-profile company with well-established links in the city.

“Mango shares the ambitions of the football club as they are renowned for consistently striving to set high standards and delivering excellent results. We are thrilled to have them onboard as we continue our journey and I look forward to working with them and seeing how we can strengthen our relationship moving forward.”

Mango CEO, Stuart Lally, said: “As a family-owned business rooted in the local community, we’re incredibly proud to sponsor Bangor FC. This partnership aligns seamlessly with our work culture of being happy, friendly, diligent and delivering results.

“Just as the Bangor players strive for victory on the field, Mango is striving to set a high standard, delivering excellent results for our customers, whilst supporting our loyal team and driving a positive ethical culture.

“We wish the team continued success in their matches this season and we are looking forward to seeing the players in action over the coming weeks.”

With local charities and the community at the heart of our business strategy year-on-year, we have had the pleasure of working with lots of other amazing organisations and associations. Some for only a couple of months so far – and others for over a decade!

NI Children to Lapland and Days to Remember Trust

If you’ve been keeping up with us for the past few months, you might have noticed in October 2023, the Mango team went on their biggest venture yet – a sponsored ‘Walk to Scotland’!

The annual event, coordinated by the NI Children to Lapland team, exists to help raise funds to give terminally ill, life-limited and deserving children the trip of a lifetime to visit Santa in his hometown of Rovaniemi, Lapland.

The team raised close to £1,000 in support of the charity, and led to the announcement of our official corporate partnership in December.

Commenting on our motivation for initiating a partnership with the charity, Stuart said: “We were deeply moved by the amazing experiences the NI Children to Lapland and Days to Remember Trust has provided to local children since its inception in 2008.

“Our team at Mango is extremely passionate about contributing to the community and supporting local charities. Whether it’s through sponsorship, volunteering, or fundraising – we are dedicated to helping worthy causes thrive to benefit more people in need.”

We’ve also got lots of fundraising plans in the works for the year ahead, so keep your eyes peeled for what we do next! Here’s a hint…

Abbey Villa Football Club

Mango has been a key sponsor for Abbey Villa Football Club, located in Adam’s Park, Millisle, for over 10 years now!

Throughout our time as sponsor of the Northern Amateur Football League (Division 1A) team, we have keenly watched the club evolve from strength to strength with countless triumphant wins, supplying new season kits and, most recently, a spectator stand to keep up with audience demand.

We’re so proud of the team and how far they’ve come. We can’t wait to see how it progresses over the next 10 years!

The Barn Animal Rescue

Based in Newtownards, The Barn Animal Rescue is a remarkable charity that rescue cruelly treated or abandoned animals; rehoming to their forever families to experience love and care for life.

With help from the wider community, the charity can carry out vital animal welfare work. This is something we are extremely passionate about – as The Barn holds a special place in our hearts here at Mango – with lots of our staff having them to thank for their own furry companions!

From fundraising and donating items in need right through to volunteering, the Mango team support the charity on a repeated basis, with plans to increase our efforts and initiate set volunteer days to provide much-needed assistance (and play with the puppies, of course!).

Storehouse North Down

Storehouse North Down exists, as a charity, to be a real answer for families and individuals who have no safety net. It is supported by local churches, community groups, businesses and individuals alike to fight food poverty across Bangor, North Down and beyond.

Mango helps this incredible charity through donating essential items for emergency food hampers. Our biggest being the Christmas collection – where we supplied multiple trolleys worth of food and gifts for the Storehouse team to assemble and deliver Christmas dinners and presents to those in need.

We have further plans to give back to the local community through Storehouse North Down, so watch this space!

Mango’s Continued Commitment to the Community

There’s plenty more where that came from…but we might be here a while listing all the other charities and clubs we’ve worked with over the last 15 years!

With our CSR mission continuing to grow, we are always looking for new ways to aid non-profit organisations and grassroots groups to spread their positive work. If you’re interested in partnering up with a company like us, or need support in reaching your charity or club’s goals – feel free to talk to the Mango team today.

Life as a Contact Centre Team Leader

Posted on 25 January 202425 January 2024 by Mango

Team Leaders are the beating heart of any Contact Centre.

From monitoring quality and performance to lending a helping hand and a listening ear – they’re a vital gamechanger when it comes to campaign management and staff development.

But no one can spotlight what being a Contact Centre Team Leader is like more than someone who works in the role every day.

In this week’s blog, we chat with Karen, one of our very own Team Leaders.

Covering everything from her journey to becoming a Team Leader to what her role entails – we learn that no two days are ever the same in this rewarding yet busy job!

Karen’s Team Leader Journey

After working in the healthcare sector for over 30 years and seeing first-hand the struggles and pressures during the COVID-19 pandemic, Karen decided it was time to try something different.

“I was looking for a new challenge, so I applied for a Call Centre Advisor role at Mango.

“As I’d never been in a Call Centre environment before, I received immense support from the Training and Quality Manager and Team Leaders. The more I was taught, the more I wanted to learn!”

Over time, Karen gained new skills in other areas that extended beyond call handling. She began supporting the wider teams with email management and live chat responses, and the more she mastered, the more confident she became.

“As Mango’s demand continued to rise, an opportunity for Team Leader became available. After lots of positive encouragement from the Call Centre Management Team, I decided to go for it, and haven’t looked back since!

“I now manage a large team and I absolutely love them. They know they can always come to me, regardless of what the issue is.

“It’s funny looking back – what I originally imagined being a quiet retirement job has become a passionate career for me. My life really did restart when I joined Mango.”

Team Leader Qualities

They say the three most important roles of a Team Leader are motivator, communicator, and uniter.

For example, Karen motivates her team members to do great work, consistently communicates expectations and the Contact Centre’s culture, and unites them with a shared sense of purpose to achieve the company’s overall vision.

Karen achieves this through positive reinforcement, something she believes is the real key to keeping staff morale high.

“I know my team perform at their best when they feel their best. My approach revolves around the fact that there’s always something positive to focus on.

“If people feel like they’re valued and realise just how integral they are to the bigger picture, then their approach to work will be positive, too.”

What are Typical Team Leader Tasks?

As Karen admits herself – “No two days are ever the same, and every day is a learning day!”

A typical day for a Team Leader covers everything from campaign management to staff development, with the main goal being to maximise performance and satisfaction for both clients and employees.

Karen tells us a few of the key tasks she juggles in her role day-to-day…

Staff Coaching and Training

Training is one of the most important tasks for a Team Leader. Not only has it a direct impact on productivity and performance, but training also gives employees a better understanding of their responsibilities and improves their confidence which positively impacts performance.

“Training can be anything from one-to-one coaching to client training sessions, where our staff come together to be trained on a campaign by a client, with the Team Leader asking questions on behalf of the Call Centre team to cement understanding.”

Echoing the benefits of training, Karen says: “I am passionate about coaching and training staff – we are a people business at the end of the day – so our team is our best asset! Training encourages questions, addresses learning gaps and areas for improvement, as well as keeps morale and performance high.”

Employee Engagement Activities

At Mango, we have a busy employee engagement calendar, with multiple activities scheduled each month!

Team Leaders play a vital role in spreading company culture and aiding social relationships, which is important when it comes to:

Encouraging staff to have an emotional connected to their job, co-workers, and organisation as a whole
Boosting job satisfaction
Supporting alignment with organisational values
Making going to work an enjoyable experience
Helping staff feel more connected to the wider community

“By taking part in employee engagement activities, it ignites friendships for life, I know from experience on my Mango journey!”

Quality Monitoring

A Team Leader manages their teams to ensure quality across all services is high and consistent, whether it be handling calls or writing responses via email or live chat.

“I call listen daily to ensure my team are using best practices and maximising their potential. Even if it’s something small they can improve, like using a customer or supporter’s name more often to build rapport – it makes all the difference between a good call and a great call!

“I always say to staff that they should never be afraid to ask for help, and that the more questions they ask, the better it is for their confidence, compliance and quality.”

For more tips on ensuring high call quality, check out our blog: Tracking Call Quality: Our Top Hints and Hacks

Allocating Campaign Work

As a telemarketing outsourcer, at Mango, we support and work on behalf of so many organisations across the globe!

Our Team Leaders are key in supporting the Resources and Planning Manager with allocating campaign work to their teams in order to meet demand. It requires strong organisational skills, as well as liaising with the Client Management team to determine any specifics.

But for Karen, it doesn’t just stop at divvying out tasks to her team:

“I also like to jump on calls too! It means I can get a better understanding of my team’s experiences, pinpoint any potential script improvements, and sharpen my knowledge of our current campaigns.”

Special thanks to Karen for her interesting insights into what life’s really like as a Contact Centre Team Leader!

If you would like to learn more, please feel free to ask us questions in the comments, or reach out to us by dropping us a message via our website or over on socials!

Fundraising Services: How to Maximise Your Charity’s Work

Posted on 12 January 202412 January 2024 by Mango

It’s a New Year, making it the perfect time to reimagine alternative ways you can make waves with your charity’s important work.

No matter how grand or modest the campaign, fundraising is essential to keep charities going from strength to strength during tough times.

For example, in 2023, 60% of people in the UK struggled to give to charity compared to the year before due to the cost-of-living crisis.

With the mountainous task of trying to secure and increase funds, it’s therefore no surprise why charities lean on outsourced, specialist companies to help boost income. Not only this, but agency support can also see charities maximise their internal resources and cement strong relationships with new and existing donors.

What are Fundraising Services?

While it may seem niche, fundraising services are pretty broad!

For example, there’s everything from consulting and strategic planning right through to call handling and fulfilment management.

In our case, the fundraising sector is one of Mango’s largest, where we deliver everything from small to large scale telemarketing campaigns, encompassing everything from response handling, live chat, email, to good old reliable telecon!

We are so fortunate to play a part in supporting fundraising for so many lifechanging organisations locally, nationally, and internationally.

Here’s a few ways we do it, and how these services can help maximise your charity’s intake and overall operations.

Telephone Fundraising

Telephone has long been at the heart of fundraising, providing a direct connection between supporters and their chosen charity, and vice versa. We usually divide telephone campaign types into inbound (supporter to charity) and outbound (charity to supporter).

For inbound campaigns – which relate to calls being made by supporters in response to charity appeals such as telethons, newspaper ads, direct mail etc. – it can be difficult to estimate impact and volume. Having an external fundraising team that acts like an extension of your team can help in many ways, such as:

Saving the charity money
Giving inhouse teams more availability to work on other upcoming projects
Boosting answer rates by accepting calls on your behalf
Establishing relationships with supporters
Processing one-off donations and upgrading existing Direct Debit amounts
Capturing data to expand the charity’s donor database with full compliance at the forefront

As well as taking the weight off, giving your wider team peace of mind and allowing you to better focus on other essential tasks to optimise success.

With outbound campaigns, this type of fundraising service involves reaching out to supporters to re-engage lapsed donors, upgrade monthly donations, or even just say thank you for previous giving.

This is a specialist type of campaign which requires an experienced team. At Mango, our team are highly skilled and trained to interact with supporters in a friendly, effortless and considerate way, something that can reap plenty of great rewards for charity clients.

Fulfilment and Response Handling

Charities make a huge impact through their investment in print communications (such as door drops and direct mailings).

However, with this successful method, comes a lot of careful steps that need to be mastered to ensure a prompt and seamless service – something which, without external support, can put a strain on a charity’s internal operations.

That’s where charity fulfilment and response handling services come in to help.

From printing and packaging right through to payment processing and posting returns – fulfilment and response handling are intricate procedures which need to be perfected by a team with expert knowledge and experience.

In our time, we have seen charities come to us to make use of this type of fundraising service for the following purposes:

Storage of branded merchandise and promotional materials
Printing, picking, packing and posting
Data entering and validation in-line with GDPR and ISO 9001 standards
Payments e.g. managing cheques and linking with credit cards processors to take donations securely
Reporting e.g. bespoke income reports and copy scans for full transparency and insight

Whether your charity requires ad hoc or full-time support with this fundraising area – we understand that every little helps – and that’s why Mango offers a flexible model, meaning that we can always quickly adapt and give you the peace of mind that, as your fulfilment and response handling partner, we will take care of all your needs.

Find out more about response handling by checking out our blog: What are Response Handling Services? + 3 Benefits

SMS Fundraising

Fundraising via text message has long been a staple for its speediness and ease of use for the supporter. For the charity, it’s a modest technology tool that’s effective, inexpensive and practical.

Fundraising efforts using texting services achieve a 45% response rate, making it a key focus for charities big and small to implement. With SMS fundraising being a high demand yet specialist area, many charities seek additional help from a third party like us to ensure everything is covered from writing message contents, segmenting distribution lists, following compliance and conducting call backs.

At Mango Direct Marketing, we have worked with lots of charities across the world to create and deliver tailored, integrated SMS campaigns that generate positive, tangible results.

With this, we can assist at any capacity – whether it be giving advice on SMS strategies to implementing our intuitive tech to help you see an instant ROI boost.

At Mango, our extensive services give charities the freedom to concentrate on achieving their goals and missions, while we take care of the rest. If you are considering lightening the load by outsourcing a fundraising service agency, then feel free to talk to Mango and we’ll give you a full rundown of how we can help.