Blueberry Partners with Regional Authority to Drive SME Engagement in Sustainability
Our client is a regional governing body formed through collaboration between multiple local councils, designed to coordinate strategic priorities across West Yorkshire.
What They Wanted
Despite offering fully funded sustainability support – such as grants, consultancy and audits – many SMEs in the region were still unaware of the programme or sceptical of its value.
The council had already achieved great success in the first year by engaging early adopters. However, by the 18-month point, businesses proved more difficult to engage.
Blueberry’s objective was to drive renewed engagement – communicating the benefits of the sustainability support to SME’s, so that they could fully understand the value, inspiring those yet to take action, and ultimately assisting the council to meet its engagement targets and sustain momentum into their second year of delivery.
“Even with free funding and expert consultancy available, many SMEs simply didn’t know such support existed or believed it was only for larger firms. Changing that perception was key to unlocking engagement.”
What We Did
Blueberry delivered an outbound telemarketing campaign, supported by email outreach.
Customer-focused Conversations
By taking a customer-centric approach, we assessed where each business stood on its sustainability journey. Early-stage businesses were signposted to useful online guidance, while those further ahead received a deeper conversation around their goals and pain points, leading to a booked appointment with an advisor.
Changing Perceptions to Drive Engagement
This campaign not only delivered a strong appointment conversion rate of 45.88% from relevant conversations had, but also played a pivotal role in reshaping how SMEs perceive sustainability support. By clearly communicating the tangible benefits, we helped SMEs recognise sustainability as a strategic business advantage rather than a compliance exercise. This not only shifted mindsets but also significantly increased business engagement.
Given that our target audience was predominantly small businesses and manufacturers with hands-on, non-desk-based roles, reaching key contacts proved challenging. We responded by remaining agile throughout, continuously refining our approach to maximise impact and drive conversions.
What We Achieved
Blueberry generated 89 qualified appointments (averaging 3.6 appointments per calling day). We established a robust pipeline of warm leads, enhanced the client’s database for future outreach with interest levels in wider services and provision, and gathered valuable market intelligence. These outcomes will ultimately support ongoing engagement strategies and maximise outreach for the remainder of the programme delivery.
“The campaign generated a robust conversion rate – nearly half of the relevant conversations progressed to qualified appointments. This highlights both the strength of our client’s sustainability offering and the effectiveness of a focused, insight-driven telemarketing approach.”
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