Appointment Setting, Business Services, Colleges & Universities, Education Telemarketing, Enterprise IT, Financial Services & Fintech, Lead Generation, Marketing Partnerships, Medical & Pharma, Other Sectors, Professional Associations & Membership Organisations, Public & Third Sector

'Cold Calling' - a thing of the past?

We take a look into why telemarketing is so regularly disputed and the simple qualifying techniques businesses can adopt to avoid those negative associations of a cold call.

3 steps to aligning your sales and marketing team

There’s often a lot of disparity between the goals, priorities and roles of sales and marketing teams in business. Marketing are focused on building brand, maximising outreach and generating new opportunities to progress. Sales on the other hand, they need to meet goals, solve problems and close deals with the most opportune targets - with often very little time to do so!

Business Services, Colleges & Universities, Education Telemarketing, Enterprise IT, Event Promotion, Financial Services & Fintech, Marketing Partnerships, Medical & Pharma, Other Sectors, Professional Associations & Membership Organisations, Public & Third Sector

5 Step formula for planning sales events

Holding an event can be the perfect opportunity to sell your business and offering to relevant decision makers. However, if done incorrectly, they can present themselves as a costly expense. We've put together some of the key things to consider when in the planning stage for your event.

Business Services, Colleges & Universities, Education Telemarketing, Enterprise IT, Financial Services & Fintech, Lead Generation, Lead Nurturing, Marketing Partnerships, Medical & Pharma, Other Sectors, Professional Associations & Membership Organisations, Public & Third Sector

5 Tips For Lead Generation Success

Take a look at some of our tips for the most successful approaches to lead generation in a B2B environment.

Colleges & Universities, Lead Generation, Public & Third Sector

5 tips for managing your CRM implementation

Organising the data for your CRM is one of the fundamental building blocks to ensuring it is successfully adopted by the users it's intended for. We've put together five handy tips to help you understand the processes involved in successfully managing your data for CRM implementation.

A week's work experience at Blueberry Marketing

This week we had a student from a local school complete work experience with us, as part of their learning they have shared a summary of their week.

All you Need to Know About the Rising Cost of Living

UK INFLATION is rising at its fastest rate in 30 years as fuel, energy and food costs continue to soar. Read Blueberry’s blog on the rising cost of living and discover our tips on how you can manage your finances.

Data Enhancement, Database Cleansing, Database Profiling & Purchasing, Free Data Quality Audit, Other Sectors

B2B Data - Buy or Build?

When it comes to bad data, businesses are losing out. With so many options for sourcing data, what's the best choice for you and your business?

B2B buyer behaviour within the wider marketing mix

B2B and B2C buyer behaviour has taken a drastic shift within the last decade. Thanks to the internet and what Google have labelled the online decision-making Zero Moment of Truth (ZMOT), businesses and consumers favour the use of online searches to make decisions about your brand – and more notably, whether or not they’ll buy from you!

Banish the January Blues with Blueberry’s Hilarious Comedy Duo The Lovely Boys

If your New Year’s resolutions are already a distant memory, then don’t despair. Turn that frown upside down with the help of our northern clowns.

Appointment Setting, Business Services, Colleges & Universities, Education Telemarketing, Enterprise IT, Financial Services & Fintech, Lead Generation, Lead Nurturing, Marketing Partnerships, Medical & Pharma, Other Sectors, Professional Associations & Membership Organisations, Public & Third Sector

Beyond BANT? Qualifying Leads

We've put together a handy guide on how to use BANT qualification to your advantage.

Blog: Confessions of a Pregnant Blueberry Director

EVERYONE knows that moving house is one of the most stressful experiences of your life. How about moving home when you’re heavily pregnant? We caught up with Blueberry Director and mother-of-two Pamela Welsh about how she coped with the challenge. Now firmly settled in her cosy new abode and back to work, she reflects upon her 14 successful years at the firm and how she juggles work and family life.

Appointment Setting, Colleges & Universities, Education Telemarketing, Lead Generation

Blueberry Partners with Wakefield Council to Boost Apprenticeships

Leeds-based business development agency, Blueberry Marketing Solutions, is partnering with Wakefield Council, to raise awareness of the Apprenticeships Made Easy scheme.

Blueberry report 28% year-on-year growth

Leeds-based business development agency, Blueberry Marketing Solutions, has experienced a 28% year-on-year growth thanks to some major client wins.

Blueberry support the launch of CityConnect Cycles in Leeds

We have partnered with the West Yorkshire Combined Authority, Sustrans and BikeRight! to launch the new CityConnect Cycle scheme in the Leeds City Region.

Blueberry’s Venture into the Exporting Industry

As an SME in the service sector, Blueberry never contemplated that we would branch out into exports. But that’s exactly what we did. Our exporting journey began when we started dealing with international enquiries for our telemarketing services, but we’d never been intentionally chasing them. Find out what we learned along the way.

Bridging The Gap Between Government Targets And Employer Expectations

We're pleased to announce that we've published a piece on FE News in collaboration with Calderdale College regarding our joint marketing campaign to promote the Rise programme.

Bridging the Gap Between Sales and Marketing

B2B buying behaviour is becoming more complex than ever. With the rise of digital and content marketing, face-to-face sales are no longer the main method of selling, with on average 67% of a sales decision being made through online research (1). These shifts in buying behaviour mean that for businesses to be successful, they need to adapt to the changing nature of B2B sales and ensure that both sales and marketing are successfully working together.

British Science Week 2018

I got the chance to get involved with British Science Week this week, so I thought I'd take the opportunity to demonstrate the positive way that science is introduced to children at an early age.

Brushing up our Knowledge - Back to University

When you think of higher education, the main picture that comes to mind are sleep-deprived students proudly waving their degree certificates at Graduation after too many late nights in the library (we’ve all been there, done that!) However - Universities all over the UK are offering so many other services and schemes aimed at small businesses.

Business Services, Colleges & Universities, Comparison Sites & Technology Innovators, Distributors & Builders Merchants, Education Telemarketing, Enterprise IT, Financial Services & Fintech, Lead Generation, Logistics, Manufacturers, Marketing Partnerships, Medical & Pharma, Other Sectors, Professional Associations & Membership Organisations, Public & Third Sector

Business Support During Coronavirus

Order books have collapsed, staff have been furloughed, and cashflow has been reduced to a trickle. Sales forecasts and marketing plans – even just from a few weeks ago – are pretty much obsolete. While the government has announced support for businesses, understanding how to navigate through the labyrinth of overlapping schemes, measures and funding pots isn’t always easy - so where should businesses turn to for support?

CIM win for Blueberry Director

Here at Blueberry we are delighted that one of our directors, Pamela Knight, has won the Chartered Institute of Marketing Award for Top Student in Yorkshire 2015!

Class Act - Blueberry Helps Youngsters Achieve Their Career Goals

BLUEBERRY has joined forces with Positive Footprints to deliver their award-winning personal development programmes to youngsters in Leeds. Thanks to a cash injection from the team, Rothwell Victoria Junior School pupils will participate in the Raising Aspirations scheme aimed at developing workplace skills.

Diversity in the Workplace

EMPLOYEES are your face in the marketplace. So, it makes sense to have employees who reflect the ethnic, gender and age composition of your customer base. In less than 20 years, one in four of us in the UK will be over 65. That's more than 14 million people.

Do Apprenticeships Have a Perception Problem?

We’ve had huge success with our apprenticeship scheme over the past five years – but if you’d asked us six years ago our perceptions of apprenticeships might have been very different.

Driving Digital: The Lloyds Digital Index and Our Transformation Journey

A small, dedicated group of researchers from Lloyds Banking Group have been working relentlessly over the last five years to put together a report into the Digital Index of businesses and charities in the UK.

Effective Sales Follow up - How to close more deals

When it comes to effective sales follow up, finding that happy medium between being overly persistent and pushy, to no follow up procedure at all can be tricky for salespeople.

Email Marketing, Other Sectors

Email Marketing at 40 – Mid-Life Crisis or in its Prime?

Email marketing has hit it’s 40s, but instead of having a mid-life crisis it’s maturing like a fine wine!

Entrepreneur In Residence

I've joined Leeds Business School's panel of Entrepreneurs in Residence

Appointment Setting, Business Services, Colleges & Universities, Customer Satisfaction, Education Telemarketing, Enterprise IT, Financial Services & Fintech, Lead Generation, Lead Nurturing, Marketing Partnerships, Medical & Pharma, Other Sectors, Professional Associations & Membership Organisations, Public & Third Sector

Finding the leaks in your sales process

If you're not happy with the outputs of your sales efforts – or are unsure if they could be more effective – how do you plan where to put your resources in order to improve?

Five Common GDPR Myths Rebuffed

REALITY TV star Ferne McCann has called on the police to investigate shocking leaked voice recordings of her allegedly belittling a former TOWIE co-star. While it’s not been confirmed who is speaking in audio notes, which were exposed by an anonymous Instagram account, it got me thinking about data profiling, processing, and enhancement.

Five Steps to Support Pregnant Employees

Bosses need to look after their pregnant employees. But there’s a lot more to it than offering them decaffeinated tea, seat cushions and flexible working hours. Check out our top five tips to supporting pregnant workers.

GDPR – An Introduction to Legitimate Interests

What is legitimate interest and when can you use it for processing data?

GDPR – Small Businesses don’t panic!

With the recent changes in GDPR now effective, we know many small businesses are feeling overwhelmed!

Customer Engagement & Relationship Marketing, Customer Retention & Loyalty, Customer Satisfaction, Professional Associations & Membership Organisations, Stakeholder Engagement

Getting the Most out of Your Members : Engagement

In our previous article, we looked at how to get the most out of your member renewal process. We now move on to how to engage your members earlier on to improve how renewals are received.

Customer Engagement & Relationship Marketing, Customer Retention & Loyalty, Customer Satisfaction, Professional Associations & Membership Organisations

Getting the Most out of Your Members: Renewal

As working practices change, regulatory requirements evolve, and technology continues to drive innovation across sectors, many professional associations we work with are aware of their need to adapt to this fast-changing market landscape. Responding to all these changes while still maintaining value for members can be a challenge and, for many associations, maximising member value has become more pressing than ever.

Giving Back to the Community During COVID

KIND-HEARTED businesses across Leeds pulled together to help ease the financial, physical, and mental hardship of frontline workers during the Covid-19 pandemic. A chance conversation with one of Blueberry’s valued customers led to the company’s director providing more than 30 of the region’s care homes with much-needed PPE gear. Read Faresh Maisuria’s account, in his own words, of how local businesses worked together for the greater good during unprecedented times.

Guest Blog: Preparing for University

We've really enjoyed having Sarah in this week to complete her work placement - we look forward to hearing where her studies take her and undoubtedly she has a bright future ahead of her!

Hard Skills v Soft Skills: How Important Are They?

Discover the main differences between hard and soft skills and find out why having strong soft skills can lead to greater career progression and long-term job security.

How Much Does it Cost to Live in Leeds vs London?

EVER wondered how much it actually costs to live, work, shop and socialise in Leeds? How about in London? Find out in our Leeds versus London infographic.

How merchants can prepare for changing customer behaviour in the post-crisis world

Whilst merchant stores start to re-open, it’s important to consider what practical steps merchants can take, in order to be prepared for what the new ‘normal’ looks like. We have come up with a few simple tips and steps that merchants like yourself can consider, helping to recover in the post-crisis world.

Colleges & Universities, Customer Engagement & Relationship Marketing, Lead Generation, Lead Nurturing, Public & Third Sector, Stakeholder Engagement

How the UK's Leading Universities Are Supporting Small Businesses

Did you know that up and down the country, the UK's leading universities are offering a range of business support services and schemes designed for SME's?

How to Save like a Pro

HOUSEHOLDS across Britain are feeling the pinch as the cost-of-living rises. Check out Blueberry’s top 10 tips to save money.

INTERVIEW: Blueberry's Talented Max Purcell-Burrows on Glastonbury 2022 and the highs of performing with TC & The Groove Family

HEAR from Blueberry’s resident trombonist Max about the buzz of live jazz and why his band’s debut album is a love letter to Leeds.

INTERVIEW: WE CHAT TO BLUEBERRY'S RESIDENT BASSIST & SELF-CONFESSED PUNK

HEAR from Blueberry’s bass player Thom Pighills about his European tour, kick-starting a rehearsal place for fellow musicians and his passion for rock music.

If the pandemic has taught us anything, it's not to sweat the small stuff

MORE than two years after the COVID-19 pandemic upended our lives, many of us will feel a huge sense of relief as the last remaining restrictions finally come to an end. England and Northern Ireland have already removed all constraints, and Scotland and Wales are due to follow suit by the end of March. As we enter this new phase of ‘living with Covid’, many of us are returning to our normal workplaces, while myself and others continue to enjoy the flexibility of hybrid working.

Innovation in Business

Innovation can often seem like a minefield when it comes to implementing it into your own business. In this article we explore how businesses can innovate and whether or not you already are!

Appointment Setting, Customer Engagement & Relationship Marketing, Lead Generation, Other Sectors

Is telemarketing dead?

The rise of inbound marketing tactics has led to some suggesting that more traditional, outbound marketing channels – such as telemarketing – will die out. But maybe, rather than seeing them as conflicting approaches, we should look at how to integrate the two.

Is the word 'apprentice' tarnished?

A RECENT careers survey of more than 5,250 youngsters found that almost half of those pursuing a university degree considered apprenticeships to be “second rate” in comparison. Of those, 40 per cent thought an apprenticeship wasn’t an option for their chosen career path and a comparable number argued that degrees had a significantly better reputation.

Joining the dots in your marketing

For any organisation – joining the dots between departments and teams to provide a coherent customer journey can be a struggle. We work within the college sector and know that this can be a particularly pressing challenge when coordinating the multitude of initiatives you run; from apprenticeships and funded training programmes right through to commercial training opportunities. Here are our top three tips for colleges aiming to boost their business development.

LEEDS WINTER COAT APPEAL – FINAL PUSH FOR CHILDREN’S COATS

TIME is running out to raid your wardrobes, dust off your suitcases and root through your underbed storage for your pre-loved coats, hats, gloves, and scarves.

Leeds Winter Coat Appeal

WHILE many of us are relishing in the prospect of wrapping up warm in our toasty jackets and bobble hats, countless people won’t be able to afford a coat this winter. In fact, almost a quarter of under 16s in Leeds are living in poverty and an overwhelming 75 per cent of these live in working households, according to Zero Waste Leeds. Now in its second year, the Leeds Winter Coat Appeal aims to collect more than 2,000 good quality coats, hats, scarves, and paired gloves to handout to the needy.

Leeds Winter Coat Appeal: Collection & Drop off options

Generous people of Leeds - we need your pre-loved coats, hats, scarves and paired gloves.

Business Services, Comparison Sites & Technology Innovators, Customer Engagement & Relationship Marketing, Customer Retention & Loyalty, Distributors & Builders Merchants, Enterprise IT, Financial Services & Fintech, Logistics, Manufacturers, Marketing Partnerships, Medical & Pharma, Other Sectors, Stakeholder Engagement

Marketing During Coronavirus

It is more important now than ever to be seen and to engage positively with your audience. How you go about this is what can make all the difference. We have come up with a few simple tips to help business owners, sales and marketing teams and leaders, plan and maintain visibility in the right way at a time when business confidence is at an all-time low. Hopefully you can put some of these tips to practice!

Marketing Trends for 2019 and beyond

To ensure your B2B marketing doesn’t go out of fashion we’ve taken some time to reflect on marketing trends we think we will all see more of throughout 2019 and the foreseeable future.

Measuring Marketing ROI – How to justify spend with your audience

Measuring ROI across several different marketing activities can often prove difficult for marketers. But just because it's difficult, doesn't mean its impossible! We explore how Marketing Automation can help you in your quest to demonstrate the best return on investment.

My Blueberry Apprenticeship Journey

WHAT’S it like to be an apprentice? Delve into National Apprenticeship Week (NAW) with Blueberry's Jessica Parker as she discusses her year-long apprenticeship, buying her first home at 23 and her impressive career progression.

National Apprenticeship Week 2018

To mark the start of National Apprenticeship Week 2018, we thought we’d share our own experience taking on apprentices and demonstrate the impact they've had on us!

Other Sectors, Stakeholder Engagement

Our 2018 in Review

After hitting the ground running in 2019, we thought we’d take a breather and reflect on one of our most exciting years to date, 2018! Not only have we been able to expand our internal team, we’ve been given new, exciting opportunities to spread our initiatives and dive deeper into our current service offering as a result. With a continuously developing client list and lots of memorable moments along the way, here are few snapshots of our 2018!

Our Experience of Work Experience

Helping under 16's find their feet in the world of work.

PART TWO: Is the word ‘apprentice’ tarnished?

IN the final instalment of our series on apprenticeships, we rebuff the stereotypes, uncover some remarkable success stories, and discuss the Government’s £8M pledge to increase degree apprenticeships. We also hear from the Chief Ofsted Inspector and numerous reputable employers, careers counsellors and work experience advisors about their thoughts on the matter.

PECR and Marketing to Sole Traders

The grounds around B2B marketing can sometimes seem confusing for businesses, especially following the new GDPR legislation which came into place in May 2018.

Picking Partners to Help You Sell

Faresh Maisuria, director at Blueberry Marketing Solutions, shares some advice on selecting the right outsourcing partner.

Picking the Right Partner - Outsourcing Business Engagement in the Public Sector

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Practical Steps to Help Your Business Thrive During a Recession

WITH the threat of a nationwide recession, inflation at a 40-year high and a cost-of-living crisis to grapple with, businesses are under pressure to save costs and increase revenue.

Putting People First – why investing in your staff is paramount

At Blueberry we know that the most important asset to our company is our employees. As the heart of our business, its crucial to be mindful of their wellbeing, nurture their interests, and develop their skills. By looking after our staff’s interests, we can deliver a service that sets us apart from the rest.

Sales Leads Vs Marketing Leads

We’ve explored where the division between sales and marketing departments can often begin and the affect it has. We now look at how sales and marketing need shared definitions and targets to ensure they can work towards a shared goal.

Appointment Setting, Business Services, Colleges & Universities, Education Telemarketing, Enterprise IT, Financial Services & Fintech, Lead Generation, Lead Nurturing, Marketing Partnerships, Medical & Pharma, Other Sectors, Professional Associations & Membership Organisations, Public & Third Sector

Selling in the 'Silly Season'

With hot summer days and staff on holiday, summer is often seen as a lull for telemarketing opportunities. So how can businesses buck this trend and realise August's potential?

Appointment Setting, Business Services, Education Telemarketing, Event Promotion, Lead Generation, Lead Nurturing

Selling to Schools

THE UK’s schools and local authorities are as unique as the children they support. It goes without saying that school funding and spending needs to reflect this. The government has pledged an extra £2 billion of revenue funding to schools this academic year and the same again in 2024-25. And while schools can choose how to spend this supplementary funding, why should they invest in your services and how do you know if they’re the right fit for your business? With more than a decade of experience in the education sector, Blueberry is here to guide you through the process and help you meet your business aspirations.

Small Business Charter - Summer Reception at the House of Lords

I was extremely honoured to attend the Small Business Charter Summer Reception at the House of Lords last week as a guest of Lord Young of Grafton.

Small businesses and data breach protection

The rise of large corporations hitting the headlines over data breaches, alongside the implementation of the recent GDPR has led to a drastic decrease in consumer trust relating to data protection.

Team Blueberry against the Themed Multi-Station Experience Machine

On one normal Friday in May, on the first floor of 12 South Parade, unbeknownst to its inhabitants, 20 superheroes* spent the Friday afternoon getting stuck into a bunch of team building challenges, before being let loose in the city of Leeds. Team Activ provided the concept and the tools – and all we had to do was bring our A game.

Appointment Setting, Business Services, Colleges & Universities, Education Telemarketing, Enterprise IT, Financial Services & Fintech, Lead Generation, Lead Nurturing, Marketing Partnerships, Medical & Pharma, Other Sectors, Professional Associations & Membership Organisations, Public & Third Sector

Telemarketing over Christmas

The Christmas build up is well underway, so what does that mean for B2B lead generation? We share some insider knowledge on how to approach telemarketing around the Christmas period.

The English Asian Business Awards

We are pleased to announce that our Director, Faresh Masuria, has been nominated for Creative Entrepreneur of the Year at the English Asian Business Awards, with the ceremony taking place in Manchester tonight!

The Perks of Industry Placements

Facilitated by all–nighters and lots of coffee many students hope their hard work will forge the way for a successful career. We all know it’s often no longer enough to have a degree- businesses are advertising graduate roles and asking for candidates to have relevant work experience. More than ever businesses need to help students gain this gold dust experience through industry placements.

The Stressbusting Guide You Need to Read

WHETHER you’re working from home, studying for exams, dealing with a break-up or simply need a better work-life balance, everyone feels stressed and lonely sometimes.

We're a Northern Powerhouse Partner!

The secret's out – we’re a Northern Powerhouse Partner! We’re excited to hit the ground running as this role will see us broaden our commitment to helping drive the northern economy.

We're doing the Yorkshire Peaks Challenge!

For those of you that have been following our journey, we recently completed the Leeds 10k in aid of Zest. Now our legs and lungs have recovered, it’s time to step things up a gear…

We've Moved!

After 12 years of successful, and slightly cramped, business at our former offices on Aire Street, we are very happy to announce that we have finally flown the nest and have taken up new, larger residences on South Parade in Leeds City Centre.

We’re expanding!

It’s a busy year at Blueberry – our team is growing, we’re broadening the services we offer, and we’ve had some exciting new client wins!

We’ve partnered with Zest Leeds

We're very proud to announce we've partnered with Zest Leeds – a charity right on our doorstep who offer support and opportunity to individuals who live in disadvantaged areas of Leeds.

Customer Engagement & Relationship Marketing, Database Cleansing, Database Profiling & Purchasing, Free Data Quality Audit, Other Sectors, Stakeholder Engagement

What does GDPR mean for your marketing?

All organisations that handle personal data will be affected by the new European General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) in some way. Whilst there is some fear around the impact of the new regulations across B2B organisations, it’s important to recognise the benefits too!

What to do when you’ve got the “Funding Fatigue”

Are you fatigued by the sight of the word “government funded” or “grant funding?”. Maybe you’ve tried a grant funding scheme once before and it didn’t quite work out...

Yorkshire Three Peaks – The Aftermath

As most of you are aware, Blueberry recently took on the infamous Yorkshire 3 Peaks challenge. Despite the early start, hip and knee injuries and an unfortunate incident involving stinging nettles, we managed to complete the challenge in 11 hours, comfortably within our 12-hour target!

“Having children is now seen as a personal choice, a luxury, like buying a Porsche. You shouldn’t get one unless you can afford to maintain it.”

LIKE it or not, that provocative comment forms part of a fierce debate about the UK’s exorbitant childcare costs and an equally unfair ‘motherhood penalty’. And with a slumping economy and the second most expensive childcare costs in the world, it’s easy to see why many women believe it’s too costly to start a family. Blueberry marks this year’s International Women’s Day (#IWD) by discussing the challenges working mothers face to maintain their career and find reasonably priced childcare.