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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.

Mango’s 2023 Year in Review

Posted on 29 December 202322 December 2023 by Mango

What a year it’s been.

There’s a lot that goes on in 365 days. Some days are quieter and busier than others – but there’s no doubt that the time flies in fast!

Working in a live environment, we sometimes don’t pause and reflect on all the amazing moments we share with our colleagues – who we actually spend more time with in a year than we do with our very own family!

That being said, with 2024 just around the corner, we want to take this chance to stop and remind ourselves of all the milestones and highlights we’ve had in 2023.

Year in Review: Mango’s 2023 Highlights

Sit back, relax and enjoy this wee round-up of our past year – and feel free to share your own achievements in the comments so we can celebrate these together!

Mango’s 15^th Birthday

Mango opened its doors on 4th August 2008, in the middle of the recession. So, celebrating our 15th year in business was a pretty big deal in our books!

To commemorate the occasion, we hosted a company-wide birthday party across the Mango offices. The day was jam-packed, covering everything from breakfast baps for all to games, prizes, live music, speeches, champagne toasts and a cocktail hour to thank our staff for helping us get to where we are today.

Plus, we all had a good laugh pranking the Managing Director by filling his office with 500 balloons…check it out over on our TikTok.

We’ll have to get our thinking caps on for how we’re going to top that for our sweet sixteenth birthday next year…

Walk to Scotland

In October, the Mango team hopped aboard the Stena Line boat from Belfast to Cairnryan to ‘Walk to Scotland’ in support of NI Children to Lapland and Days to Remember Trust.

NI Children to Lapland and Days to Remember Trust is a charity which gives terminally ill, life-limited and deserving children from across Northern Ireland a magical, memorable day that they and their families can cherish forever.

The annual Walk to Scotland event is an essential part of the charity’s fundraising efforts to facilitate an annual trip to Lapland, bringing 100 young children from Northern Ireland to visit Santa in his homeland.

To support the charity in co-ordinating its annual trip to Lapland, the team raised over £1,000 in the run-up to the sponsored walk, which contributed to the incredible £14,000 total raised at the event!

From this, Mango and NI Children to Lapland Trust have now initiated a new corporate partnership aimed at broadening our social impact and expanding the reach of the charity’s impactful work for children.

We can’t wait to see what this new endeavour will bring in the new year!

Watch the video of our walk to Scotland here.

Bangor Business Awards

In October, the team attended the local Chamber of Commerce’s acclaimed Bangor Business Awards 2023, having been shortlisted for several awards.

Our longest-serving fundraiser, June Cowan, was nominated for ‘Employee of the Year’ – a win we were crossing our fingers extra tight for before her retirement next year!

With her 13 years at Mango, June’s commitment to charity work has seen her raise an incredible 1.5 million pounds for our clients – an amazing achievement that we were ecstatic to see her win the coveted ‘Employee of the Year’ award on the night!

With plenty of dancing and singing had, we were delighted to give June a well-deserved celebration for all her hard work. Check out the video over on our TikTok.

Achieving ISO Certification

Becoming ISO certified had been a goal of ours for years and years. So, in 2023, we decided to make it happen!

Not only this – we didn’t just go for one ISO certification – we set ourselves the challenge of going for both ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 at the same time!

After several process optimisations and audits over the course of Q3 – as well as top tips from the teams at Quadra Consulting and Auva Certification – in Q4 we were overjoyed to receive certification for both ISO 9001 and ISO 14001.

With our international industry-approved quality and environmental standards, we can’t wait to see what new opportunities these will bring to Mango in the future.

Here’s to 2024!

It’s hard to believe another year has been and gone. That’s why it’s so important to give yourself a moment to see how far you’ve come – no matter how big or small the achievement.

With so many successes under our belt this year, we’re excited to rethink our goals for 2024 and make these ideas a reality. Watch this space…

We would also love to know your 2023 highlights – so please feel free to give yourself a shout-out in the comments!

If you’re strategising for 2024, you can also talk to Mango today about any and all things Contact Centre related. Whether it be customer services, telephony, email management, fulfilment or response handling – we can help you regardless of your needs.

Customer Experience Trends for 2024

Posted on 14 December 202314 December 2023 by Mango

Providing a memorable, positive customer experience is what sets us apart from competitors. It really is make or break when it comes to creating customers for life – something the Mango team know a thing or two about!

As we look towards 2024 (after the quickest year ever!) – we expect a lot of new focuses and mindset shifts when it comes to servicing customers. We’re thinking cutting-edge technology, having a better understanding of customer needs, and leveraging these to redefine how we engage and retain for the long-term.

With that being said – here’s our top four customer experience trend predictions for next year!

Mango’s Top 4 Customer Experience Trends for 2024

The contact centre environment is becoming more dynamic each year, embracing new strategies that satisfy the needs of today’s customers when it comes to efficiency, ease and personalisation.

We’re talking real-time analytics, omnichannel offerings, and security-first approaches which are transforming the art of customer service as we know it, for the better!

Let’s get into it…

Focus on the Customer Journey

Nowadays, it is essential to prioritise relationships over transactions. Rather than solely focusing on standalone interactions, organisations are making greater efforts to tailor their customer journey as a whole.

The customer journey is all-encompassing, looking at how people experience an organisation from the initial awareness stages right through to retention.

It helps you see things from a customer’s perspective to understand expectations and needs. By thinking about the overall process, you’re more likely to optimise internal operations, customer communication and sales potential!

The key to achieving this in 2024 is being prepared and versatile. Consider how your customers see you, how they can learn about you and how they can reach you. By being readily available, your customer journey is already off to a good start!

With customers having plenty of options to find out about you, get in touch with you and stay up-to-date with what you’re doing – this means you’re being inclusive and providing them added value from the get-go – something which won’t go unmissed.

From IVR messaging to scriptwriting, outbound calls to follow-up emails – at Mango, our services cover each and every stage of the customer journey. For more on how we achieve this – check out our blog on customer service, written by our very own inhouse experts! Customer Service Tips – Hear it From the Experts!

Being More Security-Centric

Personal data is precious to customers, so showing that you recognise and honour this will help instil greater trust and confidence in your organisation.

Ensuring information is safely stored and protected is key. For example, 63% of customers say they are happier dealing with businesses that make it easy to see how their data is used – so we expect this to only get higher as the years go on.

Not only this, but enhanced security and privacy safeguards are non-negotiable for meeting regulatory compliance as well as boosting consumer loyalty as the industry continues to evolve in 2024.

Our advice is: make sure you have clear data and privacy policies in place, as well as strong security measures. At Mango, our security measures revolve around:

Encryption: A security method where information is encoded and can only be accessed or decrypted by a user with the correct encryption key.
Access Control: Strict access controls which ensure that only authorised individuals can access sensitive data.
Multi-Factor Authentication: 2FA adds an additional degree of protection by requesting many different forms of identification before providing access.

Opt for Omnichannel

How we provide customer experiences is always adapting. With so many new methods now available, it is essential that you cater to your audience across multiple touchpoints, as this opens up so many new opportunities!

Whether it’s over the phone, or via email, social media or live chat – we say the more, the better!

When thinking about 2024, what will make an even bigger and better difference is having a unified identity across all these channels. By delivering a coherent and personalised experience across the board – this is what will catapult service quality and help customers feel even more supported.

It’s this added value that an omnichannel approach brings to ensure a customer’s journey is always continuous, regardless of whether they start a conversation through chat and move to a phone call afterwards.

That’s one of the main perks of having an inhouse IT team like we do. Thanks to their technology know-how, they are always looking to create new, innovative solutions to streamline customer experiences and optimise client campaigns. From message automation to real-time analytics and everything in between – they really are modern day superheroes when it comes to staying ahead of the customer service game!

If you don’t have the resources readily available to implement bespoke IT solutions, you can speak to us or find out more here: The Benefits of an Inhouse IT Team

Continuous Upskilling

As we get ready to kick-start 2024, we are continuously striving to strengthen customer experiences, which involves consistently developing the skills of those on the frontline – our agents.

After all, the main reason the Contact Centre industry evolves so much when it comes to customer support is because of the people pioneering this change!

With the sector now being so technology dependent, this means staff must be empowered to manage these advancements at expert level so they can provide first-class services.

Prioritising training and upskilling means agents can be better prepared to:

Problem-solve with ease by thinking with a solution-first attitude
Handle customer conversations with professionalism and sensitivity
Spot opportunities for upselling/upgrading
Build relationships with customers and nurture their experience

Whether it be through independent microlearning, group training or team leader-agent one-to-one sessions, the more effort that is put into upskilling staff, the more we all reap the rewards, including:

Enhanced competence
Sustained motivation
Greater employee satisfaction
Improved performance
Career milestones and opportunities for progression

Customer Service in 2024 in a Nutshell

As we learn to accept new changes, implement smooth, secure solutions and invest more in people – we believe a firm focus on innovation, protection and staff development will help us achieve more positive customer experiences in 2024.

As we prepare to say goodbye to another year in the Contact Centre industry – one thing remains the same – customers will always be at the heart of all success stories.

For more top tips on mastering customer services for 2024 and beyond, talk to Mango today!

Giving Back to the Community – Why it Matters

Posted on 28 November 20238 February 2024 by Mango

Supporting the local community is becoming a growing priority for companies both big and small.

Why? Because giving back to the community – whether it be through volunteering or fundraising – comes with lots of benefits for all involved. In this blog, we dive deep into these many advantages, and detail why it matters to play an active part in helping your local area flourish!

Why is it Important to Give Back to the Community?

Whether it be donating time or raising funds – even the smallest of tasks can make a real difference to the lives of people, animals and organisations in need.

Not only that, but another pro of being community-focused is the positive impact it makes on staff morale and future business prospects.

Without further ado, let’s get into what you can expect from upping your CSR efforts…

Encourages Team Bonding

Regardless of the size of your company, making a team effort to support a local cause or improve your surroundings will instil a sense of reward and unity among your staff.

We know from experience that coming together as a team over a meaningful purpose (e.g. for the betterment of something/benefit of others) has created lifelong memories and friendships within our team.

Some highlights include challenges like Tough Mudder, sponsored head shaves and a 10-mile walk from Holywood-Bangor in aid of local charities, volunteering at nearby animal shelters and food banks, as well as doing beach cleans to reduce pollution and protect the environment.

With taking part in events like these regularly, we see closer bonds among the team, as well as with other like-minded people from the community. It also helps employees feel greater satisfaction in their job, and embeds a stronger sense of company pride and advocacy.

mango giving back to the community volunteering at The Barn Animal Rescue - two woman and one man holding puppy — *The Mango team volunteering at The Barn Animal Rescue*

Learn More About the World

Getting your team to spend time enriching the community and meeting new people is a brilliant way to broaden their perceptions and learn new life skills.

Immersing in a community and serving others in need helps your employees better understand people’s circumstances, gives them a more open-minded perspective, improves their communication skills and teaches patience and empathy – all of which will enhance other areas in their life.

What’s more, is that giving back to the community may even help your staff unlock a new passion, hobby or interest – something they will appreciate and reflect upon positively in the future. So, not only are you contributing to their professional development, but their personal development, too!

*Mango’s 10-mile walk from Holywood-Bangor for charity*

Helps Those in Need

Without volunteers or sponsors, a huge portion of the help our communities receive would not be so readily available.

By spending time assisting at local shelters or food banks, or even doing a whip-round of donations in the office, this support not only gives those offering a sense of accomplishment, but it most importantly provides an essential service to less fortunate neighbours.

With more resources helping those in need, this combats and reduces the key issue being experienced in the community. The more people feel a sense of reward, the more momentum is spread, and the more positive differences are made to make the community a better place.

Improves Company Reputation

These days, more and more people are making conscious choices to work for and work with companies who share their values and have a strong CSR strategy in place.

For example, businesses with a strong community presence often attract top talent. Plus, engaged employees who participate in community initiatives are more likely to remain, fostering a positive, stable workplace culture.

Long-term involvement in community development also builds credibility and reputation. Businesses that invest their time and resources become genuine collaborators in community development, making significant positive impacts that create lasting impressions to local and national onlookers, which can help with securing new business.

Where to Start with Giving Back to the Community?

There are so many important causes out there that always need fundraisers, volunteers or sponsors to support the work they’re doing. Many towns and cities have community centres, which can be a great place to start to search for new opportunities to give back.

To get your staff invested, you can ask for their suggestions via focus groups or questionnaires. At Mango, we make this a focus each quarter, so everyone gets a chance to put their ideas forward and contribute to something they’re passionate about.

You can also check websites like local Chambers of Commerce or councils for opportunities that fit your goals. Another alternative is joining local groups on Facebook so you can easily engage with others nearby and get feedback on where is in need of help.

No matter how big or small your efforts are in giving back to the community, we can guarantee you and your team will reap lots of social, professional and personal rewards.

Whether you want more pointers or have more questions on how to get started, feel free to talk to the Mango team today!

What are Response Handling Services? + 3 Benefits

Posted on 15 November 20235 January 2024 by Mango

‘Response Handling’ is a term that spans across so many sectors, it can often be difficult to find the exact information and services you’re looking for!

At Mango, response handling is one of our core offerings, taking the weight off organisations who want to save time, money and resources.

In this blog, we dive deep into the world of response handling, uncovering what it is, the process behind it, and a few benefits thrown in for good measure, too!

What is Response Handling?

In our industry, response handling is a standalone service that relates to managing, processing and delivering returns from fulfilment mailers and surveys to your customer base.

In our 15 years of offering response handling as a service, Mango has provided solutions to both charity and corporate markets. Examples include appeal mailing, catalogue coupons, raffle returns or market research surveys (to name a few).

One of our most popular services, response handling provides our clients with a reliable secure, flexible service, offering great peace of mind all while being a speedy, cost-effective and compliant solution!

hands organising orange filing system - response handling

Response Handling: The Process

Regardless of how a campaign works – whether it be via phone, email, live chat or letters – being able to process audience responses effectively is imperative.

Accepting mailer returns is a complex, careful operation, requiring several steps that need to be mastered to ensure a totally seamless service. As such, here is a *brief* insight into our process here at Mango…

Our response handling process includes:

Opening and batching: Our dedicated team opens, sorts and batches large volumes of mail quickly and efficiently into smaller, manageable ‘piles’ that make the next steps faster and more accurate;
Data entering and validation: To ensure the highest quality service, we update, clean and validate data in compliance with ISO 9001 standards, all while having as many automated procedures in place to support the process;
Scanning: We scan, upload and store data on a secure site (either chosen by the client or provided by Mango) that is credentials protected;
Banking: We link into your credit card processor to take payment as well as manage cheques and postal orders, alleviating administrative tasks for our clients’ inhouse teams;
Returning and reporting: We return data transfers to the client in a secure format, complete with bespoke income reporting and copy scans for transparency and future checks.

With this tried and tested process, we assure that no stone is left unturned and that clients can rest easy knowing that we are managing their response handling with the utmost care and attention.

3 Benefits of Response Handling Services

While we’ve already touched on some of the benefits you can expect from response handling services – here’s a few of our favourites…

Reduces Inhouse Admin

With response handling, it can sometimes be difficult to predict volume. If managing inhouse, it can be gamble because depending on the success of a campaign, resources can easily become overstretched and there may not be enough support to handle responses swiftly or efficiently.

With it being an intricate, admin-heavy operation – outsourcing response handling to an experienced, specialist company means the load can be shifted to a team that already work daily with a fully implemented, streamlined process that feels like second nature.

As a result, a client’s inhouse team can continue to thrive in their day-to-day roles and focus on optimising other areas of the organisation instead!

It’s Fast, Accurate and Secure

Response handling services provide long-term satisfaction to our clients because it ticks so many boxes from an operational and cost-saving standpoint, such as:

Fine-tuned processes and state-of-the-art technologies mean responses can be processed faster and more accurately, so both data and income can be received sooner
With an IT team of over 100 years combined experience, we provide robust systems and the highest levels of security, with a secure response handling room which is access controlled with CCTV as well as being fully PCI compliant

Having a professional team to take care of the above can reap so many rewards – especially considering studies have found that customers’ expectations for speed and responsiveness escalate every year without fail, and that data security and privacy issues are a concern for 79% of people!

A Flexible and Scalable Service

With any campaign, it can be difficult to know exactly what the outcomes will be. That’s why it’s so beneficial to have a team that can easily flex up and down to suit spikes and lulls.

With an outsourced response handling company like Mango, we can offer resources to expertly manage this variable, often time-sensitive work. Plus, as a support to our response handling service, we can also take inbound calls, live payments, send thank you letters via post or email, make outbound calls to responders and lots more!

Not only this, but we can also manage response handling as a full-time service, or at peak times like Christmas.

Mango’s Response Handling Services

At Mango, we understand that proactive response handling increases income, insights and positive experience for both our clients and their customers/supporters.

That’s why we provide tailor-made, end-to-end response handling solutions to support all sectors, including charities and corporates.

Here’s what you can expect from our response handling services:

A bespoke service to suit your campaign aims
Dedicated, skilled and experienced team assigned specifically for you
A team with a passion for campaign optimisation; productively offering ideas and solutions
An experienced IT team that are situated inhouse; always on call to provide technical assistance and security

Whether you want to fully outsource your campaign on a large scale, or perhaps you need a helping hand with ad-hoc support, we would love to chat more about how Mango Direct Marketing can help!

The Benefits of an Inhouse IT Team

Posted on 2 November 20232 November 2023 by Mango

When people think of inhouse IT teams, the phrase “Have you tried turning it off and on again?” usually springs to mind. As a full-service Contact Centre with our own internal IT team, we can assure you that they’re nothing like the ‘IT Crowd’ you might be thinking about!

In fact, having an outsourced Contact Centre with its very own IT department comes with some superior benefits. From rapid internal systems support to end-to-end campaign builds and report production, right through to new tech deployment and 24-hour cover – they really are campaign life savers.

Read on to find out how our inhouse IT team are so imperative to us, and our clients!

*We promise you won’t hear this line from our guys! Source: People Management*

Experienced and Open-Minded Team

Having been in the telemarketing industry for over 15 years at Mango, the department is further backed up by another 35 years within the industry cumulatively – and many years across other sectors such as finance, software houses and manufacturing.

We match our expertise with fresh ideas, and love to hire up-and-coming IT talent who bring outside-the-box perspectives to an ever-changing environment.

We also pride ourselves on our strong links to SERC, our local college, and each year welcome students for 12-week work placements, helping to build their skills and advance the existing team’s knowledge, too!

Instant Support Onsite

With developers, analysts and systems all onsite, instant support gives a distinct advantage. No waiting on a third party, making numerous phone calls, waiting in queues (the list goes on) – our reaction times to the situation are instant.

The team are not just on-hand for Mango, but our clients as well, and are usually an extension of the client’s own IT team, helping where we can to bridge any shortfall in resources.

Having a team that are not only highly trained and skilled – but also exceptionally talented – means they are natural problem solvers that can ensure a speedy, robust solution for our clients, and a smooth day-to-day operation for our staff.

Full Understanding of Your Operations, Systems and Networks

With telemarketing, technology solutions must be all-encompassing. That’s because there is so much to consider and cover in order to provide the best service possible, such as:

Telephony management (DDIs/NGNs)
Hardware
Software
Security (internally and externally)
Campaign reporting and analysis
Script building and management
Application development and integration

With so many critical elements to manage, comes the need for intricate knowledge of internal operations, systems and networks – something that would take years for a third-party IT solution to grasp.

As our Technology Director has over 25 years of experience working in IT and has been the main overseer of every IT project in Mango for the last 15 years – it’s safe to say the team know a thing or two about how to facilitate a successful campaign!

Inhouse, we can manage a campaign from start to finish. From your first idea to a phone call or text from a customer or supporter through to your team looking at management reports – Mango IT are involved at every step.

Close Relationship with Other Departments

A campaign has lots of moving parts, with a range of departments working in tandem to help it seamlessly grow from strength to strength.

With multiple clients and campaigns running at once – our Contact Centre Operations, Client Management and IT teams like to meet daily to discuss new tasks, brainstorm new solutions and allocate assignments.

Plus, with all teams in the one office building, staff are only a short walk or flight of stairs away! This means that actions can be taken instantly, projects can be worked on collaboratively, and everything is a team effort with no delays or roadblocks.

Inhouse IT Teams Have More Room to Innovate

Having an internal IT team means they can spot areas for improvement and create new, innovative solutions for both major and monotonous operations.

One of the most impressive and invaluable solutions our IT team has designed, built and deployed is ‘MHub’; our very own internal platform which houses a range of innovative web applications. MHub is accessed company-wide, allowing each staff member to login to manage their own admin where applicable.

Some of the applications within MHub include:

MPlayer: Our own fully integrated, PCI compliant call recording system, used by both managers and clients to access calls and monitor quality scores.
Holidays: Allows staff to request holidays, change shifts and log sickness. The app also sends automated alerts to the relevant managers to review requests, as well as notifies employees to inform them of request responses.
MChat: Our internal chat platform for staff to communicate across all levels of the business.
Campaign Schedule: Enables our Resourcing team to determine where campaigns can be placed to best suit the client and our internal teams.
Agent Journey: Enabling Managers to add information about their teams to inform strengths and areas of improvement e.g. Team Leaders can add results, a Client Manager can add client feedback, Training Managers can log call monitoring etc.
Campaign Analytics: Where data from any campaign can be reviewed to identify patterns/trends, which we use to ensure client campaigns are as optimised as possible.
‘Mouse’s Wheel of Fortune’: An application that gives staff the chance to win prizes e.g. vouchers, experiences and retail goods based on their performance.

While every application within MHub is purpose-built and meets specific needs, they each exist to ultimately improve processes within Mango and optimise client campaigns.

For example: our call recording and listening application, MPlayer, helps both our teams and clients monitor performance and quality. Our staff can use these calls for training and benchmarking purposes, and clients can use these to keep track of their campaigns and fuel calibration sessions with the Mango team to continuously collaborate and boost success.

All-In-One Inhouse Solution

There are plenty more reasons why having an inhouse IT team is beneficial, but we really could go on forever!

Having an outsourced full-service Contact Centre solution means your campaign is good hands at every stage, with experts there when you need them to problem solve and optimise across all areas.

At Mango, we are a team of innovative, ethical professionals with a wealth of telemarketing experience in all its aspects. There’s not a lot we can’t answer, so if you are seeking an all-in-one Contact Centre solution, please talk to Mango today!

The 4 Benefits of Office Working

Posted on 3 October 20233 October 2023 by Mango

There’s no denying that since 2020, the way we work has completely changed. Almost every industry had to alter their day-to-day routines: with in-person office chats turning into Slack group channels, and boardroom meetings being swapped for screen sharing.

While these digital tools played a vital role in keeping us connected throughout erratic lockdowns, we always felt that there was something missing. Office working almost seemed like a ‘days gone by’ thing – something which we weren’t ready to let go of here at Mango!

The Benefits of Office Working

Now that we’ve returned to better days, the entire Mango team is (thankfully) back to being fully office-based – or, what we like to call – ‘back to normal’! To show our appreciation, we thought it would be fitting to run through the four top things we love about office working. So here they are…

Increased Collaboration

The famous quote “alone we can do so little; together we can do so much” springs to mind when talking about collaboration. It’s so true though – working solo can only get you so far, whereas working in a team can help broaden potential in so many ways.

At Mango, we firmly believe that joining forces with others is what sparks creativity and strengthens work ethic. When you share a space with other like-minded people, it is far easier to voice ideas and stimulate productivity.

Whether it be in a training group, or in a brainstorming meeting – a positive energy and working atmosphere cannot be replicated remotely or through video calls, and it is 100% essential for the success of any team!

Builds Better Relationships

It’s rare that people make time for a proper chat with one another during a purposely scheduled Zoom meeting. Whether it be a spontaneous chat by the water cooler or in the communal kitchen – it’s these little moments that cement familiarity and develop relationships.

It doesn’t matter if it’s about a work-related topic or a personal problem, this social cohesion is what generates a company culture that gives people a sense of confidence and belonging.

At Mango, we strive to continuously nurture our culture by initiating regular in-office competitions, activities and events. We love it because not only does it create a social buzz, but it boosts team spirit and turns professional relationships into personal ones. You’ve maybe seen from our social media channels just how close the Mango family is!

Boosts Faster Learning

Being based in an office, especially if you’re just starting a new job, leads to speedier progress. Why? Because people experience a wide range of situations which they can learn from – something that is vital when it comes to professional development.

Plus, having managers present in the room makes all the difference to someone’s performance and growth. No need to bombard anyone with instant messages or phone calls! Instead, if there is a reliable presence nearby that you can lean on to ask for advice or share ideas with, this resolves problems quickly and ultimately benefits everyone!

Improved Wellbeing

Believe it or not, a huge 41% of people felt more anxious and isolated than ever due to lockdown!

That’s one of the reasons why we believe office working is so important. It’s the greetings of ‘good morning’, the in-office jokes and the farewells of ‘see you tomorrow’ that are so simple yet so effective in making someone feel valued.

Of course, wellbeing depends on a lot more than that, but it’s the small things as well as the big things that keep people feeling happy and healthy in their workplace.

Also, while balancing home and work life can keep us on our toes at the best of times – the good thing about office working is that the office provides a clear place of work. A place where people can physically leave at the end of each day and mentally switch off from until they return. This sets healthy boundaries, reduces stress, and promotes a better lifestyle overall.

At Mango, we know we deliver more from the heart of our office. So much so, that we’ve invested in purchasing the building next door so we can give our staff the space they need to be the best that they can be.

Of course, there’s plenty more where that came from – check out our video for more benefits of office working – or as we like to call it – #MangoWorking!

Getting Ready for Christmas: Your Essential Telemarketing Checklist

Posted on 22 August 202322 August 2023 by Mango

We may still have a few weeks of summer left, but it won’t be long until the most wonderful, busiest time of the year kicks in!

Yep, that’s right…we’re talking about getting ready for Christmas.

We can almost smell the mulled wine, taste the mince pies…and feel the chaotic buzz that comes with trying to prepare as much as possible before the big day comes.

While Christmas is always a manic time, last year total retail sales reached over 82 billion in the UK, making it the largest spending country compared with others in Europe. Plus, in 2022, half of people were more inclined to give to charities at Christmas, despite the current cost of living crisis.

While this is great for corporates and charities alike – this demand means they must not only carefully plan their marketing and supply – but also their customer and supporter service provision.

With this in mind, it helps to be ready to jingle bell rock! As a Contact Centre, we are well-versed in the hectic run-up to Christmas, so let’s run through everything you need to sleigh this upcoming season…

Your Full Christmas Checklist for Telemarketing

They do say the best way to be organised is to make a list! Albeit a different type of Christmas list…

If you know your business or organisation will be affected by the festive rush, then it’s worth reviewing the key points in this checklist to make sure you’re as ready for Christmas as you can be…

1. Understand Your Goals

It may seem simple to determine that at Christmas, the main goal of organisations is to generate as much income as possible compared to the previous year.

But with this overarching goal, comes a lot of objectives to make sure your target audience experience is seamless and enjoyable. By putting the people who are the key to your success first – then you can be sure that you’re starting things off on a positive track.

The first few questions to ask yourself are:

‘How can my target audience reach me?’
‘If my target audience need to get in touch, can my inhouse team manage the influx?’
‘What is my contingency plan if my resources become limited?’

These may feel like pretty big questions to ask – but they are essential so you can properly prepare, and ensure you are building loyalty, generating a good reputation and increasing demand.

2. Forecast Volumes

Data is your best friend when it comes to predicting call volumes.

For example, you can use existing data to generate reports showing how your organisation performed during the holiday season last year. From here, you can use this as a benchmark to estimate what to expect this year in terms of resource management.

Another area to consider is your audience and employee feedback. Their experiences can provide you with valuable insights into how you can improve services from last year.

We also recommend looking at peaks within the peak season (e.g. Black Friday, flash discounts, postal Christmas appeals etc.) and assessing whether short-term outsourced support would help better manage this.

3. Scale Up Your Resources

Once you have a greater understanding of your goals and have estimated your contact volume, the next step is scaling up your resources to cater to those who need to reach you.

With demand suddenly skyrocketing during the Christmas season, it’s no surprise that some companies and charities alike struggle to keep up. Not only that, but it’s also the time of the year when patience is at its thinnest, as people try to get everything done ahead of the Christmas cut-offs and New Year closures.

As such, it’s only natural that your team will experience high levels of stress during peak periods. The best solution to this problem is hiring a specialist telemarketing agency to help ease the workload.

Hiring a Contact Centre during the Christmas holidays comes with many benefits, as it can help all organisations with:

Mitigating risks
Leveraging extensive experience
Saving time
Motivating staff
Meeting demand
Reducing costs
Boosting loyalty
Increasing sales and satisfaction
Generating leads
Improving efficiency
Being available 24/7/365 when you can’t be

The best part? All of this comes with no disruption to existing operations, it really is a win, win!

Not only this, but by outsourcing to a Contact Centre, you are investing in building relationships and bonds with your audience. Being professional communicators and listeners is just some of the many skills our advisors possess – but it’s what ensures retention and a good reputation.

4. Consider Omnichannel Support

We understand that there’s no one-size-fits-all approach when it comes to how people communicate with organisations.

While being available via phone remains most favoured, offering alternative options is a must-have for satisfying and retaining your audience. And during an extremely busy Christmas period, omnichannel support may turn out to be your saviour!

Some ways you can ease up your call queues is by directing people to other channels, such as email, live chat or social media. These are great options to have as they fit into people’s busy lifestyles, can be managed on-the-go, and people can get instant access to a real person to help with their question(s).

Are You Ready for Christmas? Let Mango Help!

While we know summer isn’t over yet, now is the time to get ready for the craziness that is Christmas!

We all know being prepared has its inevitable perks; the less stress you’re under, the more you can look forward to Christmas and enjoy the festivities with your team!

Having been in the telemarketing industry 15 years now, Mango has well and truly mastered the art of managing telecommunications and support services on behalf of organisations of all sizes and sectors during the busiest time of the year. Our video below says it all…

Let us take the stress off so you can enjoy the Christmas season! Talk to Mango today.