Event: Response Expo 2010 – Direct Response Marketing Trade Show & Conference

Listen Up Español invites you to join us at the Response Expo in San Diego, CA on May 11-13, 2010…

Sir Bob Geldof — founder of the Band Aid Trust, organizer of the renowned 1985 LiveAid and 2005 Live8 concerts and a nearly annual nominee for the Nobel Peace Prize — will welcome Response Expo attendees to San Diego at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, May 11.

Make sure you visit Listen Up Español at – Booth #217

Learn how we’re raising the bar on call center value and sales performance, working with clients to craft just the right approach to their campaigns.

LUE’s D.R. Dunright

Play “Atínale al Precio” (the Price is Right) at the show and you could win a special Maine+Mexico prize!

“Join me and the rest of the Heroes of the U.S. Hispanic Marketplace… guess the prices of real products LUE sells and you can win one of 4 Maine+Mexico gift packages! Includes a complete Lobster Dinner for 4 plus a variety of quality products from Mexico. See you in San Diego!” ~ LUE’s D.R. Dunright

Call Randall Anderson at 1-800-630-9221 to set up an appointment.

Follow our conversation during the show:
https://twitter.com/listenupespanol

@ResponseExpo – Going to Response Expo 2010?
Join the conversation – http://twitter.com/ResponseExpo

Listen Up Espanol Named on the 2010 Top 50 Teleservices Agencies Ranking by Customer Interaction Solutions Magazine

Top 50 Teleservices Agencies Award by TMC®, Customer Interaction Solutions®.

Listen Up Espanol honored with ranking by the well known teleservices magazine, which recognized the company as one of the largest outsourced call center providers in the industry.

Portland, ME (PRWEB ) April 7, 2010 — Listen Up Espanol (LUE), the leading U.S. Hispanic call center specializing in Direct Response Television (DRTV) campaigns announced today that Technology Marketing Corporation (TMC®), a global integrated media company, (www.tmcnet.com ) has ranked LUE on its Silver Anniversary Top 50 Teleservices Agencies by its publication Customer Interaction Solutions®.

“We are thrilled to have won this award.” remarks Randall Anderson, VP of Sales and Business Development, LUE. “It represents the dedication of our employees to a job well done and their overall commitment to quality – in the US and worldwide! It is a great honor to be recognized in this category that has so many impressive members. We are very proud of our team.”

The 25th Annual Top 50 Teleservices Agencies Ranking recognizes the top outbound and inbound teleservices agencies, both domestic and international, as well as interactive inbound, as measured by the amount of billable teleservices minutes they have completed during the past year.

“The editors of Customer Interaction Solutions have ranked Listen Up Espanol as a Top 50 Teleservices Agency because they were able to document through verification letters from their telecommunications carriers that they are one of the largest outsourced call center providers in the industry,” said Rich Tehrani, CEO, TMC. “This ranking is truly the benchmark for choosing large-size, large-capacity teleservices agencies.”

Listen Up Espanol has met the stringent criteria set by the editors of Customer Interaction Solutions. LUE’s billable minutes were verified by the editors for accuracy and reliability and submitted a letter of verification from its telephone service providers certifying the number of minutes billed during the 12 month period from November 1st, 2008 to October 31st, 2009.

The Top 50 Outbound Teleservices Agencies rankings are published in the March 2010 issue of Customer Interaction Solutions magazine. The Inbound ranking, together with the Interactive Inbound and the global aggregate ranking, will be published in the April 2010 issue. Customer Interaction Solutions has been the leading publication in CRM, call centers and teleservices since 1982™.

About Listen Up Espanol:
Listen Up Espanol, the leading North American Spanish language call center, was founded in order to more effectively reach the Hispanic demographic through call center solutions for products and services for DRTV, non-profit, corporate and media affiliates. With 1000 agents and a 500 seat call center located in Hermosillo, Mexico, the company employs a proven “soft offer approach” that emphasizes product knowledge and personalized customer interaction. As a result of the experience working with the Hispanic market, the company understands the buying culture and developed the most effective call center and sales conversion process in the industry. Please visit www.listenupespanol.com .

About Customer Interaction Solutions:
Since 1982, Customer Interaction Solutions (CIS) magazine has been the voice of the call/contact center, CRM and teleservices industries. CIS magazine has helped the industry germinate, grow, mature and prosper, and has served as the leading publication in helping these industries that have had such a positive impact on the world economy to continue to thrive. Please visit www.cismag.com .

About TMC:
Technology Marketing Corporation (TMC) is a global, integrated media company helping our clients build communities in print, in person and online.

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The Late, Great Billy Mays.

BillyMays

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Key to U.S. Hispanic Marketplace – Respect Cultural Values

It seems as though there have been a flurry of recent studies around the U.S. Hispanic marketplace, everything from spending trends to online habits to business growth.  Here at Listen Up Español we say Hurra! It’s time that the U.S. Hispanic market deserved a closer look.  The findings are right in line with our experience and our approach.

The U.S. Hispanic marketplace is diverse and multi-faceted.  Close-knit, with a deep love for family, U.S. Hispanics stay close to their cultural roots.  Relationships, language and heritage play a huge role in gaining their loyalty and trust.  Even though most U.S. Hispanic people speak English very well, many times they prefer to speak Spanish and feel most comfortable when they can speak with a Spanish speaking sales person.

If you need to build loyalty and increase sales conversions, make sure your sales team is well grounded in Spanish culture and language and watch your sales soar.

Billy Mays

We were all shocked at hearing the news of Billy’s death.  He was a nice man and certainly an icon in the direct response industry. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family.  We will all miss our good friend Billy Mays!

How to Pick a Call Center – Craig Handley on HispanicMPR.com

CEO of ListenUp Español, Craig Handley, explains “best practices” in U.S. Hispanic Call Center selection in a podcast with Elena del Valle, editor and host of HispanicMPR.com.  Click on the podcast link to hear the interview.

Response Expo – What the experts said about the ‘recession’

Response Expo 2009 was packed with opportunity; to learn, to network, to educate and to sell! We took the opportunity to learn more from the experts in the seminar “Managing through a recession”. Jon Congdon of BeachBody made the point that DR still thrives on selling a solution to a problem. “Our best selling product today is the most expensive one we’ve ever marketed. Don’t assume you have to lower your price. Customers are still looking for a fair price for a good product.” Patricia Romero of Hyundai said that there has been a marked consumer value shift in their industry…that consumers are doing more research and are looking for value….as well as a little something for free. I liked her assertion that “Flat is the new up!” . Manoj Bhargava of 5-Hour Energy really entertained the group with his success story. He admitted that they didn’t know that they weren’t supposed to go to market the way they did…so they did it anyway! His secret was hard work and a ‘weak enemy’. They grew to $300 million dollars in sales over 3 years and have seen 50% growth this year alone. Nice. Manjo spoke about educating consumers about the ‘crash’ that other energy drinks gave it’s drinkers. His perspective is that Product and Marketing are the same thing in the DR industry…when the two are inseparable then the competition has a REALLY hard time knocking you out of first place. One final bon mot…..plan for the sale…which may not necessarily be your end consumer.
Buenas Tardes mis amigos!

Response Expo – Here we come

The Listen Up Español Crew is on its way to Reponse Expo 2009.  It should be an interesting and exciting show.  Most of the top industry professionals will be there and we plan to ask them what they see for the future of DRTV.  We’ll start posting on Wednesday…be sure to check in for the video highlights!

Our clients say it best!

KathiMoore

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Kathi Moore, Beanstalk Media

DRTV and the U.S. Hispanic market

Is Direct Response Television a winning medium to acquire customers and grow sales in the U.S. Hispanic market?

As co-owner of our 520-seat Spanish-language call center focused exclusively on Direct Response, that’s a question I’m often asked. Here is my experience: yes it absolutely is a great medium for the U.S. Hispanic market when done correctly. Creative and the call to action (CTA) need to be tailored a little differently, but we have consistently been able to create positive ROI without COD.

Hard offer CTA works similar to the U.S. market: talk times are longer and close rates are slightly lower creating a higher cost per order. You can offset this with more effective up-sells and cross-sells to increase the AOV. A great script goes a long way to converting soft offer campaigns with an expectation of a purchase, or trial offers, which again, direct a caller to have a form of payment available.

Multi-pays on the back end of trial offers don’t give the same pay-through rates as the U.S, market, you build in a strong premium to “pay today.” On continuity the tail is shorter than in the U.S., so offer a discount at day 60 or 90 to extend the tail past typical U.S. continuity programs, creating a higher ROI.

What is your experience?

Craig Handley