FMBE Blog: The Big Deals – 7 of the best sales agencies

Want field sales? Who are you going to deal with? FMBE looks at the leading award performers in recent years and selects 7 agencies to consider

CPM

Outsourced sales agency CPM’s absence from the awards last year meant we were without the team who owned the category in 2012 and 2013 with two golds and a bronze. CPM is the largest agency with a fieldforce for hire but its wins were not about scale but innovation. It drove big wins for Babylicious in 2012 with a digitally connected team of campaigning mums, whilst for Tassimo in 2013 it chose sales locations for coffee machines driven by location data, mindset and propensity to buy. Intelligence, training and the option of scales makes the CPM team and its sales offering a formidable one.

Field Sales Solutions

If you feel your local convenience store has been attacked by Tic Tac tactics to engage your sweet tooth then you might hold agency Field Sales Solutions to account. The rise and rise of Ferrero has been underpinned in the UK by a dedicated sales team that has seen the UK emerge as a huge market for Nutella, Kinder et al.  Well, someone has to drive sales for a factory in Alba that produces a staggering 24 million Rochers a day.

The gold winning team HQ’s in Oxford can justly take a bow after instigating a massive uplift in Kinder Eggs to win 2015 category gold at FMBE.

Further reading: http://www.theguardian.com/business/2015/oct/30/ferrero-rocher-factory-chocolatier-christmas-market

Powerforce

FMBE gold wining energy sales for British Gas was a case study that helped put growing field marketing agency Powerforce on a broader map as a multi-discipline team that could convert passion into sales conversion. Already regarded as a best in class agency for instore sampling and logistical excellence, British Gas success showed off the Powerforce team as team to consider for any task that requires responsible and knowledgeable sales performers. This was a best practice team if ever we saw one. The client praised its agency for delivering “effective and measurable controls to ensure a first class customer experience.”

Contract People

This Irish agency won silver in category in 2014 and 2015 with British American Tobacco and United Biscuits. The 2015 winning work for McVities also won gold in our instore category as the agency helped the brand to underline an effective ad campaign with extra store FSDU sitings and buck a 5% declining market trend to give the brand growth against those prevailing odds.

REL Field Marketing

Bronze with Mondelez in 2012 and 2013 and with Nikon in 2013 and then silver with Red Bull in 2015 shows REL’s consistency in sending out teams with a truly dynamic sales ethic. Gold in the category will surely be a target for the agency in 2016 that was lauded by 2015 judges for innovation with Red Bull, the team that has long been regarded as a top benchmark performer in the field marketing industry.

ODM

A field sales specialist, ODM doesn’t enter FMBE every year but when they do they are a force to be reckoned with. 2012’s silver win with Sainsbury’s Bank was typical of an agency that sets the gold standard in the tricky and heavily regulated credit card sector. The team’s integration with Sainsbury’s shopper friendly ethos was seamless – and highly successful.

Gekko

Gekko’s large back catalogue of FMBE award success is often underpinned by outlandishly good sales results direct to the consumer tech shopper using in store demonstrators. Their silver winning 2013 activity for Samsung was entered ‘not for publication’ but it bore all of the hallmarks of the agency’s innate determination and unerring belief in the value that you can bring by getting the right promoter in the right store on the right day. Gekko’s sales staff can typically be relied upon to get high percentages of shoppers to commit to high value considered purchases during store visits.