Perfect Pitch Proudly Presents: Perfect Presentation At Perfect Pitch we’re pleased to announce a new service, Perfect Presentation. A trademark we’re very proud of is that most of our telemarketers are or have been actors at one point in their career. Using this to our advantage we are introducing a new service which gives our clients the opportunity to spend a couple of hours with a trained actor, refining their presentation skills. Here is a case study of our most recent Perfect Presentation session. For more information please get in touch with Nigel Blake here.
Izzie Reports on Her Part in the Olympic Ceremonies Campaign Manager Izzie Radley was lucky enough to experience both Olympic Opening and Closing Ceremonies first hand. Here she reports on her part as Placard Bearer and Flag Escort for Dominica OPENING CEREMONY 27/07/12 I was about to step out into a stadium full of 80,000 people and a mind boggling television audience of two billion people, almost a third of the world’s population. I felt every emotion there is to feel including absolute terror but I would not have missed it for the world. It was the most incredible experience of my life. After sixty nine hours of rehearsals, I found myself standing next to athlete and flag bearer Erison Hurtault. I was wearing a dress with hundreds of faces on, surrounded by the first 70 of 204 hyped up girls, all fellow placard bearers, with 70 10-12 year olds “petal children” and all the athletes from countries A-E; waiting to be cued to lead out Dominica in the London 2012 Olympic Opening Ceremony. That moment when I stepped out of the vom [large entrance] into the stadium is something I’ll never forget. It was equally one of the most overwhelming and terrifying experiences I’ve ever had. With 80,000 audience members and an estimated 2 billion watching on screens across the world, the only thing I could think about was not tripping up! Can you imagine being the one girl to ruin the whole ceremony in front of the entire WORLD because you couldn’t do the simplest of tasks as walking? Speaking to the girls before and after, I think we all went through the same things. In the two minutes of being escorted from our dressing rooms in the stadium (underneath the Queen’s Royal Box, no less) to our entrance, I experienced every emotion shoot through me – from excitement to sheer terror. At one point Louise (leading out Djibouti) and I were so close to tears we had to go as far as separating ourselves simply to calm down and regain our composure. We couldn’t after all ruin our make-up, a worry which was stressful enough in itself!! We were the only segment in the stadium to have the privilege of being able to watch the ceremony live from the doors of our dressing room. Being able to see out to the stadium we saw most performances, from Pandemonium (Industrial Revolution) to Second To The Right And Straight On Till Morning (NHS Workers) and we got to see this incredible spectacle four times, during three dress rehearsals and one real thing! Brushing shoulders with the likes of Danny Boyle – who made a point coming to every rehearsal for support, Dizzee Rascal – who passed through our dressing room after his performances and The Arctic Monkeys – who during the final tech on the day of the ceremony gave a private concert to the early arrivals – has just added to our experience. We are also one of the only segments to be lucky enough to be appearing in the Closing Ceremony too. The Olympic Park and Olympic Stadium has become like a second home to the girls, spending the best part of two weeks there – we have had to remind ourselves several times just how lucky we are to be in such a position. CLOSING CEREMONY 12/08/12 And so it’s all over! I can’t really believe The Games have finished and my Olympic experience is at an end. After the Opening Ceremony, came three more seven hour rehearsals for what was to be the second of two of the greatest shows on earth. The Closing Ceremony was much more of a celebration and rightly so. The atmosphere was electric in the stadium and in the dressing rooms. It was very different to the Opening Ceremony but not particularly in a bad way… just different. We arrived at the stadium at 10am on Sunday morning and after two hours in hair and make-up I had begun the transformation into one of the 205 flag escorts who would be walking out to a full stadium for the last time accompanying the top athletes from each country. Close-up we looked ridiculous with over the top make-up and scraped back hair, held in place by a diamante decorated cable tie – which was so painful I went through half a packet of Ibuprofen during the day! We were reassured however, that it would look fine from the distance of the stadium and would look good on television. I am still not entirely convinced but it was an experience nonetheless! For this ceremony, our dressing room was right next to the VIP dressing room, which meant we brushed shoulders with more or less all the celebs that were featured during the show. It was one of the most surreal experiences I’ve ever had and probably will ever have! From David Beckham, visiting Posh to the beautiful Annie Lennox, Kate Moss and Naomi Campbell. At one point Harry and Louis from One Direction were standing right by us and I had no idea. Even when pointed out I was clueless but the volunteer child cast seemed very excited by it all! Walking out of the vom [large entrance to the arena] for the last time on Sunday evening caused another rollercoaster of emotions. This time for different reasons. It was exciting, nerve-wracking but also a little sad. The Olympics and the Ceremonies were a big part of my life for nine months and I can easily say the best part between July & August. I’ve been lucky enough to not only be a part of the two best shows on earth but see three different events live – including Usain Bolt’s stunning 200m final. As I stood facing the crowd listening to Elbow perform ‘One Day’, standing behind my athlete Luan Gabriel, it not only hit me what I’d been a part of but it equally hit me that it was now over and I’d have to go back to everyday life without having the buzz of the Olympic Games in the air. 2012 has been a massive year for the UK and I hope we can all create and maintain the desired legacy. It truly has been a stunning Olympic Games and we should all be very proud to be British! I know I certainly am.
Perfect Pitch feature in the Surrey Ad Perfect Pitch Consultancy, the Godalming based firm, says it has gone from strength to strength after employing actors and actresses to make sales calls on behalf of clients. Managing Director Nigel Blake set up the business just nine months ago and in that short space of time has generated significant leads for businesses in a wide range of sectors including logistics, IT, energy management, estate agency, design, print, marketing and financial services. “I wanted to offer a flexible and cost-effective service to clients, enabling them to turn their sales tap on and off depending on their needs, an approach which they cannot take if they have a full-time sales employee”, he said. “I began my career in telemarketing and saw the detrimental effect of employing unmotivated students or temporary workers to sell a range of products and services in a call centre environment.” Perfect Pitch’s success is linked to the number of appointments it sets up, based on the qualifying criteria defined by the client and with his troupe of actors; he has been able to exceed industry averages. One client achieved an average of one to two bookings per day through their previous sales agency. The Perfect Pitch team arranged four to five per day. Jonathan Griffiths is one of the actors in the Perfect Pitch team. He has appeared in a number of commercials and music videos as well as theatre performances, ranging from pantomime to Shakespeare. He is about to start filming as the boyfriend of Girls Aloud star, Sarah Harding for a UK feature film called Gridiron UK. He said: “When we are making a sales call, we are essentially playing a character. We are able to speak to a CEO of a big corporation just as easily as a facilities manager in a factory. We have practised our improvisation skills for years and are also used to dealing politely with rejection whilst being determined to succeed.” Mr Blake added: “Our strategy to use actors is also leading to wider opportunities for us. One of our clients asked if Jon would be the compere for the day at the Godalming Food Festival. He was delighted to be able to take on this role and it was fantastic for Perfect Pitch to support the local community in this way.”
Heat Business Club in Perfect Hands! Nigel Blake, Director of Perfect Pitch Consultancy and Jaz Blake, Director of Perfect PA have taken over the reins of running the Heat Business Club – a business club which involves sponsorship, community support and inter-trading. The husband and wife team are picking up the mantle from Kate Lester, Managing Director of Diamond Logistics, who founded and headed up the Heat Business Club last year and has now been promoted to the Guildford Heat’s Head of Sales and Marketing. Nigel Blake commented, “The Heat Business Club has already proved to be extremely effective as an inter-trading club, with thousands of pounds worth of business being secured by members. We intend to add more value to our members this year, particularly with enhanced branding opportunities. For example, Sky will be filming a number of the Heat games at Surrey Sports Park and this presents a great opportunity for national TV coverage for Guildford Heat sponsors. “Our sponsorship enables the Heat to continue with its work in the local community – providing coaching and mentoring to young people and running programmes in schools throughout the region to tackle obesity and anti-social behaviour. “Our overall aim is to add value to local businesses and support the Heat with its excellent work in the community. We offer sector exclusivity and there are still vacancies within the Heat Business Club for an architect, a builder, a telecoms company, a software company and a recruitment consultancy.” Businesses which provide over £3,000 worth of goods or services to support the Guildford Heat are entitled to become members of the Heat Business Club. Current members include: Asperion, Diamond Logistics, Dentons Pensions, Downs Solicitors LLP, Dorking Service Centre, ECC, Fidelis Security, Frederic Miller, John Dennis Coachbuilders, Love Your Logo, Perfect Pitch Consultancy, Quin-nessence, ramsac, Robinson Buckley, Wigwam PR and Zap Digitial Print. For further information about the Heat Business Club, please contact Nigel Blake on 01483 422998. Photo caption: The Heat Business Club marked the launch of the 2010/2011 basketball season this month with its first meeting at the Heat’s new home, the Surrey Sports Park. The event was sponsored by Quin-nessence. In the picture are Jaz Blake and Nigel Blake alongside the Heat’s captain, Mike Martin and Scorcher, the Heat’s mascot. 17 September 2010 http://www.surrey-chambers.co.uk/Newslink/November_Newslink_2010.pdf
Actors Deliver Top Quality Performances at Perfect Pitch Lights, Camera…Sales! Actors Deliver Top Quality Performances at Perfect Pitch An unusual recruitment strategy is helping Perfect Pitch Consultancy to grow from strength to strength. The Godalming-based sales consultancy employs actors and actresses to make sales calls on behalf of clients – and the results speak for themselves. Nigel Blake, managing director of Perfect Pitch, set up the business less than a year ago and in a short space of time has generated significant leads for businesses in a wide range of sectors including logisitics, IT, energy management, property services, design, print, marketing and financial services. According to Nigel, “I have a strong background in sales and was determined to set up a business in Surrey which offers the highest level of professionalism – an outsourced sales team which acts as a true ambasssador for every company we represent. I wanted to offer a flexible and cost-effective service to clients, enabling them to turn their sales tap on and off depending on their needs – an approach which they cannot take if they have a full-time sales employee. “I began my career in telemarketing and saw the detrimental effect of employing unmotivated students or temporary workers to sell a range of products and services in a call centre environment. I was determined to operate at a different level. I am fully aware that the success of a sales consultancy is largely determined by the quality of people who are making the sales calls. I started by employing an actor and realised that many of his skills were ideal to help me to deliver high quality calls on behalf of clients. I have since built up a pool of actors and am able to match their interests and skills to the different sales campaigns for our clients.” Nigel has been impressed by the results gained from his team of actors. From his experience they are driven, motivated by results, good listeners and highly articulate. Pefect Pitch’s success is linked to the number of appointments it sets up, based on the qualifying criteria defined by the client – and with his troupe of actors, he has been able to exceed industry averages. One client achieved an average of one to four bookings per day through their previous sales agency. The Perfect Pitch team arranged four to five per day. Roy Hanif, CEO, Carbon Credentials, echoes this point. “Perfect Pitch was prepared to work on a ‘results only’ basis. They delivered and outperformed other telemarketing companies we were using at the time.” Jon Griffiths, a graduate from GSA, is one of the actors in the Perfect Pitch team. He has appeared in a number of commercials and music videos as well as theatre performances, ranging from pantomime to Shakespeare. He is about to start filming as the boyfriend of Girls Aloud star, Sarah Harding for a UK feature film called Grid Iron. He commented, “When we are making a sales call, we are essentially playing a character. We are able to speak to a CEO of a big corporation just as easily as a facilities manager in a factory. We have practiced our improvisation skills for years and are also used to dealing politely with rejection whilst being determined to succeed. ” With his cast of actors at hand, complimented by some professional sales personnel, too, Nigel Blake seems to have created a winning formula. He concludes, ““Our strategy to use actors is also leading to wider opportunities for us. One of our clients asked if Jon would be the compère for the day at the Godalming Food Festival. He was delighted to be able to take on this role and it was fantastic for Perfect Pitch to support the local community in this way. “Thanks to our success rate, we have already exceeded our business goals for our first year of trading. So far, I’ve grown the business through my existing contacts and by becoming a member of the Heat Business Club, which has resulted in projects from fellow-members and helped us to raise our profile. It’s been so much easier to bring in new business by having an unusual yet proven business proposition. Having built a strong track record in a short space of time, we are now growing primarily through client referrals. We haven’t even needed to do a telesales campaign about ourselves yet!” http://www.surrey-chambers.co.uk/members_news.php?memID=921