The Client

Ground Support Labs (GSL) are innovators in in-store retail technology. They provide engaging and informative digital displays, interactive customer-detecting retail spaces, and connected technologies that deliver dynamic consumer content. Beyond that, they provide the infrastructure for POS, performance data management and campaign analysis systems, and analytics packages focused on in-store activities like customer dwell time and facial recognition.

With a presence in both the US and the UK, “GSL helps brands engage with consumers through the utilization and optimization of technology,” explains Steve Marquis, GSL’s US-based EVP of Partnerships.

“It might be through something as simple as hanging a screen on the wall to communicate basic content behind a cash register. It might be a 1000 door luxury cosmetic brand that wants to deliver a variety of different customer experiences. It might be an interactive hotel lobby installation that changes with the weather, or it might be delivering large format screens to Times Square, Piccadilly Circus or the Las Vegas Strip.” The common thread, according to Marquis, is the way GSL optimises technology to enhance in-store sales and help retailers better understand consumer behaviour.

The Challenge

Despite being masters of retail technology with decades of combined expertise, GSL had one key pain point limiting their expansion. “We didn’t have the systems in place to scale time for lead generation and business development,” explains Martyn Barnett, Vice President and Managing Director, Ground Support Labs, UK.

Simply put, GSL’s highly specialized team lacked the resources to efficiently identify and interact with the brands they could most benefit. “Our entry points into customer relationships were typically through procurement, through technology, maybe through a partner construction group, but whatever our entry point, to be successful, we have to bring it back to the brand,” says Marquis.

GSL needed to find an efficient way to play to their strengths and create a direct dialogue with the brands, their target clients. Marquis knew they could convert, they just needed to start the conversation. “When we’re sitting at the table with the brand, things always happen. We just need to get in the right room with the right people.”

The Solution

To get themselves into the room, GSL turned to lead and revenue generation specialists Gravitas.io. For its clients, Gravitas.io creates bespoke, industry-specific targeted email campaigns designed to initiate conversations with their ideal prospects.

“We take care of everything. The client doesn’t need a tech stack, they don’t need a database. We manage all the research, we come up with a campaign concept and a great call to action,” explains Connor Addis, Managing Director. “Using our approach, companies like GSL with ten employees can compete against companies with hundreds of staff and massive budgets.”

A Targeted Email Solution

“Because GSL sells in-store technology, we targeted the brand managers and in-store marketing managers of major retail companies like Adidas, Nike, Under Armour, Tommy Hilfiger and Elizabeth Arden — any major company that sells to consumers through a retail store,” says Addis. “We created an enticing call to action to encourage marketing directors to engage with the GSL to learn the latest technology used to engage in-store consumers. There was no sales pitch, just information.”

“Our targeted outbound email strategy involved a four-part mail sequence. Throughout we used natural language as if Martyn or Steve had written the emails personally,” says Addis describing tactics that have proven statistically to increase response rates by up to 67 per cent.

Doing the Homework and Staying Professional

“There is no magic bullet when it comes to sales and marketing, all we can do is stack the odds in our client’s favour and that starts by ensuring we have the most accurate list of prospects.”

On GSL’s behalf, Gravitas.io sent personalised emails to prospective decision-makers based on a list they had hand-researched and that GSL had personally approved to ensure they were only reaching out to prospects GSL wanted to work with.

Avoiding the Sales Pitch and Offering Value

“Our goal for the GSL campaign was to offer real value to the right prospects. We made it clear we weren’t going to sell them anything or follow up with them unless they requested it,” Addis explains. “By doing this we differentiated ourselves from the hundreds of other companies pressuring uninterested prospects for calls. It is a low-pressure approach that added credibility to GSL’s approach.”

“It’s amazing. We have meetings set with enterprise accounts and have submitted proposals worth over £500,000. I was initially concerned I would need to invest a lot of my own time, but that hasn’t been the case at all. Three months in, and the campaign is working autonomously.”

Martyn Barnett - Parker Software Vice President and Managing Director, Ground Support Labs, London

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