Collecting and collating marketing data is an integral part of any business strategy, allowing a business to better understand its target audience and tailor products, services and marketing campaigns accordingly.

Does your boss watch your every move? Are you tired of the stressful commute to a stuffy office? Has your job search resulted in a series of unsuccessful interviews?

Love them or loathe them, sales calls remain a hugely effective way to win over prospective clients. The convenient yet personal nature of cold calling has remained a favourite marketing technique for decades, used by everyone from top Fortune 500 companies to independent SMEs. Even with the emergence of new technologies such as e-mail, social media and mobile marketing, sales calls have retained their relevance.

John Lewis may have spent £7m on Christmas advertising this year, but you don’t have to spend the big bucks to get your business noticed. An increasing numbers of businesses are using direct mail campaigns to get their message heard. And when you consider that 40% of consumers try new businesses after receiving direct mail, isn’t it about time you tried it too?

The world has come a long way since Alexander Graham Bell famously invented the first telephone back in 1876. Today, OFCOM reports that 93% of British adults personally own and use a mobile phone. The UK itself is home to 25.5 million fixed landlines.