Jola Cloud Solutions' Blog

Fuelled by high demand and the recent expansion of the Government’s voucher scheme, Internet connectivity is becoming a core product for voice and data resellers and a conduit to sell cloud solutions.

Many resellers and dealers have traditionally steered clear of internet connectivity because of thin margins, provisioning issues and support overheads. With the recent introduction of FTTC, Ethernet and Government incentives this is changing.

Think of the best salesperson you know and the best interviewer on TV. Is there any trait they have in common? 

1. They empathise well

The one thing that stands out for me is empathy. The ability to understand the point of view of the person you are talking to - to be able to say what they are thinking. When you demonstrate this ability you build rapport and people start to trust you.

With some people empathy is instinctive, even genetic. They naturally ask questions rather than talk about themselves and are genuinely interested in other people. For others it is something to learn and develop.

At first sight Fibre to the Cabinet and Ethernet First Mile seem to be very similar products at vastly different prices. BTWholesale (BTW) launched EFM at the beginning of 2010 and almost exactly a year later Talk Talk Business (TTB) announced that they had enabled just under 2000 exchanges for their version of the product. At the same time BTW rolled out FTTC, starting with a handful of exchanges in early 2010 but quickly accelerating their roll out.

Market Liberalisation

Liberalisation of the UK communications market was a journey that began in the early 1980s with very small steps in to an exciting unknown. You could pick from a range of times in the early 1980s when the UK comms channel came in to being. There was no big bang and no-one fired a starting pistol. It was a funny old time at British Telecom, only a few years prior they were called Post Office Telecommunications and their name was not shortened to BT until 1991. Staff at BT at the time (250,000) were mostly ex-civil servants who were employed at a time when the Postmaster General had a seat in the Cabinet. It was happening a bit too fast for many; not only had the name changed but the market had begun a phased programme of liberalisation in 1981. In 1982, a licence was granted to Cable & Wireless to run a public telecommunications network through its subsidiary, Mercury Communications. And then the company was privatised in 1984.

Where FTTC or EoFTTC (see earlier blog on connectivity types) are not available to their customer a common question I get from Jola Partners is around Return on Investment (ROI).

Since we launched our automated connectivity quoting tool in the middle of March 2015 we have quoted for nearly 400 separate postcodes. The feedback we have had is that the system is simple and fast and the question we are most frequently asked is about the differences between Fibre Ethernet, EFM, EoFTTC and FTTC.

We asked our customers what was the best thing about their JolaPhone hosted telephony system. These were the top 5 answers.

I was out with one of our JolaPhone dealers last week demonstrating the platform. The customer, warming to the concept, made the point that they would probably need to upgrade from their existing ADSL circuit to either Fibre broadband or a leased line. The dealer replied that he agreed but it was not something they got involved in. When the customer nipped out to get their BT bills I ask Jon why he felt that way. He said they did not do 24/7 support and the 36 month commitment on leased lines worried him in case the customer went bust or didn’t pay. Dealing with the carriers was a pain he said. It took ages to get prices from them all and even then he had to haggle to be sure he was getting the best deal. By the time he went back to the customer they had usually progressed the circuit with someone else.

5 tips for generating high quality IT contracts

Q. When is an organisation absolutely, definitely in the market for a complete IT overhaul?
A. When they are moving into a new building

There are hundreds of construction consultants in the UK ranging from huge international companies like Capita and Mott Mac to small local businesses. Often they are given the task not only of overseeing the construction and fit-out of a building but also making sure utilities and IT infrastructure are ready to go when the client moves in. They are a remarkably un-tapped resource for IT companies and here are 5 ways to help you engage successfully with them.