Jola Cloud Solutions' Blog

It is hard to achieve a good experience for all customers at all times.  Technology can fail, third parties can let you down and, despite your best efforts, end customers can feel like their issue is not being resolved fast enough.

Understanding how to best differentiate your proposition is a question many marketing, sales and product specialists are revisiting on a regular basis. It is hard to sell on the basis of customer service. Everyone will claim that their customers rate them very highly and prospects just expect this to be the case anyway. However, once you have satisfied customers you are less likely to lose them on price and more likely to win customers from your competitors, for whom customer service may be less of a priority.

What constitutes great customer service has changed over the years. It is no longer enough to answer the phones within 10 seconds and respond promptly to emails. Resellers, dealers and their end business customers expect more.

Putting the customer in the driving seat

Self-service portals are expected and if you don’t have the know-how or resource to develop systems in house you probably choose suppliers that do. Simply being able to order products online is no longer sufficient and the best customer experience occurs when every aspect of the ordering, provisioning and support journey is considered., Resellers and dealers need to be able to order multiple services in one journey, create branded click-to-order quotes and be able to extend online features to their own customers. The best companies are going one step further by creating management portals that anticipate and solve real business problems. Mobile data is a recent example. As coverage has improved and costs have come down, businesses that want to make more use of mobile data have been put off by unpredictable overage charges and their inability to manage large estates of mobile data SIMs. Mobile Manager has for the first time given resellers and their customers the tools to activate, swap, pause and cease SIMs through an intuitive, easy to use portal.

Two big initiatives

When it comes to enhancing the customer experience, customer journey mapping and personalisation are the two big initiatives. As marketers we can learn from the behaviour of our prospects and customers and customise our approaches and promotions accordingly.

The impact on growth and profit

Good customer experience is not just about a feel-good factor. Companies with higher customer satisfaction scores grow faster, are more profitable and worth more.

Whether you are a small company looking to grow your business or a large company looking for market dominance, you will need sound planning, consistently astute decision making and successful execution to achieve your goals.

Growth strategies are numerous and diverse but in general the three ways to build a business are; through sales, by buying other companies, or by buying their customers.

To build or to buy?

Both strategies present risks and trade-offs which need to be fully analysed and addressed before progressing.

Inorganic Growth 

This roll-up model is best suited to industries that rely on recurring revenues. Whether you are buying the whole company or just their customer contracts, the objective is to buy them for less than the terminal value of the combined group. In industries like telecommunications where resellers are valued on multiples of gross margin, it is common for suppliers to buy their resellers for the margin improvement created when a link in the chain is removed.

A sudden shift in size presents multiple challenges such as integrating new customers, changing the billing process, managing an enhanced product portfolio and new suppliers. Success comes down to skilful execution and integration with minimal investment in new systems and staff.

Organic Growth

Pursuing organic growth takes time and nurturing. You may start with an idea and a portfolio of services and go off on a profitable tangent, developing new propositions with higher recurring margins in new niche markets.

It takes time to fully understand your market, where products and services exactly meet the needs of your audience and offer something above and beyond the competition at a margin that works.

Risks occur when expansion outpaces the ability to effectively manage the new business. Growth from new revenue streams can easily divert focus and resource from core business, which in itself can be risky. On the whole, organic growth may be slower but easier to manage.

Business users are consuming far more data than they used to due to remote working and the availability of mobile apps, such as Office 365 and Skype for Business. Other business applications have followed suit, creating for example business telephony apps, allowing users to make, forward and receive calls on their mobile as if it were their desk phone.

According to Gartner, there will be as many as 21 billion connected devices by 2020 generating additional mobile data traffic. SIM cards are being used inside more and more vertical devices, presenting challenges. Firstly, how can you manage a SIM card that is inserted into a device and thousands of miles away? Secondly how can you manage usage? We know there are high costs for going over data allowances on mobile phone contracts, the same applies in other devices.

According to a recent report by Zion Research, VoIP services are set to grow rapidly over the next few years, reaching £112 billion globally by 2021. The report explains that the growth is driven by the technological advancement of network infrastructure and is influenced by the rise in the number of portable devices.

The report analyses VoIP by call type with international VoIP calls emerging as the leading segment, with the majority of calls being made by computer to computer. Phone-to-phone calls are predicted to see the highest growth over the next few years. Hosted services as well as IP connectivity are set to see significant growth as businesses come out of contract and realise the cost benefits of upgrading their business telephony.

The benefits

Reduced costs with no capital outlay

Many hosted solutions are sold on a per-seat basis with no initial capital outlay, unless customers want to buy handsets upfront. In addition, many call costs are free, not just internally across multiple sites, but to UK landlines and mobiles too, with low international call rates.

Feature-rich

Features such as busy lamp fields, auto attendant, call recording, call reporting and music on hold are now more affordable on a per-seat-per-month basis and customers can tailor the solution to meet their exact requirements.

Multiple devices

Some hosted telephony solutions are available on multiple devices such as computers, tablets and mobiles, which enables customers to work remotely as if they had taken their desk phone with them.

Scalability

It is easy to add or remove a seat as required, as many hosted solutions are on 30-day contracts.

Disaster recovery

If for whatever reason there is an issue with the phone system, your office, or employees can’t get into work, you can easily re-route calls to mobiles and carry on, business as usual.

If you partner with suppliers for services such as internet connectivity or hosted telephony, there is often an on-boarding process. Some suppliers insist on product and platform training before ordering portals are released, others are much more flexible, tailoring programmes and materials to suit you.

But how much training is required?

Often you are familiar with the technology and have used similar portals so little structured training is required.  You have account managers on hand to help you as you pitch, close and provision your first order and your support team is not fazed by the latest variation of services.

You may want more in-depth product training for multiple team members to gain an overview of key features and benefits and target customers. Information about competitive products you are likely to come up against in the market and which USPs to promote. Provisioning teams may require in-depth platform training and support teams may prefer more technical training around common faults and fixes.

What’s the best method of training?

Face to face

Some people prefer on-site practical training, where they can drive processes from start to finish, with guidance from experienced trainers.

Online

Others prefer online training webinars they can book themselves with access to recordings to refresh knowledge or train others as required. Many portals are intuitive with help guides, training videos and support documentation online.

I recently read an article about marketing in the channel. Interesting points were raised about strategic planning and consistency. Aligning marketing plans with business plans and playing the long game were cited as being key. Agencies and suppliers were offering marketing support to help resellers make the most out of funding and materials available, but how effective can they be in isolation?

On the vendor/supplier side you want to create scalable programmes that are easy to manage with measurable ROI. Resellers want hot leads, new customers and increased revenue.

The challenges

The two biggest challenges for marketing are setting expectations from the outset and gaining collaborative commitment throughout the business. MDs are often attracted by the prospect of receiving new leads without committing time or resources. They hope for quick results and disappointment can turn to dis-interest.

Integration

Marketing doesn’t stand alone. It needs to be integrated into core business strategy. Companies that have grown well in the channel with recognisable brands have not only integrated marketing plans with the core business plan but also understood the needs of the market. They have packaged, priced, promoted and supported solutions profitably to meet these needs, often investing heavily to do so. The senior management team are as focused on leads as they are on opportunities and marketing statistics are measured in the same way.

Be the bearer

10 years ago we saw demand for white label managed broadband. Traditional telecommunications providers decided to sell own-branded internet connectivity. Their objective was often to win future hosted telephony business running over their data connection. They were billing and supporting new revenue streams, increasing ARPU and the potential value of their companies.

Today we are seeing the same trend with managed mobile data. IT companies are adding fixed and mobile data connectivity to their portfolios to act as a conduit for the sale of hosted services. Their objective is to support devices and applications connected to the internet.

Demand

4G routers are being used as primary connections where broadband service is poor but also for pre-Ethernet connectivity and Ethernet back-up. Mobile data SIMs are being fitted in many gaming machines, vending machines, monitoring devices, sensors and ATMs as standard. Every day manufacturers and service companies are finding new uses for mobile data and as we accelerate towards 5G this is unlikely to slow down.

SMEs are demanding faster, more competitive access to the internet, whether that be wired, wireless or 4G. Services are viewed as a commodity so businesses want to know what is available at what speed and who has the best deal. Partnering with companies who have multi-carrier quoting tools and experience working with the carriers, is essential to winning the business.

Mobile data

Mobile data has its own unique set of challenges. Managing usage is essential to avoid bill shock. Partnering with companies that have portals to allow you to manage vast estates of data SIMs at a touch of a button, will help to grow this revenue stream.

According to a recent report by IDC the implementation of Internet of Things (IoT) is growing exponentially due to several simultaneous new developments: leaps in innovation around computing, storage and analytics; falling technology costs; and a sharp jump in mobile device use. They predict that by 2020, there will be 28 billion connected units globally and the market for IoT solutions will top £5.6 trillion. They see growth from the business market outstripping that of the consumer market.

In the channel we are seeing an exponential rise in demand for mobile data SIMs and not only for use in 3G/4G routers, pre-Ethernet connectivity and Ethernet back-up. Mobile data SIMs are being fitted in many gaming machines, vending machines, monitoring devices, sensors and ATMs as standard. Every day manufacturers and service companies are finding new uses for mobile data and as we accelerate towards 5G this is unlikely to slow down.

The challenges

The issue for many is one of management. Unlike FTTC, which is largely unlimited (usually with a fair use policy), mobile broadband is sold with monthly usage allowances and financial penalties for over usage. Pricing is high and there has been no easy management portal until now.

Companies that possess detailed knowledge about their customers and use it to their profitable advantage are successful. Knowing specifically what buyers want, savvy leaders can build and deliver the precise solutions to meet their needs. They have the knowledge to offer the right products at the right price with the appropriate service wrap. They mirror problems and propose appropriate solutions to create positive buying experiences.

In marketing we look to better understand the needs of our customers to tailor offers to meet these requirements. When our partners look to marketing for help, they are often looking for new prospects to sell new services to. By first analysing their existing base, for what sales like to call ‘low hanging fruit’, partners gain a clearer picture of the required price point and service wrap needed to win the business. It is much easier to sell to an existing customer and once the first deal has gone through, confidence and commitment to the new revenue stream grows. With the right reference sites, partners start to build a pipeline of opportunities from their target profile.

By understanding the changing needs of an existing customer base and evolving to meet future requirements, companies not only protect future revenues, but also increase ARPU and have the knowledge they need to win new business.

As many of you are aware the staff at Jola have all worked together before at Griffin. Griffin was a channel ISP that won multiple awards and was regarded by many as the UK’s leading white label broadband supplier to the channel.

Griffin predicted early on that when internet connectivity became fast enough and reliable enough, that there would be a market for cloud-hosted applications. Griffin invented managed broadband and enabled hundreds of resellers to become virtual ISPs.

Prior to the launch of MOPS (Griffin’s Managed Online Provisioning System), telecoms providers selling internet connectivity did so on a commission basis. As the market converged, they saw suppliers more as competition and needed to take back control of the customer experience. To eliminate the risk and maximise the value of their businesses, they wanted to provide broadband under their own brand. The prospect of becoming an ISP in 5 days was appealing.

Griffin developed MOPS to meet this need and helped the telecommunications channel grow new revenue streams from ADSL, SDSL, ADSL2+, FTTC and leased lines.

Could the same thing be happening with mobile broadband?

4G is widely available in the UK with typical download speeds of around 20Mb/s and theoretical speeds of up to 150Mb/s. We have seen a surge in demand for data-only SIMs in devices other than smart phones. Business users are keen to use 4G to connect devices to the internet, especially in areas where broadband connectivity is slow. The issue for many is one of management. Unlike FTTC, which is largely unlimited (usually with a fair use policy), mobile broadband is sold with monthly usage allowances with financial penalties for overusage. Pricing is high and there has been no easy management portal until now.