This question was recently asked on a panel at Convergence Summit South. Most of the panellists (four of which had Broadsoft platforms) talked about features and pricing. The resulting questions from an audience of mostly resellers made it clear that the panellists had only further confused them. If resellers and dealers are having problems differentiating between offerings then maybe its no wonder that a recent market report shows 60% of SMEs are too.
Research last year from SIR indicated that the majority of SMEs sought advice from a trusted supplier before buying business communications solutions. Further, they will usually research the web and get a quote from a well known carrier (often BT) before they end up buying from an existing supplier. It is very rare for a reseller to be competing against other resellers in the 10-100 employee market and when it happens the incumbent usually wins (unless they have messed up the relationship).
With your existing customers the main differentiator is you. So what could your first steps into this market be?
1. Pick a technology partner with an established platform that understands this market and works exclusively through channel. Ideally you will want to start with a dealer model (they bill and support) until you are confident with the product and have the capability to support it yourself. Your technology partner should offer the option to move to a reseller model later.
2. Don’t worry about productising just yet. Web sites and collateral can wait until you have sold your first deal. Choose a customer with a need right now. Look for a company that is growing, shrinking, moving office or where their phone system no longer meets their needs or is too old to be supported by the manufacturer.
3. Make sure your technology partner has done their homework on your potential competition. This will mainly be BT but your partner should know all the pros and cons of any system you come up against.
4. Work with your technology partner to win the deal. If they are channel-only and have a good reputation you won't need to worry about your customer appearing on their direct prospect list and this means you can trust them to be engaged fully with your customer.
5. Build your proposition and collateral around your first success. Ask your technology partner to write them up as a case study for you if your customer is willing.
Who can help me?
Resellers and dealers need suppliers they can rely upon, particularly in the early stages of growing a recurring revenue base from hosted voice and connectivity.
Jola ticks all the boxes. We have an experienced team with a proven track record that understand business and are dedicated to the channel. We have a reliable, well supported portfolio designed specifically for voice and data resellers and dealers. Jola Partners win more of the business they bid for and there is no more important metric when deciding who to work with.
