Jola Cloud Solutions' Blog

Introduction

Local breweries are springing up all over the country. Often family-run and led by experienced brewers determined to make their hobby profitable. Local breweries like many other growing SMEs often have online shops so typically require a faster, more reliable broadband connection.

BT estimate that around 80% of businesses now have access to FTTC (Fibre To The Cabinet - fibre broadband) which is helping to facilitate the introduction of new cloud-hosted applications such as hosted telephony.

1 – To facilitate a move to hosted telephony 

Growth is one driver causing breweries to consider purchasing a cloud phone system. Extensions can be purchased on a monthly basis with the ability to add or reduce connections as required. They can keep their existing phone numbers and with no physical system on site the set-up is quick and easy.

2 – To access an array of new phone features

The most compelling feature of hosted telephony solutions for local breweries is that, perhaps with only a couple of extensions, they have all the features of a much larger and highly developed business phone system. Many features are included as standard, such as shared call appearance, voicemail and disaster recovery. A range of inexpensive add-ons like unmetered standard UK landline and mobile, call recording and auto attendant can also be rented monthly.

Internet bandwidth is getting cheaper and faster and as a result, revenues from business cloud products are growing quicker than ever before.

Most voice resellers and IT support companies that were not already selling connectivity, cloud voice and mobile SIMs are now actively looking into it, either to protect their customer bases or to add valuable recurring revenues and margins.

Unless you intend to build your own network and switches you will probably need to select a supply partner. This subject has been well covered in previous blogs so we need make no further comment here.

This article is about how you engage with your chosen supplier(s).

Dealer or reseller?

The most common question we get as we recruit new partners is if they should become a dealer or a reseller. This is not as straightforward to answer as it may seem. In general terms a reseller has the contract with the end customer and they bill and support them directly. A dealer often sells the solution to their customer but the billing and support will be done by the supplier who will often then pay the dealer a commission. The decision to go dealer or reseller can differ between products and contract terms so the first thing to say is make sure you pick a supplier that offers both schemes with options to transition between them. Here are a few more things to consider;

1 Experience

As a team we have over 70 years’ experience in the IP business. Even if you are an accomplished reseller it is useful to have someone on your side that really understands communications and the cloud. We can answer detailed questions and help build and quote custom solutions.

2 One quoting tool for all the major networks

We have access to all the major network operators. Simply enter your customer’s postcode and address and within minutes receive a spreadsheet with the best prices for Fibre, EFM and EoFTTC leased lines from all available network operators.

When deciding to add voice and data solutions to your portfolio, you may read a lot of websites highlighting the benefits of key product offerings and explaining the potential benefits of partnering. 

Most of the benefits suggested by suppliers as reasons to partner with them have turned into ‘givens’ overtime i.e. suppliers that don’t have them, won’t generally make your shortlist. Givens include quality of products, portals, 24/7 support, predictable and accurate commission payments and trust.

Outside of these, resellers and dealers need to know three things;

1 - Is it easy to sell, quote and order?

For a product to be easy to sell, it requires demand, unique features, reliability and a good price. If it is a great product with an over-complicated or clunky quoting and ordering portal, you will be less likely to recommend the services and place orders. If the supplier also makes your own selling process easier with collateral, contracts, proposals, sales support and advice, this may give you and your sales teams more confidence with their products.

A 2016 survey conducted by Deloitte highlighted new opportunities as many SMEs take advantage of faster, more secure connectivity, smart technologies and the rise in mobile data.

Telecommunications companies will be looking for opportunities to increase revenue through their core businesses such as network connectivity and the sale of network equipment and devices. They will also be planning to introduce new related products and services.

New opportunities

Public sector

New opportunities for growth may be found in the public sector, as local authorities try to save money by introducing hosted telephony for their own offices and smart technologies for things like parking, lighting and security.

Small businesses account for 99.3% of all private sector business in the UK. There has been sustained growth in the business population over the last few years contributing to 47% of all private sector turnover, totalling £1.8 trillion.

Many growing businesses have common traits, one of which seems to be a focus on key performance indicators. KPIs not only monitor progress but can also highlight any issues which need to be addressed. Here are the top five things every small business should measure:

1 Cash flow

Operating cash flow is probably the most important short-term measurement in your business. It is the most common reason that even the most profitable small businesses run into difficulties. Essentially it is the money you have left in the bank each month and is calculated by subtracting your operating expenses from your gross margin, adding in timing issues (like when you get paid vs when you have to pay your bills) and removing non-cash items like depreciation. Negative cash flow often occurs when you have to pay your bills before some customers have paid you. SMEs that want to sell to larger corporations often get bullied on payment terms and this is worth knowing before going after this business. Banks are usually very open to providing overdrafts for working capital but only if this is pre-arranged. Also try and get all your customers on Direct Debit to mitigate the effect of the late payers. Produce a quarterly cash-flow forecast every month.

Do you have business customers asking for SIM-only bundles?

Every penny counts when you are running a small business, particularly for those just starting up. Keeping a lid on everyday bills means freeing up more cash to help a company grow. Even small changes, such as reviewing mobile contracts, can attribute considerable savings.

SMEs are moving away from long-term expensive, inflexible mobile contracts in favour of SIM-only deals, often on monthly rolling contracts.

Have you thought about adding SIMs to your product portfolio?

Jola offers the best Vodafone SIM-only deals for SMEs via partners and has doubled the data allowance on each package.

With no handsets to support and excellent service, this is an easy additional revenue stream. Our end user deals are better than any available from the mobile operators and you earn a good ongoing revenue on every penny your customers spend with us. We offer both reseller and dealer schemes.

Small businesses can use excellent service to appear bigger, in what Salesforce describes as the 'blowfish effect'. SMEs that deliver speedy, personalised and friendly customer service across multiple channels are getting the edge over larger rivals. Review our five ways to improve customer service;

1 - Focus on reducing customer complaints

In any business issues will arise and mistakes will be made. By analysing where and how mistakes are being made and the effect on your customers, you can take action to reduce errors and improve customer satisfaction.

Adoption rates of hosted telephony are increasing as SMEs look to reduce the costs and complexities of business telephony. SMEs are factoring in revenue growth, enhanced productivity and additional features but what are the top 5 drivers for SMEs to move to hosted telephony?

1 – Out of contract

SMEs with phone systems that are out of their service contract often struggle to find parts and fix faults. There are limited funds to make another large capital investment and a need for additional call features such as application integration. 

When you are looking for a partner for voice and data services, you will almost certainly be given access to a portal, but how do you know whose portal would be right for you? What makes a good dealer portal? Consider the following:

What does it do?

As a dealer you will probably be preparing the quotation, with your supplier billing, supporting and paying you a monthly commission. Does the portal generate professional co-branded proposals that can be emailed to your customer and how easy is it then for them to review and place the order? Most dealers want to see recommended prices but with the option to change them as they deem appropriate. Can your supplier do this? Is it a straightforward margin share with automated commission or do you have to invoice for a percentage each month?