Talking with VoIP Providers most are just selling SIP Trunking. Why do I say Just? Where's the value in that? PRI replacement service while shaving revenue off the customer bill is the reason that the telco industry is sinking.
Why aren't service providers selling SIP Trunking with overlay services? The premise based PBX in many cases cannot perform the same functions that a Broadsoft switch can. The many different versions of Call Forwarding for example allow for the service provider to customize the package for each customer.
Maybe that is why right there. There are so many features available that VoIP salespeople don't know what to do. Here's a start: don't talk about the features! You have to have a grasp of what features are available certainly, but the sales process is about how to make the business more efficient and more productive. To get there, you have to learn about how a business uses the phone system.
Again that may be the issue: it's a difficult sales process. It requires consultative sales skills, good questions, knowledge of the product, listening skills, and it takes more than 90 days (in most cases) to close a sale. No wonder they sell SIP Trunking. Thunk and dunk. Next!
But the value and stickiness of VoIP is in the Hosted PBX system. The business continuity benefit of Voice in the Cloud. The ability to manage tele-workers, especially in the age of pandemics (H1N1 anyone?).
Anyway, there's all this talk about HD Voice and Video Calling. I get it, but we aren't there yet for most business customers. Enterprise customers can leverage HD Voice and Video calling. But small and some medium businesses probably can't. How do you sell HD Voice and Video when you can't sell Hosted PBX seats? You can't without the same process as selling Hosted PBX (or IP Centrex or whatever else we are calling it worldwide).
It is a one-to-one, face-to-face sale. In the social media digital age no less.
Aside from lots of providers in the market, hosted pbx is not really acknowledge in business field. Usually new generation company uses hosted pbx which is good for a starter business that don't have enough manpower to support the services.
Aside from lots of providers in the market, hosted pbx is not really acknowledge in business field. Usually new generation company uses hosted pbx which is good for a starter business that don't have enough manpower to support the services.
That's not accurate. Even MITEL offers a managed (hosted) PBX solution. And SP's are seeing more and more companies looking at Hosted PBX - maybe thanks to Nortel's bankruptcy -- or to the fast obsolescence of hardware today -- or to the CAPEX savings. Whatever the reason it isn't just "New Gen" companies looking at Hosted PBX.
A hosted pbx can help small businesses, but the average residential plan will suffice for most homes. A new company might have to choose between hosted pbx or a pstn pbx. But in order to choose a hosted pbx, a person should already know about it (which most people don't), then he/she should decide if they prefer the regular analog pbx' over the hosted pbx solutions. On top of that, their internet connection should be able to handle the voice calls (not a problem in most western countries) but a huge problem in less developed ones.
It is really hard to sell it because of so many Voip providers and many has a better features than others and easy to use.