Peter : On Rad's Radar?
Peter
| Peter Radizeski of RAD-INFO, Inc. talking telecom, Cloud, VoIP, CLEC, and The Channel.

commissions

The Commission Revenue Spiral

December 16, 2015

I received an email today about the channel strategy for 2016 for Windstream: WIND is NOT paying agents for any new order under $1500. I wrote about this when I first heard in October. No idea how this will work out, but train wreck comes to mind.

Windstream as a whole has had some much change - acquisitions, people, spin-offs - that I imagine there are no silly ideas in the conference room.

Non-competitive Broadband

December 8, 2015

The FCC defines broadband at 25 Mbps by 3 Mbps. At that speed, most Americans have one choice: cable!

How funny is it that telcos had DSL in the Lab in the late 1960s and didn't roll it out until Covad, Northpoint and Rhythms basically forced their hand. They then pushed all 3 into bankruptcy to be the sole high speed Internet providers -- except for a smattering of independent ISPs that they would kill off later.

Commissions by Common Core Math

April 20, 2015

I listened to a presentation recently that suggested that new telecom agencies are not opening up (or at least not faster than closings and mergers). I was skeptical until this weekend when I was doing referral checks.

One MPLS network is worth a lot more than 3 x 10MB DIA sites. When companies talk about moving up to mid-market, it is primarily that the size of the deal will make it worthwhile.

It's Just a Piece of Paper

January 14, 2015

In the course of a day, I often hear about agent deals where the agent gets burned. let's face it, if you have been a channel partner for longer than a minute, you have probably been burned - either on a deal, a commission, or a contract.

During the prospecting stage, the Service Provider (SP) loves the Partner. Loves them.

3 Reasons Channel Management Needs a Slap

October 31, 2014

It's amazing to me how people who manage channel operations for carriers (and likely have not worked in the channel as a partner in at least 8 years) can give partners advice about running their business. Have you looked inside your own company???

Reason 1 that some people need a slap is Larry Walsh on CPZ saying that partners need to spend money on R&D. Never mind that he doesn't explain what he means by R&D.

Do SPIFFs Work?

September 22, 2014

In a conversation with IPR Channel chief, Kirk Horton, this question arose: Do SPIFF's work? It isn't a yes or no answer. It depends.

When a new product is launched, spiffs help to draw attention to the new product.

2 Ways to Maximize Your Vendor Relationship

September 16, 2014

As channel partners, we get hammered all the time to sell vendor's stuff - even if it is unreasonable or doesn't fit our customer base.

We all have primary vendors, vendors that are significant lines of revenue. We also have secondary vendors. (We might even like them more.) The one thing most vendors have in common is that they have large catalogs of business services.

Are You Getting Rejected By Cable?

June 30, 2014

I hear a lot of stories about cable: (1) About a one-third order drop out rate due to no facilities: (2) Intensive paperwork for orders and quotes; and (3) clean orders are rare, which causes rejections that result in delays and extra time. Oh, and even worse:

A change in Comcast's process is making clean paperwork even more important. Effective immediately, Comcast's direct team may now take over any order that is rejected for more than four business days; causing partners to lose the order.

Basic Math on Sales Commissions

May 28, 2014

Yesterday when I wrote about what the channel is selling, it was mainly bigger deals. Obviously, there are many more transactions taking place.

When I work with VoIP providers, the thing that always gets said is that it is just as much work to get 150 seats as it is to get a 15 seat sale. Think about that.

True Ups Kill the Partner

March 20, 2014

I just received news that tw telecom will be truing up my account. It will be a nice 4 figure pinch - going back to March 2013. I understand that the account had a billing adjustment, but a true up for a year ago???

As it turns out that isn't so bad.

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