Gary Kim has an excellent blog view about How Not to Sell Hosted PBX. First, you need to sell that is Reliable, Dependable. Even before the usual pitch of: Show me your phone bill and I will save you some money. (Blah!) Give Gary's story a read.
Recently in sales and selling Category
On a listserv today, I replied to a wholesale account exec at a reseller that had just plugged his service to the list. In the reply, I said "that's one way to pimp your product" then went on to explain that he missed the point of the original email -- and in fact doesn't quite get the goal of the membership of that list/group.
Well, the AE got offended and pinged me offlist. I always say "pimping your stuff". Let's face it: in telecom most everyone is pitching and selling and pushing a commodity. Not much original stuff (except maybe fiber guys). Telecom people especially at Reseller CLEC's and IXC's are just pimping it out. Charging a little less than the company they buy from; adding a middle man; but what value? It's a straight price sale. (A rant on resellers coming in another post).
In many cases (not this one), the AE's move around so much that their business contact information should come with an expiration date. (You go to conferences to get the new business cards and find out where so-and-so is working now. What do they do with all that company logo-ed clothing?)
Do you think this industry is pimping it out? For the most part, I do. Exceptions in a later post.
Well, the AE got offended and pinged me offlist. I always say "pimping your stuff". Let's face it: in telecom most everyone is pitching and selling and pushing a commodity. Not much original stuff (except maybe fiber guys). Telecom people especially at Reseller CLEC's and IXC's are just pimping it out. Charging a little less than the company they buy from; adding a middle man; but what value? It's a straight price sale. (A rant on resellers coming in another post).
In many cases (not this one), the AE's move around so much that their business contact information should come with an expiration date. (You go to conferences to get the new business cards and find out where so-and-so is working now. What do they do with all that company logo-ed clothing?)
Do you think this industry is pimping it out? For the most part, I do. Exceptions in a later post.
This PowerPoint presentation represents the outline of what my panel was going to discuss at Broadsoft Connections. We were going to make 3 points about Marketing a Profitable UC Bundle:
What makes a successful bundle? No one is sure yet. The only point that could be made is that it needs to be simple. Small business wants the pain of technology removed from their business life. And Broadsoft's 180+ features, Xtended Apps, and the XML on the phone are an infinite list of possibilities that will confuse the sales team let alone the consumer. Bundles should be created to attack a market segment, niche or vertical.
- Does Bundling Work;
- How do you sell it;
- What makes a successful bundle
Does Bundling Work? It depends. Are you using a Bundle for Customer Retention or Customer Acquisition? Our panleists included to ILEC's and 1 CLEC competing directly against one panelist.
The big point to make is that if you add one component sold separately between 15-20% of your customer base will uptake that new component (if marketed well). However, if you add it to a bundle, many more folks will take it. Albeit at a less margin, but more overall revenue.
Everyone was in agreement that the only way to sell a UC Bundle was face-to-face. A sales force - direct or indirect - could sell it. The hardware salespeople have a problem transitioning from selling a box to selling the Invisible. But training can fix that.
Upselling an existing bundle customer can work via tele-sales to increase stickiness and ARPU.
What makes a successful bundle? No one is sure yet. The only point that could be made is that it needs to be simple. Small business wants the pain of technology removed from their business life. And Broadsoft's 180+ features, Xtended Apps, and the XML on the phone are an infinite list of possibilities that will confuse the sales team let alone the consumer. Bundles should be created to attack a market segment, niche or vertical.
I'm in Atlanta at the Microcorp event to moderate a round table for agents centered around sales and marketing. The title is Personal Branding. How do you promote your personal brand?
When selling replacement commodity items, your brand may not be that important. However, when using the Consultative Sales approach or looking for the sweet spot in the role of Trusted Advisor, it is about your knowledge, skills, and reputation. In a nutshell, that is your brand.
A brand is the 1K of space in a prospect's memory that contains everything they know or fell about you or your company or your service. In many cases, that 1K is empty because they have no idea who you are. (What would they find if they Googled you?)
Your brand online is a summation of what the search engines contain about you (or your company).
There are many places today to build a brand online: your website, blog, LinkedIn, Facebook, Squidoo, Twitter, Slideshare, YouTube and a host of other platforms. You see, before you had to take out an ad or a billboard; today, that ad or billboard can be online in the 21st century printing press of the Web and its publishing platforms (social networks). The whole revolution that we see online today is due to tools, software platforms, and user interfaces that created what is referred to as Web 2.0. Web 2.0 allowed for User Generated Content (UGC) by making it very easy for a consumer to add content / comments / thoughts to various websites, like TripAdvisor, Amazon, BizRate and others.
That was the genius of Web 2.0. Social networks just took that a step further. But all of this means that it is easy for people to comment on your service or business. It's also easy for you to tell your story.
Personal Branding starts with you telling your target audience the story of what you can do for them. How can you help their business get productive or efficient? How can you help them communicate to their customer better? Tell those stories. And you have a host of platforms to tell them on. Get started!
When selling replacement commodity items, your brand may not be that important. However, when using the Consultative Sales approach or looking for the sweet spot in the role of Trusted Advisor, it is about your knowledge, skills, and reputation. In a nutshell, that is your brand.
A brand is the 1K of space in a prospect's memory that contains everything they know or fell about you or your company or your service. In many cases, that 1K is empty because they have no idea who you are. (What would they find if they Googled you?)
Your brand online is a summation of what the search engines contain about you (or your company).
There are many places today to build a brand online: your website, blog, LinkedIn, Facebook, Squidoo, Twitter, Slideshare, YouTube and a host of other platforms. You see, before you had to take out an ad or a billboard; today, that ad or billboard can be online in the 21st century printing press of the Web and its publishing platforms (social networks). The whole revolution that we see online today is due to tools, software platforms, and user interfaces that created what is referred to as Web 2.0. Web 2.0 allowed for User Generated Content (UGC) by making it very easy for a consumer to add content / comments / thoughts to various websites, like TripAdvisor, Amazon, BizRate and others.
That was the genius of Web 2.0. Social networks just took that a step further. But all of this means that it is easy for people to comment on your service or business. It's also easy for you to tell your story.
Personal Branding starts with you telling your target audience the story of what you can do for them. How can you help their business get productive or efficient? How can you help them communicate to their customer better? Tell those stories. And you have a host of platforms to tell them on. Get started!
While speaking at the FISPA meeting this week, I kind of focused on sales and marketing. Why? Mainly the E-Myth. Most of the ISP owners are technical but are very uncomfortable talking about business, marketing and especially sales. One point that is important is that ISP's are NOT selling Internet Access. ISP's are selling reliable, dependable high-speed access to Facebook, YouTube and the rest of the websites and Web Apps that people desire to use. SAAS and VoIP means that ISP's need to be cognizant of the fact that if you keep selling Internet Access you will relegated to a dumb pipe. Instead, you should be offering not just the access but also some of those Apps. (That's what the RBOC's want to do).
ITSP's are NOT selling replacement phone service. They are selling business productivity and efficiency through a new, reliable and redundant platform for voice service. It's NOT about saving someone 10% -- it is about understanding how the business uses the phone (and other communications services) to interact with prospects, customers, and employees.
Google Voice is now going public. Luckily, for some providers Google announced that it will charge for enterprise and premium users. At the FISPA meeting, IKANO (Disclaimer: I rep IKANO's Google Apps for ISP's) presented the concept of ISP's moving their email service to Google. This was at the tail end of a CLEC session where the discussion centered around becoming a CLEC is about controlling your destiny and your services. Well, outsourcing your email - still the killer app for users - for an ISP is tantamount to losing control. And the fact that Google - IKANO's partner for email - is launching Google Voice is just one more reason that the ISP's will say No to Google Apps. They see Google as the new AT&T.
I'm going to be speaking at a CLEC and ISP event next week in Nashville. Some interesting topics really. CLEC Strategy, How to Sell VoIP, and Marketing in a Nutshell.
Here is the slide deck for How to SELLECOM Digital Voice
The financial activity in the ITSP sector that I am seeing leads me to believe that the ITSP sector is taking off.
If lines do slow down it will be due to the following reasons:
Who to go with?
The one issue is the share number of VoIP Providers (with little differentiation) makes the decision difficult for the business owner.
Premise versus Hosted
The premise hardware guys are selling their gear as if it was hosted at your site. Many business owners aren't familiar with having such a significant communication service outsourced (off property). It's a strange concept to wrap your head around. Plus there may be changes like cabling and handsets that go with the move that represents too much change for the business owner in today's hectic marketplace.
Blinking Light Syndrome
For productivity to be affected positively at the office by VoIP, the way workers answer and use the phone might have to change. Call park being the biggest one. (But some providers have this solved). Still change is tough.
VoIP Providers Themselves
Many of the people selling VoIP pitch the cost savings. Wrong! There will be changes, so it needs to start with a conversation about how the business operates and uses the current phone system. It takes longer but it is the best approach. Looking at the bill and shaving points off it hasn't been highly successful for CLEC's, who have spent billions to make millions.
The other side of the ITSP coin is the unclear marketing message. So many companies in the VOIP space do not have an elevator pitch, a positioning statement, or a dumbed-down way of explaining what they do/provide. It makes it hard to market.
And lastly the confusion over what an ITSP is. Here in Tampa I have listened as one ITSP knocks another. That doesn't help at all, especially when the sales person doing it has clue none anyway. The ocean has to be raised witha discussion about why buying Voice over FiOS is not as advantageous for the business owner as Hosted PBX.
Case studies like Forbes' article will certainly help sell more lines.
When selling VoIP, the conversation should be about productivity, reliability, and security not cost savings. In a poll, VZB "was the surprise top finisher in Infonetics Research's first North America Business VoIP Services Leadership Matrix in both IP Centrex (hosted IP services) and IP connectivity, Infonetics said today." Main factor: reliability and financial security of VZ. NGT, 8x8, and Cbeyond were next in the poll. "Comcast is moving up fast on hosted VoIP (IP Centrex) services." ITSP need to get a move on.
- Cypress buying up Reignmaker assets.
- Telesphere got $15M for expansion.
- XCast collecting a $2.7M investment.
- Forbes publishes an article titled The Value of VoIP.
If lines do slow down it will be due to the following reasons:
- layoffs - less employees = less lines needed
- mobility means less landlines needed
- email, social networks, IM/chat, texting is replacing phone calls.
- over all trend for less phone calls.
Who to go with?
The one issue is the share number of VoIP Providers (with little differentiation) makes the decision difficult for the business owner.
Premise versus Hosted
The premise hardware guys are selling their gear as if it was hosted at your site. Many business owners aren't familiar with having such a significant communication service outsourced (off property). It's a strange concept to wrap your head around. Plus there may be changes like cabling and handsets that go with the move that represents too much change for the business owner in today's hectic marketplace.
Blinking Light Syndrome
For productivity to be affected positively at the office by VoIP, the way workers answer and use the phone might have to change. Call park being the biggest one. (But some providers have this solved). Still change is tough.
VoIP Providers Themselves
Many of the people selling VoIP pitch the cost savings. Wrong! There will be changes, so it needs to start with a conversation about how the business operates and uses the current phone system. It takes longer but it is the best approach. Looking at the bill and shaving points off it hasn't been highly successful for CLEC's, who have spent billions to make millions.
The other side of the ITSP coin is the unclear marketing message. So many companies in the VOIP space do not have an elevator pitch, a positioning statement, or a dumbed-down way of explaining what they do/provide. It makes it hard to market.
And lastly the confusion over what an ITSP is. Here in Tampa I have listened as one ITSP knocks another. That doesn't help at all, especially when the sales person doing it has clue none anyway. The ocean has to be raised witha discussion about why buying Voice over FiOS is not as advantageous for the business owner as Hosted PBX.
Case studies like Forbes' article will certainly help sell more lines.
When selling VoIP, the conversation should be about productivity, reliability, and security not cost savings. In a poll, VZB "was the surprise top finisher in Infonetics Research's first North America Business VoIP Services Leadership Matrix in both IP Centrex (hosted IP services) and IP connectivity, Infonetics said today." Main factor: reliability and financial security of VZ. NGT, 8x8, and Cbeyond were next in the poll. "Comcast is moving up fast on hosted VoIP (IP Centrex) services." ITSP need to get a move on.
Jon Arnold writes, "This year's MetaSwitch Forum provided a host of proof points that service providers of all stripes can stay competitive so long as they deploy the right technology and have the right vision for serving their customers."
Time and again, the pitch is about the company and the technology. Look at automobile reviews: It isn't about the engine size, it's about the 0-60. Telecommunications needs to do the same thing.
When Aastra talks about its AastraLink Pro 160, it should be about Asterisk. The story should be similar to the Aastra CT handset story. When anyone talks about the iPhone, do they mention that it only works on GSM or do they spend time talking about all the neat things they can do with it? Same lesson. I think that gadgets, handsets, phones and softphones can drive VoIP penetration, if they were easy to use (which they are), easy to add apps to, and did cool, useful things (for the consumer).
Take this example: "a food-service equipment innovator, Henny Penny, has deployed several Cisco Unified Communications solutions to improve customer service, streamline operations and enhance employee collaboration. ... Cisco Unified Contact Center Express and Cisco Unified MeetingPlace Express solutions are helping Henny Penny realize their business goals of getting their customers' issues solved more quickly and more simply than in the past." The press release is kind of repetitive and vague. It should have said that Henny Penny used Cisco Unified Contact Center Express and Cisco Unified MeetingPlace Express in order to improve first call resolution, which has a direct impact on Henny Penny's bottom line. In addition, both the employee and the customer have seen an increase in satisfaction. Cisco's platform is a tool. The goal is to reduce costs by resolving customer service in one call, while improving customer satisfaction. This is what UC is all about. In fact, if you ever talk to John C. Kelly, Regional Vice President of Sales, North America, at Altitude Software, that's all that he is trying to accomplish for his clients - first call resolution. It's the goal of contact centers.
Another example is this Voxeo press release, which can help Human Resources departments with task resolution (like Self-service benefits enrollment, Job hotlines, Employee surveys and Employee notification messages) and efficiency especially now with job screening. These are concrete examples of what Voxeo IVR can provide. No tech talk. Just end user benefit.
The last example today will be Sprint's UC announcement. SIP trunking over Global MPLS network. Yawn! The release did mention Sprint's 3 global partners: Cisco for mobile integration; IBM Sametime Unified Telephony; and Microsoft's OCS 2007 R2. The only case study: Sprint's internal deployment of unified communications and its $6 million annual cost savings, visit www.sprint.com/whitepapers.
When trying to market or sell UC, forget all that tech talk and tell a story about the customer. It's all about the customer. Their pain. Your solution.
Time and again, the pitch is about the company and the technology. Look at automobile reviews: It isn't about the engine size, it's about the 0-60. Telecommunications needs to do the same thing.
When Aastra talks about its AastraLink Pro 160, it should be about Asterisk. The story should be similar to the Aastra CT handset story. When anyone talks about the iPhone, do they mention that it only works on GSM or do they spend time talking about all the neat things they can do with it? Same lesson. I think that gadgets, handsets, phones and softphones can drive VoIP penetration, if they were easy to use (which they are), easy to add apps to, and did cool, useful things (for the consumer).
Take this example: "a food-service equipment innovator, Henny Penny, has deployed several Cisco Unified Communications solutions to improve customer service, streamline operations and enhance employee collaboration. ... Cisco Unified Contact Center Express and Cisco Unified MeetingPlace Express solutions are helping Henny Penny realize their business goals of getting their customers' issues solved more quickly and more simply than in the past." The press release is kind of repetitive and vague. It should have said that Henny Penny used Cisco Unified Contact Center Express and Cisco Unified MeetingPlace Express in order to improve first call resolution, which has a direct impact on Henny Penny's bottom line. In addition, both the employee and the customer have seen an increase in satisfaction. Cisco's platform is a tool. The goal is to reduce costs by resolving customer service in one call, while improving customer satisfaction. This is what UC is all about. In fact, if you ever talk to John C. Kelly, Regional Vice President of Sales, North America, at Altitude Software, that's all that he is trying to accomplish for his clients - first call resolution. It's the goal of contact centers.
Another example is this Voxeo press release, which can help Human Resources departments with task resolution (like Self-service benefits enrollment, Job hotlines, Employee surveys and Employee notification messages) and efficiency especially now with job screening. These are concrete examples of what Voxeo IVR can provide. No tech talk. Just end user benefit.
The last example today will be Sprint's UC announcement. SIP trunking over Global MPLS network. Yawn! The release did mention Sprint's 3 global partners: Cisco for mobile integration; IBM Sametime Unified Telephony; and Microsoft's OCS 2007 R2. The only case study: Sprint's internal deployment of unified communications and its $6 million annual cost savings, visit www.sprint.com/whitepapers.
When trying to market or sell UC, forget all that tech talk and tell a story about the customer. It's all about the customer. Their pain. Your solution.
When I talk with vendors in this space, they often suggest that getting into Costco or some other Big Box retailer would make their day. My father was a salesperson for P&G for 20 years working with Sam's, BJ's, Stop & Shop and other big chain grocers in New England. (Yes, even Stew Leonard). These chains re-designed aisles based on who was paying for what shelf space - and who was sending in labor to re-configure the aisle.
There's a good blog post here about marketing computer parts. Packaging, shelf location, colors, "The Offer", coupons, and more - all affect the retailing of a product. You will have to fight for space for each SKU. There will be co-marketing funds needed. Your packaging will be very important - from color, to graphics, to wording, to message.
You'll still need to market to the end user too to drive traffic and demand for your product. Getting on the shelf isn't the end-all. It's just a step.
There's a good blog post here about marketing computer parts. Packaging, shelf location, colors, "The Offer", coupons, and more - all affect the retailing of a product. You will have to fight for space for each SKU. There will be co-marketing funds needed. Your packaging will be very important - from color, to graphics, to wording, to message.
You'll still need to market to the end user too to drive traffic and demand for your product. Getting on the shelf isn't the end-all. It's just a step.
The Technology Channel Association hosted its first agent webinar on April 30. Steve Cadley at Cadley Consulting Group and Peter Radizeski, your blogger and TCA founding member, presented on the Top 5 Sales Practices that agents need to incorporate. We had a good turn-out, which is great because that means agents want training.
It was not a bunch of tips and tricks. It was a discussion about the sales process that is used by top performing sales people.
I'm an active telecom agent so I was able to add some examples. Steve was a channel manager for many years before striking out on his own as a sales trainer. Next up is a session on best practices for channel managers. Stay tuned. (Join TCA).
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