Voice, Data & Internet
The Key to Successful Business

I heard this famous Led Zeppelin song recently and it made me think about what is going on in our business and in our society in general. Lately it seems to me that everyone has forgotten how to communicate. I think this just might be one more thing we can blame on the economy right now.

It sure seems that almost everyone is scared of losing their jobs these days, customers are scared of making the wrong decision, and people are leery of long term contracts. However, all this really does is make things more difficult in the “real world.”

If you don’t know me already, you will find that I am someone that hits people right between the eyes with the truth. I have been told in the past that I need to filter it a little. But, lately I say the hell with that, let’s all just remove our damn filters. If we say we are going to do something by a certain time or date, let’s get it done by that time/date. Whatever happened to under committing and over performing? I have been noticing a trend in almost every aspect of our daily lives that people will just tell you what they think you want to hear – the hell with the truth. All this accomplishes is very short term highs followed by massive lows and disappointments. This is a trend we all need to break out of ourselves, or help people break out of by calling them out.

In the case of vendors – when you commit to delivering a quote of information, don’t commit to the date I want, commit to the date you can actually get me that information. For Agents – quit making promises to vendors you can’t control, and certainly don’t make promises to customers you can’t back up. For customers, if you need help internally don’t be afraid to ask for it – and show your value by standing out and making changes that are good for the company.

Why does it have to be so difficult? I think we should make the next week, National Be Honest and Follow Up On Your Commitments Week. I would like to have everyone make a special effort each day this week to be brutally honest with someone every day. Think of it as a kind of Pay It Forward kind of thing. Throw caution to the wind and remove your filter. I think you will like it and in the end I am confident almost everyone around you will appreciate it.

To make this whole thing entertaining – come back to the blog and post a comment regarding your ‘Pay It Forward’ moments – I am sure everyone will like to hear other people’s stories.

Until next time….

All, it looks like we have the blog up and running on our website.  Everything before this was a re-post of what I had done on the Phone + web site.  Everything from here on out will be new and fresh.  I hope you all enjoy it and look forward to your comments.  I have a new blog in my mind and I am just working out the final details.  Please check back here soon!

Lately I realize that price, ethics and long-term viability of residual commissions seem to be the hottest issues on everyone’s mind. So, I thought I would give you my initial thoughts on the topics to get everyone ready for the upcoming show.

Price: When do you sell on price? My opinion is whenever you have to, 100 percent of nothing is nothing. I find this particular subject somewhat amusing as we all know that each client is different. A good salesperson should be able to identify when to sell on solutions and when to sell on price. Sometimes the lowest price is just needed to get in the door and get the clients attention so that you can sell on the actual solution.

My point is why would you ever walk away from a deal because you have to give away a little margin? How many times have you heard a carrier say, “I refuse to lose this deal based on price, just tell me where I have to be?” I hear that at least once a week!

I have always been a firm believer of getting in the door and proving your worth anyway you can. You may have to give a little up early in the relationship, but once you have built the confidence of the client you have gained a new loyal customer. Ultimately you just need to get in the door, because 100 percent of nothing is nothing and you don’t have a new customer to whom you can sell upgrades and future business.

Ethics: A lot of times I think ethics are tied right along with price. You should always be doing the best thing for your customer. Isn’t it in your best interest to keep your customer happy? Isn’t our goal in the channel to keep customers happy and continue to sell to them over and over for years to come? Well, making sure they always have the best price for the best service is paramount to that goal.

I have a rather large customer that always buys from me. Every once in a while they check other pricing just to make sure I am not pulling one over on them. If I inflate a price or don’t show them the lowest price, they will catch me. So, my ethics are correct here by making sure I always give my clients full disclosure on what is available in the marketplace for their needs. This disclosure includes price, customer service, reliability, performance etc. As long as I am completely up front with my customer, then I am confident that I am ethically in the right (and secured a long-term customer). Do we wish they would have bought company B over company A because company B pays us a few more points? Sure we do, but if that solution wasn’t right for the customer, then we aren’t providing the service we claim to be, which leads me to my next topic…

Long-Term Viability of Residual Commissions: Let’s face it; we are all in this business because of residual commissions. I will be willing to bet (especially on the horses…) that most of us are here because we used to work for a carrier and got tired of only getting paid once for a deal. The lure of residuals is the nature of our business. In order for those to grow, you have to make sure you take care of the first two items on this list. Make sure you give your customers all the information necessary for them to make a fully informed decision and ensure your company provides them the best service possible and in an ethical manner – and you likely have a customer for life. Remember, 100 percent of nothing is nothing and as one of the best reps that ever worked for me said, “If ya ain’t got nothing ya ain’t got nothing to lose!”

My company prides itself on letting our customers know exactly what hidden charges are included on their bill. We take the extra time to make sure each proposal lays out EUCL, PICC, LNP, etc. However, it has recently been brought to my attention that this entire tax and surcharge thing is completely out of control.

Right now I am looking at two bills from two different vendors for a customer in Chicago. I wanted to keep this as simple as possible, so I chose a bill that had one PRI. What I found is listed below and completely blew my mind.

In the end, they both charge outrageous fees, but they are completely different and you really don’t know what is what. For example, company #1 charges $57.50 for 911 while company # 2 charges $2.50. Company #1 charges Federal and State taxes twice and company #2 doesn’t list out Federal or State taxes.

The bottom line is prices on circuits continue to drop, but these surcharges and taxes (if you really want to call them taxes) continue to go up. Everyone calls them something different and charges a different amount.

What I really want to know is what is an actual tax that gets passed on to the government and what is just going back into the company’s pocket as profit?

I know that the price of the circuits continue to go down and so does our commission. At the same time, the price of marked up surcharges continues to go up, and we don’t make any commission off that. It seems like the vendors are just shifting their profits around to lower advertised prices and keep their margins the same (or increasing them) while paying us less.

Finally, who is the first to hear about all of this when the customer sits down and looks over the bill? Of course the agent is the first phone call. We try and tell the customer what to expect, but new line items and higher surcharges seem to come up on every new bill. How do you deal with this as an agent? I, for one, have a hard time showing someone $225 worth of taxes and surcharges on a $305 circuit. This is the main reason I don’t sell company #1 anymore, but who has the time to check all this on a regular basis? How can we put a stop to this madness? As you can see from the example above, the advertised price really doesn’t mean a thing!

There has been a lot of talk in the industry about selling on price. Sometimes it really annoys me when vendors tell me not to sell on price. Likewise, it can infuriate me when I read an article written by some “suit” or “ccs” telling me how selling on price is always a bad idea. Usually it is written by people from companies who have a higher price point and still are trying to sell their product at a higher cost.

When you are selling into an account for the first time price usually is what gets you in the door. You don’t always have the luxury of sitting down with a decision maker and going over options. You are just trying to get in the door anyway possible and a better price usually opens doors. As a subagent, I have access to many different companies and different pricing. Actually, the reason I started my own company is because I was tired of only having one product/company to sell. If you work for one company you have their product and their price. Sometimes you try to put a square peg in a round hole so to speak.

As an agent you try to get in the door with a first-time customer any way possible. Once you prove yourself, you can sell differently in the future. Vendors do not always agree with this and scold the agent for selling on price. I really don’t think this is always fair to the agent and can dishearten the agent toward a particular vendor.

Everyone doesn’t need a Lexus. Sometimes a Chevy will work just as well for a particular application.

Lately, I have been having some issues with vendors who have become friends, and I thought I would throw a topic out there to see what the PHONE+ world thinks and how they deal with similar situations.

At any Channel Partners Conference & Expo, you always run into all of your vendors and channel managers in one place. For me it is usually in a bar, and that can lead to a little too much truth telling, if you know what I mean.

They all say things like, “Hey who got the deal with so and so?” Or “How come we didn’t get such and such deal?” The answer is always different and I really don’t like to hurt their feelings. That being said, sometimes people’s feelings get hurt when one vendor gets a deal and another does not.

My first thought is always with my customer. I want to get them the best price and the best service. When that situation comes up, it is easy to make the decision. But, what do you do when you have the exact same price from two vendors and you believe that both vendors have equal service? I try to lay out the options for the customer and tell them this and that about each company. Maybe they have a history with one or the other. Maybe they ask me my opinion.

Recently, I ran into this issue and the customer asked me which one they should buy. This is a question I really don’t like to answer. However, I have to give an answer. In this particular situation, I told them to use company A over company B. Do you know why? Company A paid me more money. The residual was about three points higher. Did I do the right thing? I think so, because I believe that both vendors are equal.

However, vendor B has become a friend over the years and became somewhat upset with me when I told him the truth. He did not believe that both were equal (of course), and it caused a strain in our relationship. We have since worked it out, but I am curious: how would some of you other subagents handle a similar situation?