There is a lot of confusion about what an Independent Agent such as TelecomMedic actually does. I have written a few blogs about it, but recently I saw something happen that makes me want to write another blog about it.
The best way to think of Telecommunications Agents is to liken it to an independent insurance agent. We both represent numerous companies and we strive to find you the best solution for your current situation. We do not get paid by you the customer. We get paid by whatever solution provider you choose to buy. So, if you don’t buy anything, we don’t get paid. When there is not a fit for what we have in our portfolio there is no issue. We simply could not find a match, and we are more than happy to shake hands and part friends.
Recently, a situation arose where this was not the case. Once of my sub agents worked really hard to discover a customer’s needs and designed an entirely new network for them. He engaged the CIO of the company and many resources from the carrier to build this network. The sales rep from the solution provider got on the phone and went over all of the paperwork with the customer. Everything was set to be signed when the CFO came back from vacation. My sub agent not only helped them design a new network, but they also were saving the customer about 28% of their monthly spend.
Between the time of paperwork and signing a direct rep who had some kind of relationship with the customer swooped in, grabbed the signed paperwork, and turned it in as his own. This deal now went through a totally different group and everyone who worked on it from sales to engineering did not get paid.
The point is, we get paid by the provider you choose and we are always there to help. Many times I have told a customer that we cannot help them because they are under contract or they have an awesome deal with their current provider. This is not a scenario that upsets me. I know that we did right by the customer and they will come back and buy from us again and again.
Independent agents are here to help make sure the customer gets the best deal possible. We want happy customers. We want customers to come buy from us over and over again. independent agents are in it for the long haul. We have built our companies from the ground up based on the knowledge we acquired from working on the direct side. We have over 80 different companies to choose from while a direct rep has ONE. They want to sell you what they have. We want to sell you what fits.