Selling Telecom Blog

Looking for VAR Lead Partners? Join TA's 2011 VAR Tradeshow Co-op

Posted 10/25/10 By Dan Baldwin, TA Executive Director, 951-251-5155 email 

For the past 12 months, TA has been attending various telco & computer equipment VAR ("value added reseller"), network systems integrator and MSP ("managed services provider") trade shows and events in an effort to better understand the fabled "IT Guy" and learn what network service agents need to do in order to earn their trust to the point where they will bring us in on their equipment deals and let us take care of their customer's voice, Internet and data needs.

Well having attended ITEXPO, MSP Alliance, CompTIA, UC Summit and SMB Nation events over the past year, TA's met enough telecom equipment & IT guys and IT vendors on the VAR trade show circuit to have a pretty clear idea how to work these VAR trade shows and events in order to efficiently screen all the "IT guy attendees" to make sure the friendly ones know how to do business with TA's members and vendors.

In 2011, TA's going to take the whole "find friendly VARs & IT guys" to the next level and pull out the TA trade show booth and go to all the VAR trade shows that make sense to build the industries best list of "IT guys" that understand the network service residual revenue opportunity that are ready to say, "yes" the the question, "Can I quote the voice, Internet or data on your next equipment deal?"

At all the VAR trade shows TA attends in 2011, we'll be promoting network service sales in advance, at the shows via speaking opportunities and at all the show networking events. Our prime goal will be to let VARs know that TA's vendor and members are the "screened" network service subject matter experts and vendors they want to profitably work with. TA will distribute a directory at all VAR shows that list TA's premier vendors and agent experts.

After each 2011 VAR trade show, TA will write a detailed report of all the VAR lessons learned for distribution to all TA VAR Tradeshow Co-op members. Additionally, TA will directly introduce all co-op members to the new VARs we met at the VAR tradeshows so that co-op members might engage these VAR "friendlies" directly.

I can tell you from personal experience over the past year that the IT VAR audience is both the best and the toughest audience for network service vendors and partners. They're not motivated by money, they're motivated by trust. Waiving cash at them only annoys them. Before they would consider doing business with you they need to first know you understand and value what they do for their customers. That's why TA believes we are best positioned to open this lead source up to TA's members and vendors.

To get a list of the VAR trade shows that TA is planning to attend in 2011 as well as a detailed list of the TA VAR Tradeshow Co-op Benefits for both vendors and members please send your contact information to [email protected].

Questions? Contact me at 951-251-5155 or [email protected]. 

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Meet CPI Communications: The Best Master Agency for Equipment Vendors?

Posted 8/17/10 By Dan Baldwin, TA Executive Director, 951-251-5155 email

Telecom master agencies generally fall into one of two basic categories. The first category is the "100% channel" master agents. These types of master agents do not really have their own "retail face" in that all their orders come through their sub-agents. The second category is "retail first, channel second". These types of master agents have a big retail face in that they are very successful in competitive telecom street fights as "independent agents" against other telecom carriers retail reps. This second type of of master agent brings in orders through their own W-2 direct salespersons.

CPI Communications out of Des Moines Iowa is the second type of master agency. CPI is currently very successful competing against any competitor using their own CPI in-house sales people. For several years CPI has been crafting itself into an agency that can directly compete for and win any size voice or data network deal anywhere in the country.  During this time, CPI has been collecting the in-house talent needed to integrate almost any equipment package into any network service configuration. Because of this "anywhere, any network, any equipment" focus, CPI believes they are the best voice/Internet/data master agency for equipment VARs and integrators looking to add network service to their equipment-based solutions.

Does this make sense? Is CPI really the "Best Master Agency for Equipment Vendors"? Let's look at it from an equipment VAR or integrator's point of view. What questions do VARs have?

Need a Great IP Sales Person for Your BIG IP DEAL? Meet CPI's Diana Tedrow

Posted 6/30/10 By Dan Baldwin, TA Executive Director, 951-251-5155 email

CPI Communications based in Iowa recently joined TA as our newest "master agency" vendor member. My biggest job whenever TA gets a new master agent vendor member is to learn what they do differently or better than TA's other master agent vendor members and share that with TA's 3,800 members so they know when to pull CPI in on their next deal.

While CPI has a lot of things going for them, including great experience as to what it takes to field a profitable direct sales team, the most immediate value CPI offers to TA members, especially equipment VARs and computer systems integrators is Diana Tedrow, CPI's National Sales Director.

What's the big deal with Diana Tedrow? It's quite possible that she's the network service sales solution many equipment VARs and computer systems integrators are looking for before they commit to offering carrier services to their equipment customers.

Many master agents believe that equipment VARs are sitting on great customer bases that can easily be farmed for mountains of network service revenue. Why don't most VARs open up their bases for some lucrative carrier service farming?

How To Get Systems Integrators to Sell Your Network Service? BUY THEM!

Posted 6/13/10 By Dan Baldwin, TA Executive Director, 951-251-5155 email

 
 ...Well that's a good way to do it!

I just finished a week trip through the Southeast states of Florida, Georgia, South Carolina & North Carolina visiting Telecom Association vendor members to learn more about what they're doing in 2010. More than one TA vendor member wished there was some way to control the sales volume they got out of their partners. I guess PAETEC has figured out how to take control of sales volume from their systems integrator partners - buy them. Read PAETEC's press release here.

Click here to see the Quagga web page that states Quagga sells AT&T, Verizon, Qwest, XO & PAETEC. Think PAETEC's share of Quagga's network services volume is going to rise?

I think this acquisition is a quite clever as it sends the right signal to everyone in the marketplace - customers, carrier services partners and equipment partners - sell PAETEC network services with your equipment or we'll just sell the whole deal, network service plus equipment.

In my humble opinion, far too many carriers and carrier partners are far too...

Color Broadband: The One Carrier that Does it ALL in Los Angeles!

 
Posted 6/7/10 By Dan Baldwin, TA Executive Director, 951-251-5155 email

I became a Color Broadband agent the hard way, after they kicked my ass in a competitive situation. I was offering a Los Angeles customer a Covad 8.0 meg fixed wireless solution and next thing you know Color Broadband was installing their service (and the customer was not returning my calls).

Like any good agent who loses a big deal I decided to find out ...