PARTNER CHANNEL: Norcom Reprises Agent Bonus Program

Posted: 12/2002

Norcom Reprises Agent Bonus Program

By Josh Long

NORCOM, A FLORIDA-BASED COMPANY marketing local, long-distance and wireless services to small- and medium-sized businesses, is offering its independent sales partners a new bonus incentive that will pay dividends in 2004.

The program is modeled after one the company just concluded. In November, Norcom was scheduled to pay six master agents a total of $1 million stemming from an earlier bonus program. One agent would receive half of the money due to the large volume of business the individual booked on behalf of Norcom, according to Julian Jacquez, COO of Norcom.

Under the new program sales partners generating more than $100,000 in monthly commissionable revenue as of April 2004 will receive a bonus check for that same amount a few months later. The program has no effect on residual payments and rewards. Agents booking more than $200,000 in monthly commissionable revenue double that amount in a bonus payment, says Jacquez. The commissionable revenue is based on usage revenue minus taxes, the universal service fund fee and the primary interexchange carrier charge.

Agents booking less than $100,000 as of April 2004 also can receive a bonus, Jacquez says. "Our goal is to get everyone into the bonus money at least to some extent," says Jacquez, who underscored that the company's most valuable asset is its relationships with its sales partners.

Norcom officially sold 4,000 small- and medium-sized business accounts to NUI Telecom Inc. in August, but the terms of the agreement called for Norcom to continue sales, marketing and distribution, while NUI would provide the back-office and network operations support.

NUI and Norcom have a unique relationship. Even though NUI directly interconnects with underlying carriers, posts bond, oversees regulatory issues and negotiates resale agreements with the likes of AT&T Corp. and Global Crossing Ltd., among its many other duties as a telephone provider, Norcom remains involved in contract negotiations with the underlying carriers, Jacquez said.

Leveraging the resale agreements NUI inks with the underlying carriers, including Verizon Wireless, Norcom sells long-distance and wireless services across the country and provides local service in eight states through the unbundled network element platform (UNE-P). The company is marketing dial tone in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Tennessee and Vermont. NUI also has a presence in New York and New Jersey, but Norcom has yet to market services there. Norcom anticipates providing local service in most of the remaining BellSouth Corp. and Verizon states in 2003, Jacquez said.