SMBs have been slower than expected to trade their TDM systems for VoIP. However, once the benefits are understood, there are a number of factors that can trigger the migration to VoIP, according to panelists in today’s session, “When and Why SMBs Pull the Trigger on VoIP.”
Giving partners’ sales organizations tools to sell VoIP services is a key goal of the educational program at this spring’s event.
“We have recruited executives who admit to being at the ‘bleeding edge’ in selling this new approach to business communications to share their hard-won experiences with attendees,” said Khali Henderson, group editor of PHONE+ magazine, the event’s host.
Among these is Tim Bradley, senior vice president of VoIP services with New Global Telecom. The wholesaler has been working on cracking the SMB nut. In its pursuit, it sought the expertise of consultant John Macario, president & co-founder of Savatar, to do primary research on the topic. Macario will share some of those insights and lead today’s panel discussion, which also will include Alan Basinger, CTO of Voilà IP Communications.
What advice will these pioneers offer? For starters, they will tell you SMBs don’t know much about VoIP. And, Macario said, they don’t understand, or need, all the bells and whistles in the standard sales arsenal; and they’re not wooed (believe it or not) by ROI. Instead, he said there’s opportunity for solutions providers that can discuss total cost of ownership and recognize that better pricing and bundling strategies provide a significant competitive advantage.
That said, they will tell you timing is paramount. Effective salespeople are those who pay attention to their accounts’/prospects’ telecom needs and inventory — even the services they didn’t sell to them — in order to monitor for key events that indicate a VoIP buy is at hand. For example, SMBs are most receptive to considering a hosted IP telephony following events, such as opening new offices or ending equipment leases, which cause them to re-evaluate their communications infrastructures.
