According to the partners I speak to, the second biggest challenge (btw, the #1 challenge is finding good sales people) goes something like this:
How to get sales people effective training that:
That’s how I would summarize the IP Office sales cycle. We have found through experience with our partners that speed is a critical factor in being able to win IP office deals. Many partners are still relying on their design engineers to put together IP Office designs. This is not only a not-so-good use of that expensive resource’s time, it’s also a sales obstacle since it adds time. There’s no reason why your sales people shouldn’t be putting together their own quotes with Catalyst’s IP Office Quoting Tool. A few partners have asked me if this tool will be around since Read the rest of this entry »
This week I was at the Comptia Breakaway event. In the booth next to ours, there was a company called OnForce which describes itself as an online marketplace for on-site technology services. In a nutshell, their site allows you to shop for subcontractable (I think that’s a word) engineers who can perform technical services. One of their reps explained to me that they have 11,000 people listed. Each engineer has a profile that includes his/her Read the rest of this entry »
Let’s face it, the business of selling IP telephony solutions has a good amount of complexity to it – particularly when you look at implementing these solutions. Aside from the time it takes to get the network tuned up for voice traffic, you also have to take the the voice system and program a growing breadth of applications to meet the customers needs. If it were easy, everybody would be doing it right? A growing challenge I’m seeing with my partners is the challenge of managing cash flow. Since implementations are taking longer and customers aren’t paying any quicker, something’s got to give right? This is one area where partners need to look at what their distributor can do to shorten the time from shipment to successful implementation. A big thing that Catalyst is doing is providing System Integration and programming on the IP Office system. Aside from loading cards, upgrading software and testing the system for DOA, we actually program the system to your customer’s specs. By the time the system arrives at the customer site, it’s rack and stack and training (which Catalyst can do remotely). If you’re like most partners, you ship the system to your facility to put on a bench to do staging/programming in-house before sending it out to the enduser. This typically takes at least a week and in some cases causes you to incur freight charges. If you happen to have some DOA materials, it could take much longer. So, from a time from shipment to install, your interval is shorter by outsourcing to Catalyst which allows you to pay your bills timely without having to borrow from your bank. This also helps you maintain the best credit score with all of your vendors which ultimately helps you negotiate the best discounts in the long term. As for your technicians, this is also a great opportunity to evaluate how you use those resources to drive revenue. Could they be generating higher margin professional/ billable services? Going out on sales calls to close deals? Providing network consulting (for fee)? Just as exciting, in the coming months, you’ll see Catalyst announce the same program for Avaya ECG Communication Manager systems. The good news is these services are sku’d and easy to price and order. Click this link or call me to learn more.
Stimulus Leads