Some telecom agents are reporting brisk business during the recession as companies — large and small — turn to them to figure out how to better manage their telecom spend. But even the best of channel partners are seeing their existing bases shrink — either from customers going out of business, disconnects or even contract renewals at lower rates.

Recovery is a moving target, but most estimates are it will be 2010 before the economy starts to improve. Meanwhile, agents are taking a long, hard look at their businesses. The cost-cutting, hopefully, has been done, but adding top-line revenue may become harder as the downturn drags out.

Like most businesses, an agent’s greatest asset is its existing customer base. Most already are putting it to good use, selling productivity-enhancing solutions into their bases. But there are dozens of non-telecom services these companies might use or already are using that agents could be providing. How about credit card processing? Or security? These are services that nearly every business needs. What’s more, many are natural add-ons to bandwidth sales, and some require little investment to get started.

Immediate cash infusion is a significant incentive for diversification, but the ultimate payback — customer loyalty — could come when the smoke clears.