Business News – Alliance Seeks Agent Recognition in Consumer Ads
Posted: 06/2000
Alliance Seeks Agent Recognition in Consumer Ads
By Tara Seals
The Agent Alliance (www.agentalliance.net) announced in May an initiative to gain agent recognition in consumer advertising. The move is spearheaded by Paul
Silicato, the alliance’s president and co-owner of Global Systems Telecom Inc. (www.TheGlobalZone.com).
In a prepared statement, the alliance urges carriers and resellers to recognize the agent channel’s contribution to their business in ads, by including the tag line, “or call your Independent Telecom Agent.” The line would be printed underneath the provider’s direct phone number, in much the same way that consumer ads for the travel and insurance industries mention their agents.
“There are over 5,000 independent telecom agents nationwide that provide a substantial amount of new monthly sales to carriers and resellers,” says Silicato. “The carriers and resellers are enthusiastic about the sales generated by agents; however, many allow their corporately paid sales force to tell a business or consumer that agents cannot or will not service them as well as the in-house people. This needs to stop and a tag line recognizing the agent channel needs to be inserted in all consumer advertising.”
“I think it’s a great idea,” says Trudy Van Kirk, AT&T Corp.’s general manager, independent sales channel
(www.att.com). “My reaction is, the more coverage you have the better.” She does, however, acknowledge a potential snag. “A thought that comes to mind is, how do I know if my agent is an agent for the carrier that’s been advertised? With a travel agent, all travel agents can book on all airlines. And in the telcom world, people are not agents for all carriers.”
Silicato and the members of the Agent Alliance will begin a letter-writing campaign to the Telecom Resellers Association
(www.tra.org) as well as the carriers and resellers they currently represent, urging them to include the tag line in their future advertising. The alliance also will lobby to make future agent contracts inclusive of the clause.
“I call on all agents to make the request of inserting the tag line ‘or call your Independent Telecom Agent’ … and to request that language requiring this be inserted in all future contractual agreements with carriers and resellers,” says Silicato.
