Data Services Demand Solution Selling
Posted: 02/2000
Data Services Demand Solution Selling
By Jill Collins
As the confluence of voice and data drives the telecommunications market to new
heights, it has become apparent that selling data products and services is not the wave of
the future for agents. It is here and now.
"If ever there is a window of opportunity, today’s big window I see is in data. If
[agents] know data today, they’ll have a built-in differentiator," says Steve
Hesling, vice president of marketing for carrier American Telesis Inc. (www.american-telesis.net), and in the data
industry since 1979.
Adding data to traditional voice offerings makes it possible for agents to offer the
almighty bundle–the one-stop shop. However, it’s not that simple, say industry observers.
It requires that agents provide more than a laundry list of services on one bill. They
need to offer an integrated solution to their customers’ needs.
Defining Terms
Exactly what is meant by the new buzz phrase "integrated solutions"? It seems
to mean different things to different people. However, the most appropriate use of the
newest telecom slang means the end user wants one point of contact for every possible
problem, be it equipment-, service- or product-related.
It means the customer wants direct access to the complete solution.
"Integrated solutions to a lot of people means, ‘I sell a whole bunch of products
and maybe I’ll roll it up on one bill,’" explains Jay Brummett, Ph.D., vice president
of network engineering, NetLojix Communications Inc. (www.netlojix.com).
"I think it ought to mean figuring out what the customer needs and bringing
them that entire integrated solution. And how you deliver [the solution] to the customer
isn’t really important provided the quality is there, the hassle factors are eliminated
and the price is competitive."
NetLojix literally "bet the whole farm" on the concept of selling an
integrated solution when it sold its residential long distance business in September.
"We went from being a $100 million plus company to being a $25 million
company," Brummett explains. "We believe that is going to cause us to be able to
go to the billion-dollar mark, whereas if we stayed as a long distance company, we would
eventually just collapse under our own weight."
Brummett says agents should promote themselves as a solution provider to their
customers.
"They don’t want to shop the market; they don’t want to figure out what to do;
they just want the thing to work. So they know whenever they have something to do, they
should call you. And you are going to be able to bring all the players to the table and
you’re going to go integrate the solution for them. In a market that is so wide open,
particularly in the small-to-mid-size business, I honestly think that’s the future for an
agent."
Advantages
It is likely the average telecommunications customer does not understand data or the
terms and technologies associated with it. Therefore, as part of the solution, agents must
teach themselves and their clients and remain available, giving the end users what they
want, while reaping benefits for themselves–and the benefits for providing data are many.
"The downsides [of selling data] are pretty much limited to the alien nature of
data vs. voice," says Kieren J. McCobb, president, TeleConfusion Removal Inc.,
Mill-town, N.J.
The upsides in-clude the joys of customer retention, product and service add-ons, line
reliability, cross-selling into an existing base, an untapped small-to-medium-sized
business market, a bundled bill that means more income on a monthly basis, a fixed monthly
income and more.
Customer Retention. The bonus from selling data products–improved customer
retention–stems from the fact that it is a more intricate and time-consuming
process to install and provision than voice.
they’re not unhappy with it?" asks Jay Lewis, vice president of master agency
Visioncom Inc., Finland, Minn. "Absolutely not. [To switch service providers], now
they [have to] go through the paperwork, reconfigure their routers, reconfigure their
PBXs, do some plug and play, they have to get their vendors out there, and how much is
that going to cost? And are there going to be install fees? [The business] just doesn’t go
anywhere compared to voice."
American Telesis’ Hesling agrees. "A data line oftentimes has a retention rate
with a customer on the average of four to five years. We all know the 1+ arena could be
more like four to seven months."
Add-ons. Another upswing for integrated solution providers is the voice (local
and long distance) and Internet pieces, which come along once an agent has sold a customer
on data. Agents are seeing more and steadier compensation because data circuits bring in a
set amount of money each month. Agents now can budget and bank on their futures, with an
extra benefit that the voice and Internet can be add-ons.
Line Reliability. Another advantage of selling data is the reliability of
private lines and data circuits, according to McCobb. "The T1s that I’ve put in go
down on an average of less than once per year. Time to repair on an average T1 is under
2.5 hours; time to repair is quicker. There is more attention paid to the circuit by the
carrier and the LEC or the CLEC (competitive LEC). Typically they know about trouble
earlier than the customer does."
Redundancy. Lastly, and for the more eager salespeople in the force, there is
the matter of selling redundancy data circuits to ward off debacles such as when MCI
WorldCom’s (www.wcom.com) frame relay went down for eight days in August, disabling and
irritating many companies across the United States in the process.
"In essence I thought [the MCI incident] was a great thing because now anybody who
realizes how important that network is to them will go out and buy redundancy and get a
different network," says Lewis. "And now maybe I can have a customer who is
paying double. And it’s already happened."
Disadvantages
Challenges also exist when adding data to the product mix.
Learning Curve. The closest thing to a problem is the steep learning curve,
which includes new verbiage, paperwork and applications. Agents are expected to stay ahead
of the game by learning the new and different data products and services to maintain their
"expert" status in the eyes of the end user.
"As technology changes, you need to stay ahead of the curve. [You need] to know
not so much how to sell it, but to be aware that it exists, what it is, how it’s different
from whatever else is out there, [and] what the advantages and disadvantages are of it
against the other four or five technologies," says McCobb.
Paper Chase. Another challenge agents face is that when stepping up to the data
plate, they are confronted with an endless supply of paperwork mandatory for ordering the
products and services. Master Agent Jay Lewis recently paid his dues to the data forum
when he ordered eight T1s for a multiple-location customer. When all was said and done,
the order was 72 pages long. It almost goes without saying that as of now, online account
ordering and management for data products and services is minimal.
"Automated order entry for voice isn’t ubiquitous yet, much less data,"
McCobb says. However, he does offer advice on large paper orders.
"The way to help that is mostly agent-designed software, because I don’t see the
carriers and the resellers offering automated order entry yet. Scan the different forms
into your PC and have it so that common header entries–name, address, contact, phone
number, e-mail–are automatically transported to each of those fields on multiple
pages."
Long Provisioning/Billing. Another downfall to selling data is the amount of
time it takes from selling them to the time they are installed and billed. Using Lewis’
example of eight T1s ordered on Nov. 15, his deft guess is that hopefully they were
to be installed by Jan. 15.
"So if I’m lucky, I get paid on, billed and not collected, which means now maybe
it’ll show up in my March commission run or, if not, my April," he estimates.
American Telesis’ Hesling believes provisioning due dates from large carriers are being
missed on an average of five to 10 days.
"So when they say that they’re going to have it installed for you in 30 days, I
believe it’s taking more like 40 to 45 days, and in some cases as much as two months
before they get the circuits installed."
In McCobb’s opinion, lack of follow-up is probably the No. 1 problem with provisioning
anything, including data circuits.
"Provisioning data is absolutely more time-consuming and intricate than
provisioning voice, but it’s a learning process and the more you can automate it, the
better off you are. There is a lot more potential for mistakes, but you just need to know
going in there’s a lot more places where you can make a mistake and be aware of it and
take extra time to do it right."
Getting Educated
Inherent in choosing a carrier or reseller to provide data products and services is the
amount of training they provide. Lynne Frodyma, product marketing manager for reseller
Trans National Communications International Inc. (www.tncii.com)
has put together a training package for agents to understand data, their applications and
the ordering process.
"We have all been taking some training pieces from our carriers and we’re working
internally to understand the product line. In turn, we have created a manual for agents
that covers both frame relay and dedicated Internet, not only the network components of
each, but the industry and the applications they will encounter."
An everyday example of a customer an agent might encounter is a banking institution.
Trans National’s training manual covers why a bank would want frame relay, and what sort
of applications a bank would be looking for. Not only does the manual cover common
occurrences, it also devotes a section to processes and procedures of ordering a circuit,
tentative carrier time frames for doing so, sample paperwork to fill out and, most
important, sales applications like the one mentioned above.
Currently under construction, Trans National has an interactive training piece, which
most likely will occur on the web and be launched during the first quarter. The company
also is researching onsite training to agents as well as a video conferencing link
utilizing its website.
If a carrier or reseller is willing to put its agents through rigorous training in
selling data products and services, then agents should take advantage of it! However,
considering this usually is not the case, there is no substitute for on-the-job training.
While sitting in on a sales phone call with a subagent who sells only data products,
Visioncom’s Lewis realized, "If I had to sell it myself, I never would have been able
to. But I can the next time, because now I understand it. A lot of us have to learn how to
do it as we’re doing it, but you can’t read enough, you can’t ask enough questions."
Hesling agrees. "Frankly, there is no better way to learn than through actual
application. You can listen to a trainer train until you drop, but until you have that
first opportunity where you have to learn and remember, it doesn’t stick as long."
Hesling still provides master agents and subagents with conference calls to go over
data and, given an audience of at least eight salespeople and a place to stay, he also
will travel to the agents for a daylong training session.
