VIEWPOINTS
Twickenham Stadium April 1st & 2nd, 2009
www.comms-dealer.com
COMMENT
“Why
NGN business
play
hide and
seek with
buyers?”
update:
BY DAVE CRUSE, CEO, CONJUNGO
FACT: 98 per cent of business buyers start
Andy Hollingworth, Opal’s Head
their procurement process online. This
of the Reseller Channel, dispels
means that if you want to stay visible to
potential clients you have to become
the myth that the migration to
online savvy! Here are five straightforward
NGN is difficult and complex,
tips that will make a big difference to the
amount of traffic coming to your site.
and shows that with the right
1. Ensure your site is as attractive
support, it really can be painless.
and useful as possible
Andy Hollingworth
Your content needs to be written with
your target audience in mind, be easy
to read and free of mistakes. Keep it
short, sharp and to the point. Nobody
wants to read ‘War and Peace’ online.
A
s next generation communication great for those that want to be as hands off
technologies continue to drive cost as possible, but is also a particularly popular
reductions and deliver operational choice when moving a whole customer
Make sure visitors can navigate the site efficiencies, more and more businesses are base, for example. An alternative is to enable
comfortably. Include a site map and looking to replace their traditional voice the reseller to migrate individual orders via
remember that good quality photographs
connection methods and are making the a portal. This option is one for resellers who
or images help sell your solutions.
move to NGN – and rightly so. Our end want to take control of orders and place
2. Optimise your content to search engines
user research has shown that continuity of them as necessary, and tends to suit smaller
Research the keywords that will bring
connection remains a priority, and this is organisations that may be dealing with fewer
customers to you and ensure that these
understandable. After all, how many businesses transactions. The final option is to process orders
feature not only in the right place within
really want their networks disrupted? It is independently of the portal provided by the
your content but also in your page titles.
for this reason that despite the compelling network operator by linking directly to them
commercial case for making the switch, many via XML. Not for everyone. This is only possible
3. Have a linking strategy
still perceive the process involved in making if a business has its own processing system,
The number and quality of the links to your
the move to NGN to be risky and a potential but the overall process is faster and it enables
site is a factor in how high you rank on
threat to the lifeblood of their business. bulk ordering, which suits larger companies.
search engines. Work at ensuring sites with
good content link to you and vice versa.
This is absolutely not the case. In reality, Another misconception is that it takes a
4. Consider advertising
once you’re with the right network partner long time to get a reseller ready to sell NGN
Do not be put off by banner ads or
your customers’ move to a converged communications. This is not so – not with the
sponsorships because you have heard
environment can be completed simply, right partner. The process is far quicker than
they are expensive. Advertising to
inexpensively and with the minimum risk you’d think and once development work
promote your site in the right places
of disruption. The first step in making the has begun it usually takes about two weeks
can be good value for money.
transition requires forming an effective before a reseller can begin placing orders.
5. Sign up for vertical search partnership with a provider that has both NGN
Vertical search engines like Conjungo are expertise and a sound knowledge of legacy Now onto reseller support: We all know that any
an increasingly popular way of getting infrastructure to ensure smooth migration. technology transition requires strong customer
to specialised or local information. They
support and this is something resellers should
deliver relevant content to businesses that
The next stage is to work with your provider ensure they are being offered by their provider
big sites can only provide with the aid of
to agree on a pricing and tariffs package in order for the process to be a success. The
cumbersome keyword combinations.
that works best for you. This will ensure the provider should work in consultation with the
Research shows that buyers want two NGN offering is competitive against your reseller at all times to ensure they receive the
things from vertical search – more practical, existing models and services. This will also most appropriate solution for their business, and
relevant information and a choice of allow you to open up new revenue streams regular and continuing communication is key.
suppliers. They want information about and increase profit margins. To ensure the
technology that is comprehensive and continuity of operation within the customers’ Working hand in hand, resellers and their
written from a business perspective, without business the provider should also be as flexible network operator can plan a smooth and risk-
jargon, coupled with a choice of local in their approach as possible, no matter what free route to convergence which will result in a
suppliers and the ability to identify industry the size or scale of the transition involved. great offering for the end user. Next Generation
expertise, size of company sold to etc. Networking provides a great opportunity for
Traditional search engines rarely achieve this. There are three available approaches to the channel, offering small and medium sized
Why play hide and seek with buyers looking handling the migrations: Firstly, the provider organisations a scalable and flexible way of
for companies just like yours?
„
can manage the entire project, with little working while significantly cutting the cost of
or no impact on normal operations. This is communications.”
„
BUY BETTER, SELL BETTER PARTNER BETTER, BE BETTER! REGISTER NOW AT
The better business show for the entire ICT channel
www.channelsolutions.co.uk
42 COMMS DEALER MARCH 2009 www.comms-dealer.com
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