BUSINESS PROFILE
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Abzorbing proposition
INTERVIEW
Formed less than two years ago, but with a wealth of industry experience, Abzorb has now combined four key packages together under the new AbzorbPlus+ banner. We got the story from Managing Director, Mike Walsh.
late 1970s he met John Weatherill, a work colleague who, with his wife Pauline, had a major impact on his life. “We both left the company in 1983 as John and Pauline had decided to set up John Weatherill Electronics,” recalls Walsh. “This later became JWE Telecom and in 1986 it became involved in the mobile sector. The whole process of developing a business from a green field site was a fantastic experience. I had various roles at board level and was able to contribute my expertise in distribution. At its peak, we had a network of some 350 resellers. The company was eventually floated in 1998 and I served on the board of the plc until 2001.”
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Abzorb was set up less than two years ago by Walsh and his two partners, Steve Beeby and Dominic Waterson. Previously, they had set up Vocall UK together. This sat alongside their existing businesses – Protocall (a call mobile business), Vitel (dealing with BT Wholesale fixed lines and calls), and Vitel Network (a Cat 5 and Cat 6 cabling business). The oldest of these companies was founded over 12 years ago. In 2008, all four business were re-branded and now trade under the Abzorb name. The board members (who together have over 75 years of experience in the telecoms industry) are now creating a formal group structure. When choosing the brand of the new company, they decided that they needed a short and snappy name.
alsh focused on consumer electronics early in his career, and in the
Walsh explains: “We chose Abzorb because it works on several levels. For instance, something that starts with ‘Ab’ is always helpful in alphabetical listings. However, we also liked the name Abzorb as a concept. It suggests the idea of absorbing information in order to come up with a solution. It has a nice conceptual feel about it. We decided to develop the business by controlled growth. Our strategy is in line with the way the market is moving towards convergence and unified communications. Our full product portfolio puts us in a good position to take advantage of this.”
Abzorb has a direct sales force operating mainly along the M62 corridor. “We have also recently developed AbzorbPlus+, our route to market using resellers,” added Walsh. “This followed an 18 month pilot scheme targeting fixed line resellers. We will continue to grow the direct sales force, but AbzorbPus+ will enable us to establish a nationwide presence. Resellers are the key to regional success on a national scale.
“When developing our portfolios we wanted to produce packages that would focus on the specific needs of our direct customers and our resellers and their clients. These needed to include attractive products at very competitive prices. We’re not interested in dealing with the cheap end of the market.
Mike Walsh
We therefore started by selecting product sets of the highest quality from some of the leading names in the industry, including Vodafone and BT. We already had strong alliances with these companies and can now offer a choice of products, complemented by the latest network offerings. We also give resellers access to the latest WLR3 platform for PSTN, ISDN30 and ISDN2e. In the future, there will be an increasing move towards unified communications.”
The overall AbzorbPlus+ proposition aims to give resellers a choice of packages across four key areas: Fixed lines, mobile, hosted services and SIP. “We’re aware that resellers’ margins are continuously under threat,” said Walsh. “Because we offer them wholesale commercial packages, resellers can create their own margins and develop their own tariffs and discounts.”
AbzorbPlus+ is mainly targeted on fixed line centric businesses, noted Walsh. “It’s white label and resellers can bureau bill or own bill under their own brand. Our Mobile proposition is a bolt-on to their existing portfolio. One of the key elements is that although
Resellers can create their own margins and develop their own tariffs and discounts
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there is an upfront commission, resellers benefit from recurring revenues from the first month, so they will continue to enjoy their margins. The recurring revenue isn’t conditional in any way.”
One offering that will be of particular interest to fixed line resellers is the AbzorbPlus+ Mobile proposition. Walsh believes that Abzorb’s expertise with mobile is a ‘massive benefit’ to fixed line resellers. “We work very closely with them and provide support. Each fixed line reseller’s requirements are different, but there is a common denominator – their core business isn’t mobile, so to bring in new mobile products needs a lot of help to make it work.”
As an added bonus, the company is launching a new incentive scheme in June, called ‘Turn up the Base!’. The incentive aims to reward both reseller principals and their sales teams. The sales teams earn points according to the wholesale revenues they generate – and these can then be exchanged for prizes. The principals of the top ten resellers will be rewarded by a skiing trip to one of France’s top ski resorts.
Walsh has big plans for the new AbzorbPlus+ proposition. He commented: “One of our main priorities this year is to create greater awareness of our products in the AbzorbPlus+ framework, with a particular emphasis on our mobile product portfolio.”
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