NEWS INTERVIEW Daisy extends its reach
resellers are able to realise growth by working closely with the business on a number of support levels including training and marketing. For resellers to structure their business in a way that allows them to realise their future financial goals, they often need the advice and hands-on guidance of marketing and business management experts. According to Churchill, many resellers have a clear vision of where they want to be but don’t necessarily have the in-house skills to develop a roadmap that leads the way towards realising growth. However, castles built on dreams can be underpinned by firm foundations with the help offered by Daisy Wholesale, he said.
Sales objectives Carl Churchill
Daisy’s acquisition of rival O-Bit was unexpected, but according to Carl Churchill, Daisy Wholesale’s Managing Director, there should be no surprise about his mission to help resellers realise their aspirations and growth ambitions.
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he entrepreneurial spirit that defines O-Bit Telecom’s CEO Dave Breith and his team caught Daisy’s eye early on and was a factor in the acquisition. Churchill also noted many similarities between the organisations that have now become operational synergies. With Breith and his management team, Daisy Wholesale is on a mission to ensure that resellers benefit from the strength of the enlarged organisation but without losing the personal touch. “Daisy has always been a company that thrives on entrepreneurial spirit and this hasn’t been lost with growth – quite the opposite,” said Churchill. “When we acquire we aim to capture the spirit that existed in other channel businesses.”
With more than 1,000 resellers now supported by the combined businesses of Daisy Wholesale and O-Bit, Churchill says the union of the two businesses, backed by the financial clout and entrepreneurial spirit of Daisy Group, provides resellers with a ‘real opportunity’ for growth in 2011 and beyond. Leveraging the buying power and support of the larger Daisy Group,
Revenue targets can only be defined by the initiatives and strategies that make them real, but for many businesses setting out a targeted roadmap is like finding a way through a jungle. Such initiatives require a clear framework, strategy and process geared towards hitting clear sales objectives. There is nothing peculiar about these requirements but they are often sidestepped by a large number of businesses. “Not many smaller resellers have business and marketing strategies,” said Churchill. “They hope to grow by a certain amount, usually high growth predicted in a particular timeframe, so we are helping our resellers by asking them where they are today, where they want to go and what it’s going to take to fill the gap.”
Product knowledge is also essential for resellers to realise their growth targets, pointed out Churchill. A lack of product knowledge could have unwelcome customer service implications and also leave the reseller open to the possibility of business churn as well as a loss of new revenue streams. Given the pace of technological change and how quickly new products come to market, it is not surprising that many resellers find it difficult to keep up with the times. According to Churchill, to combat this ‘knowledge trap’ Daisy Wholesale religiously beats the education drum.
Daisy Wholesale’s marketing team is also playing a pivotal role in driving the firm’s expansion, proving that a slick marketing operation is essential for organisations to facilitate fast growth. Churchill believes that there are significant opportunities for resellers to boost their performance by working smarter and in a more integrated way with Daisy Wholesale. The business is evangelising its marketing ethos to help partners close the gap between aspiration, strategy and execution through a two pronged approach based on the fulfilment of basic marketing strategies through the development of white-labelled brochures, e-shots and multi-media portals, alongside the provision of personalised business consultation combined with high touch account management.
“This year a key focus is to work with our partners to develop opportunities within their customer base and create mutual growth,” said Churchill. “We’ve invested heavily in our support infrastructure to service a significant increase in business as well as build a foundation that will support our ambitious growth aspirations. We’ve recently launched incentives such as our Consolidate for Cash promotion where resellers can receive an amount equivalent to a month’s spend on calls, broadband or MPLS IP VPN in exchange for consolidating that business with Daisy Wholesale. We’re also preparing for our carrier Health Check service where we will review the potentially disparate carrier relationships within our resellers businesses with a view of maximising margin by moving to Daisy Wholesale.”
All of this activity is based on playing an active role with partners to generate growth and margin improvements, noted Churchill. He added: “Over the next few months resellers can expect to see a new SIP trunking proposition from Daisy Wholesale, more focus on our new NTS and inbound products, as well as the delivery of new services and applications that add value to our channel proposition.”
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22 COMMS DEALER MARCH 2011
www.comms-dealer.com
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