INDUSTRY NEWS COMMENT: MARKETING MATTERS Elizabeth Sparrow
KEEPING a sales team motivated and productive is a challenge for any business. Incentivising a team and delivering the company’s strategy can be a delicate balancing act, but get it right and an inspired sales force will be one of the most important ingredients in business success. When moral is up and the work environment is a fun and rewarding place to be there is a natural improvement
in productivity, when moral is low the opposite is true. Commission plans can be tricky: Set the target too high and they will never be hit, the sales person will get downbeat and the challenge will become even greater. Set them too low and you will not be pushing individuals to produce the best return for the business, they could get complacent and the business will not be hitting the optimum growth rate. Cap them and you are building a ceiling on your businesses growth and restricting the productivity of your best staff. Setting a commission plan that is perfectly achievable but is not supported by appropriate marketing activity or business directive is equally sentenced to doom. A targeted commission plan should provide achievable
revenue and margin targets. It should financially reward the individual while also fulfilling business growth. It should be supported by a strategic marketing campaign driving demand for the solutions and with identified USPs creating a real need among prospects. The targets should be coupled with a directive from senior management to bring individuals into the company strategy. And it should be regularly reviewed to ensure everyone remains on track. If the commission plan is working you want to be paying big money because this means you are growing proportionately during what we are constantly reminded are ‘difficult times’.
Elizabeth Sparrow, Sales & Marketing Director, O-bit
Peach ripens with growth
A SHARP increase in turnover from £532,792 in 2007 to £7.1m in 2010 helped Peach Telecom to secure ninth place in The Sunday Times Microsoft Tech Track 100 league table, which ranks Britain’s 100 private tech- nology companies with the fast- est growing sales over the latest three years.
This high listing comes at the end of a year in which Peach was named the fastest growing NEC reseller in EMEA. The fast expanding Hants-
based firm has more than tripled its workforce since its inception in 2006 to number 65. Peach Telecom has also grown through organic growth and the acquisition of other businesses, including Harmony Solutions and Pro-Voice. The company has now expanded its service lines and supplies fixed lines and calls, broadband, telephone systems, maintenance on all makes of phone systems, data solutions, hosted telephony, SIP trunking and a 118 directory service. The company has a region-
al office in Lancashire and works with more than 5,000 SME customers over a range of industries. Peach Telecom is also Hampshire Chamber of
Darren Scott-Healey
Commerce’s number one sup- plier for communications. Furthermore, Peach Telecom has also signed a key deal with operator O2 to become one of its Joined Up Communications Wholesale Partner Channel Programme partners. Darren Scott-Healey, MD, said: “The key to our success has been our boldness, having our finger on the pulse when it comes to latest technologies and our commitment to our custom- ers. Without this we would not be one of the top technology companies in the UK. “We’re not resting on our laurels and we have even more plans for expansion over the next few years, all of which will be revealed over time.”
TOP RANKINGS
Solar Communications was ranked number 87 in the annual Sunday Times Microsoft Tech Track 100 league table. Mark Colquhoun, Solar’s CEO, said: “We will continue our expansion and launch a series of wireless mobility and HD videoconferencing solutions. Early adopters include an international importation business that will save over £35k a year in travel expenses through the use of HD videoconferencing.”
Red Box Recorders was awarded 95th place in the Microsoft Tech Track 100 listing. Iain Worthington, co-founder and CEO, said: “Much of our success is down to our approach of being clear, down-to-earth and practical, which translates directly into the technology solutions that we offer.”
End user uptake of cloud computing helped to secure Node 4 80th spot in The Sunday Times Microsoft Tech Track 100. Andrew Gilbert, MD, said: “We have stayed ahead of trends in cloud computing, data centres and communications. This focus will always be at the forefront of what we do.”
6 COMMS DEALER OCTOBER 2011
www.comms-dealer.com
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78