INDUSTRY NEWS COMMENT: MARKETING MATTERS Elizabeth Sparrow
THE more I hear from businesses struggling to manage their cash flow the more I realise cash really is king. It may be an old cliché, but times are tough and businesses are naturally requesting longer credit terms when selecting a new supplier. While this new buying criteria is putting pressure on the smaller reseller, no one wants to turn away business. To exasperate the problem further, banks
are reluctant to lend to new businesses. If you do happen to be one of the lucky few that receive funding, and have successfully grown revenues and profits, but down the line have a slight cash requirement, think again about asking the bank. The standard response is usually a big fat ‘NO’. However, all is not lost: The shrewd business trader will be considering all business elements to become self-sufficient in their growth. Start thinking about requesting extended credit terms from your supplier in return for greater growth, developing products with upfront commissions or an immediate return, and keeping all your clients on direct debit to minimise those that may default on paying. All this will go some way to help alleviate the issue. Building these requirements into your sales and marketing plan is also imperative to building a sustainable business. The promotion of services with long contracts, such as mobiles, should feature heavily, as should promotions to aid conversion to direct debit. Offering continued support and value add into an existing base will ultimately minimise customer churn and will help with forecasting growth while also nourishing it. It is important that your marketing plan addresses all business objectives, helping to generate sales that will assist in generating cash for your business.
Elizabeth Sparrow, Sales & Marketing Director, O-bit
VARs join up at roadshow
AN INAUGURAL roadshow educating SME-focused data resellers about providing cus- tomers with joined up telecoms services has been voted an unprecedented success. The ‘Evolve or Die’ event staged in Marlow, Bucks, and sponsored by Fidelity Group, O2 and FixIT-Local, was aimed at educating members of the Brigantia IT buying group about the benefits of adding ‘Joined- Up Communications’ to their customer offerings.
Over a third of the 60-plus audience signed up to the Fidelity O2 programme after- wards to the delight of O2 Head of Wholesale Anton Le Saux: He said: “I was extreme- ly happy with the turnout of Brigantia delegates and even more pleased that 20 signed up with our ‘joined up’ partner Fidelity on the day. It was great to see people from the data mar- ket buying into our message.”
Aron Teacher, Commercial Director at Fidelity Group, added: “We not only signed up 20 dealers but we have continued to sign up many more Brigantia members on follow ups. A bril- liant result all round.”
Comms Dealer magazine’s Editorial Director Nigel Sergent introduced proceedings with a market opportunity overview and introduced an array of industry specialists who cov- ered the entire communications spectrum namely, mobile solu- tions, broadband, SIP trunking, hosted VoIP, mobile security and data backup.
Pictured (l-r): Back row
– Charles Aylwin (VoiceNet); Dan Cunliffe (BE Wholesale); Roan Pratt (Gamma Telecom); Chris McManus (AVG); Anton le Saux (O2); Iain Shaw (Brigantia). Front row – Nigel Sergent (Comms Dealer); Alan Shraga (Fidelity Group) and Bernie McPhillips (O2).
Excell signs Avaya UK’s former MD
LEE Shorten, former Avaya MD for UK & Ireland, has joined the board of CNA ‘Reseller of the Year’ Excell Group. One of the Shorten’s objec- tives will be to develop the go-to-market model for Excell’s own secure voice-ready cloud which it has built in the UK. Excell also offers traditional delivery methods for voice, data and mobile as well as a consoli- dated utility service, aggregat- ing across multiple networks. Excell Chairman Darren Strowger told Comms Dealer: “We are seeing increased oppor- tunities in mid-sized enterprise across the Group and we are working with Lee to develop our business plan.”
Shorten said: “Excell is a dynamic organisation with a hunger for customer satisfaction. It is able to deliver and manage complete end-to-end communi- cation solutions for desk-based and mobile workforces with voice, data and video.
“Excell own their own NGN and are therefore able to aggre- gate across multiple providers. The cost savings can be instant. “The opportunity to work with such a dynamic company that will help shape the future of communications delivery is a truly exciting prospect.”
Our company repairs telecommunication equipment for a wide range of clients in the UK from independent business to local Government, the NHS and large corporate businesses.
We specialise in the repairing of Siemens ISDX and Realitis, Cisco, Nortel, Mitel and Ericsson terminals and system peripherals, our price includes all labour and electronics, new cordage for phone and handsets and unlike most telecom repair companies we only charge for fully repaired units.
For further information please call 01992 892323 or via email at
sales@selectservice.co.uk
Select Service is neither a partner of nor an affi liate of Siemens, Nortel, Cisco, or Ericsson communications. A division of Select Service Telecommunications Ltd. Unit 4 Millbrook Business Park, Hoe Lane, Nazeing, Essex. EN9 2RJ
6 COMMS DEALER DECEMBER 2011
www.comms-dealer.com
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