SPECIAL REPORT errors, delegates warned
value proposition today is unrecognisable compared to the past. Also altered beyond recognition is the way we engage with customers, partners and people in general. A subject close to the heart of Pete Tomlinson, Sales and Marketing Director at Eclipse, who gave a lively presentation on the virtues of engaging with customers based on a new conversation that takes into account a new breed of buyer.
“The cloud and Internet have enabled people to move away from past behaviours,” he said. “How buying decisions are made has changed, meaning that we need to connect with customers in different ways. Online decision making has created a Zero Moment of Truth, or ZMOT, the moment when a consumer researching a product online decides whether or not to make a purchase. It is important for us to connect with these more knowledgable buyers who have consumed content before making a buying decision. This concept has implications for our industry as software and comms providers come together, creating more touch points
for customers. This is a big opportunity for us.”
Some laggards will argue that such calls to action are excessive and verge on hyperbole. But the eternal expansion of a new element, ‘data gas’, could soon choke these sceptics, Darwinian style, because only the fittest will survive the rapid evolution of data and how it is managed. Notably, the way data was stored in the past is a case in point, and according to independent consultant Paul Cunningham there was a time when moving physical data added up to back breaking work. But oh how things have altered.
“The economics of storage have changed,” he stated. “Data used to be like a solid, difficult to move around. It then became more liquid with process flows, but still difficult to transport. Now, New Data is most like a gas, expanding and being created all the time in the cloud. This has significant implications for the traditional voice business model. The shift of voice into the pure application software space will kill the PBX. Solutions will be less transactional, meaning that a new conversation needs to be had with the customer.”
I’m perplexed about where the market is going. As a CPE firm we recorded our best figures during the last three quarters. But our next generation of software products, called Evolve, will be both cloud and CPE. James Emm, joint CEO, Oak
For those who think all of this is just too much to bear and prefer to try and transcend change with both eyes looking backwards, a back to basics strategy based on past values will offer a dose of solace. Industry guru and sales supremo Marc Thompson gave delegates a sober view, pointing out that the comms industry has an innate tendency to over complicate matters to the detriment of sales.
“Complexity around new products creates sales inertia,” he told delegates. “We are all resistant to change, but put time aside to try new things for yourself and keep it simple.”
To say IT’s (forgive the pun) really as simple as 1, 2, 3 might tempt you to count your chickens before they hatch. Neverthelesss, ‘Let’s get digital’, urged Kcom’s Sally Fuller. She’s the firm’s Director for Propositions, Marketing and Customer Experience, and her characteristically powerful stage presence elevated the room’s thinking about how we engage with customers who are now steeped in a digital environment where rich and dynamic content dominates. “People are more engaged in dialogue and content than ever before, releasing intelligence,” she said. “Businesses that harness this ‘cognitive surplus’ and creativity will succeed.”
The notion that content has created a more subjective digital populace feeds Fuller’s argument that emotions are playing a much bigger role in business. “Emotional engagement accounts for 50 per cent of the perceived experience,” she added. “What is the emotional score of your company? Promote your company’s personality by emotionally engaging with customers.”
Key focus areas are how staff feel about their company and workplace. Sentiment tracking and analysis are exciting developments, according to Fuller, who also pointed out that the cloud has created a new level of digital personalisation, agility and dynamism that cannot be ignored.
The key to hosted is ease of consumption and scalability, and how we put hosted across horizontally rather than just vertical channels. The challenge is how to maximise the revenue opportunity in this service environment. Dave Dadds, Managing Director, Vanilla IP
It’s now about talking up all elements of the solution. If you sell a headset in a Lync environment go back and sell a licence with end points. It’s all about the solution set. Scott Somenthal, UC Sales Manager, Westcoast
Resellers need help to sell new solutions. Suppliers that communicate just through a web portal are making life far too difficult. Vendors need to stand up and be counted. Chris Papa, Managing Director, Converged Alliance
Don’t just sell systems as a one-off product. Look at all the needs of an end user business. Howard Freeman, Channel Business Development and Distribution Manager, Alcatel-Lucent
Telecoms moves slower than you think. Hosted is not there at the moment. Steve Hayden, Managing Director, Green Telecom
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Margin in Voice & Data picture special – p44 Hospitality Sponsors
www.margin-in-voice-data.com
COMMS DEALER JULY 2013 43
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