{"id":8036,"date":"2014-12-10T17:10:28","date_gmt":"2014-12-10T17:10:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/aerocominc.com\/?p=8036"},"modified":"2017-06-08T11:48:17","modified_gmt":"2017-06-08T18:48:17","slug":"the-secret-that-nobody-wants-to-tell-you-about-telecom-cloud-pricing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aerocominc.com\/info\/the-secret-that-nobody-wants-to-tell-you-about-telecom-cloud-pricing\/","title":{"rendered":"The Secret that Nobody Wants to Tell You about Telecom & Cloud Salespeople"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"secret\"<\/a><\/p>\n

As an IT Buyer,\u00a0you will interact with telecom and cloud providers several times per year. I want to let you in on a secret to help those interactions.<\/p>\n

Caution<\/span>: If you enjoy shopping for a new car by walking onto the lot and haggling to get your price down to invoice, (rather than just going to the fleet or Internet department to get that same price), then stop reading right now.<\/p>\n

For those of you like myself, who despise haggling with salespeople – this blog is for you.<\/p>\n

I am going to let you in on a secret that I’ve been educating IT Decision makers on for many years. Here it is.<\/p>\n

Agencies are a\u00a0Secret Weapon for IT Buyers
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When you are shopping for cloud and telecom service, asking for pricing from a salesperson who works for that provider is not only unnecessary, it’s just not logical. Actually purchasing\u00a0from anyone other than an agent is even worse.<\/p>\n

Why is this being kept a secret? Because if everyone knew the truth, every salesperson working for a provider would be out of a job. But in all honesty, the secret is out and already spreading fast among IT buyers. Many providers are scaling back their direct sales teams\u00a0as agency sales are increasing and in many cases, account for\u00a0over 50% of total sales.<\/p>\n

How do I know? \u00a0Before founding\u00a0AeroCom<\/a><\/span>, I WAS a direct salesperson for a large provider, for four years. I’ve had a large dose of both sides of the equation.<\/p>\n

If you don’t know what an agent is, then welcome to a great world! An authorized agent\/agency (a.k.a. broker\/indirect salesperson), is an independent\u00a0salesperson who, can sell every major cloud and telecom service provider. A good agent can sell over 200 service providers (including all the big names and lots of small names), their service has no fees to the customer and they help you sign up directly with the provider of your choice.\u00a0Agencies are nothing new… think about real estate and insurance. Same general concept.<\/p>\n

If you know about agents but you are still choosing to use a direct salesperson, FOR THE LOVE OF FIBER<\/a><\/span>! What the HDSL?!<\/p>\n

Can you handle the truth?<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Seriously, since 2003, I’ve heard a lot of misinformation so I wanted to put a few things in writing for you to\u00a0see. Here are all of the things that I’ve heard that are flat-out,\u00a0not true<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\"truth-257159_960_720\"<\/a>“A direct salesperson can get better pricing.”<\/strong>\u00a0 No, they can’t. Both direct and indirect (a.k.a. agents), have access to the same pricing, promotions, special pricing, etc. and I can get the CEO from any of the providers to tell you the same. Call me and I’d be happy to oblige.<\/p>\n

“A direct salesperson can get better support because they sit next to the engineers, install peeps, etc.”<\/strong>\u00a0 Again – no, this is absolutely false. You are a valued customer of the provider you choose, with access to the same support, regardless of whether you originally signed up with a direct or indirect salesperson.<\/p>\n

If customer service isn’t cutting it and you need some additional help… and call your sales agent to rally for you… Agencies\u00a0technically have the same access (as direct salespeople), to\u00a0support resources but in my experience, I actually got access to BETTER support when I started AeroCom… I remember being shocked at how everyone at the provider was bending over backwards for me when AeroCom had our first customer calling us for additional help.\u00a0Why? Because the\u00a0provider that we sold to the client had to EARN our future sales and knew that otherwise, our sales would shift to one of their competitors.<\/p>\n

As an agency, we have lists for every provider, with every escalation email and phone number\u00a0possible (up to their CEO), and regularly meet with the providers’ management teams so they can get our feedback on how they’re doing. Heck, providers even conduct\u00a0“agent advisory panels,” where the provider’s CEO and executive management team pays for us to come hang out for a day and tell them how they can improve.<\/p>\n

When I was a direct rep, the CEO never wanted to meet with me… and I was one of their best salespeople. Did they ever ask me how they could do better with support or engineering? No. Direct salespeople simply have no leverage.<\/p>\n

“I don’t want to work with a middleman.”<\/strong>\u00a0 Me neither! Good news – You’re not. You sign up directly with the provider you choose and you call that provider, directly, for support, just as you always have. Except now you have an additional customer advocate… your agency.<\/p>\n

“I’ve had a bad experience using an agent\/broker.”<\/strong>\u00a0 Ummmm\u00a0 …and you haven’t had a bad experience with an on-staff salesperson from a provider? EVER?!\u00a0<\/em>Yeah… right\u00a0[sarcasm]. Did you swear to never use a direct rep again, either?<\/p>\n

“You are just going to recommend the provider who pays you the most.”<\/strong>\u00a0 You can say that to any salesperson selling any product.\u00a0 Direct reps might try to sell you the product that has the most incentives. \u00a0Don’t over-think it. Go with your gut and if you can’t trust the person in front of you, direct or agent, walk away.<\/p>\n

“I don’t get it. What’s the catch? How can you give me the same pricing as a direct salesperson and not charge the client?\u00a0 How do you make money?<\/strong>\u00a0 Easy… the provider doesn’t have to pay the direct salesperson. Instead, they take that money and pay the agency. In fact, providers LOVE agents,\u00a0because it costs them less, overall. With agents, they get the sales without all the drama… no salary, no benefits, no turnover, no manager for every 10 salespeople, no payroll tax, no worker’s comp, no liability insurance, no expense account… They just pay when a sale is made.<\/p>\n

“Our VAR handles that for us.”<\/strong> Well, at least you’re using an agent but typically, this is still not going to be your best choice. Just like you probably don’t have your accountant as your life insurance agent. Use an expert for each thing you buy… not someone who’s doing it “on the side” for an extra income stream. Since a VAR is busy with their primary expertise, they typically work with one or two providers that they’ve had a good experience with… then recommend that\u00a0same provider to every client, without digging too deep on whether or not a little better option might be out there, based on that client’s unique requirements.\u00a0They enjoy the commissions\u00a0but quoting providers isn’t something they like to spend a lot of time on. Don’t allow your company to settle for a telecom or cloud service that’s just “good enough.” Not on your watch. Use your VAR\u00a0for their awesome primary\u00a0expertise and use a full-time agency to shop for your company’s telecom, Internet and cloud service providers.<\/p>\n

How Agents Make Your Life Easier<\/strong><\/h4>\n

…Now that I’ve dispelled the myths, I’ll go even further and tell you the hefty benefits of using an agency.<\/p>\n