Single Manufacturer
Look for resellers that have specialised in single manufacturers such as Telefonix as it is just not possible to be able to sell and support multiple brands of phone systems. A company that has decided to only re-sell 1 manufacturer will often have more staff available in the case of a problem. It also means that the whole company is positioned to understand the product wholly which means you will get a better fitting solution. Also look at the Manufacturer, don’t buy into unknown brands, or brands that are relatively new to the market place. Let your competitors test these companies out whilst you stick to the tried and tested. There really are no gains to be had!
Accreditation Level
Most manufacturers want to get close to their resellers and to do this they will often reward them in the way of a medal program. So look for resellers that are promoting the level of accreditation that they have achieved with the manufacturer. These accreditations are down to hard work, staff training on both the sales and engineering sides often with manufacturer university qualifications. They will often have better access to high level technical support and may have better Customer Experience Centre facilities. Stay away from non-accredited companies, they may be cheaper but it will cost you more in the long run.
Demonstration Facilities
Customer Experience Centres are rare in the Small to Medium Business arena but essential for you “the customer” on making an informed decision on your new telephone solution. Ensure your supplier is able to demonstrate all the features that you want in a Experience Centre. Look to them to educate you on what you could do and not just what you have asked the system to do. You need to know what the system is capable of so that when in your business you are faced with a new challenge or need that you know that your investment will be able to meet it. When you are at the facility it is also a good time to look at how they are investing into the future of their business.
Lines and Calls
You should always try and leverage your purchasing power in tying your calls and lines with your phone system provider. Not only will you find you may get a better deal as you are buying a bigger package but it will pay dividends in having a sole supplier looking after your communications. This way you do not get yourself into a trap of multiple vendors blaming each other whilst your problem still doesn’t get resolved. Don’t be scared in wrapping your all your business together as it makes you a powerful customer.
Salesperson
Ensure that the person dealing with your enquiry is trustworthy and looking out for your business. Gone are the days when you are just replacing a phone system with hardware, you are more likely looking for a solution for your business issues, which may include looking at call/contact centres, voice over IP for remote workers, sip trunks for resilience, Computer Telephony Integration of your CRM database etc. So ensure that the salesperson has sufficient technical knowledge or calls on the experience of a pre-sales technical resource to make sure you get the solution that your business demands.
Custom Solution
Look for the supplier that can offer you the “bespoke” or “tailored” solution that has been designed to exactly match your business needs. There is no such thing as an “off the shelf” solution, you will need expertise to design, install and configure your solution to ensure that you maximise your investment and get a return on the investment. The return may be in cost savings of inter site calls that will be routed across the Internet now using VoIP, or it may be due to the centralisation of resources that could not happen before as you ran multiple isolated sites, it could be as basic as it improves your flexibility of where you can now work from as an extension of the office – The new Villa that your purchased in the Italian Lakes?
Product Roadmap
Does your supplier know the product roadmap for the solution that they are proposing? This is always a good test to see how well the supplier is “in bed” with the manufacturer, as a good supplier will be able to advise you of the current software release and what new features are due to be released. Often good business partners will have been consulted with by the manufacturers product development teams to find out what features they would like to see included in the roadmap. This ensures that the your proposed solution will last and keep up with your business needs. Don’t forget to ask if these are usually paid for software upgrades or not!
…penned by Mike Kirby, Telefonix
