As a channel partner, you want the best for your customers. After all, keeping them happy is the key to building your own success.
So, let’s say you’ve sold them on the advantages of cloud telephony. They’re looking forward to a cheaper phone bill, consolidated admin as well as greater comms flexibility. You’ve also convinced them of the benefits of cloud data storage. They can’t wait to get rid of their bulky, on-premise hardware and to make better use of their office space, all the while enjoying more resilient backup.
But these services are useless without reliable broadband underpinning them. In fact, any activity which requires internet access, be it SIP trunking, web conferencing, file sharing or HD video sharing, is at risk of sub-par performance unless there is robust and consistent data access beneath it.
As a trusted channel partner, here’s how you can make your mark with dedicated business-only solutions.
Backing business
Internet service providers (ISPs) who cater to both consumer and business traffic often have to slow down their service and limit certain types of traffic so that everyone can be online. For consumers, this can be a nuisance and prompt complaints on Twitter. For businesses, it results in huge amounts of lost revenue.
This practice (or rather, problem) is known as bandwidth throttling. And while it’s good for those who want to the cheapest internet access they can get – it’s not great for modern businesses whose operations depend on an array of cloud-enabled tools. When this happens, any consumer traffic on a business network can become a real problem for channel partners, who bear the brunt of poor service from the main provider.
By offering your customers business-only data services, you can help them limit their exposure to downtime and poor service – while increasing their exposure to customers, sales and profit.
Your customers’ businesses should be the only priority
Unreliable internet can mean a real cost to your customers’ bottom lines, as well as to your reputation as a reliable, trustworthy channel partner. While unplanned downtime can bring communication and productivity to a halt, poor network speeds can cause similar levels of frustration and productivity loss through ineffective workflows. Too often, busy networks are the root cause of these problems.
There is the competitive advantage to consider as well. A good service that’s uninterrupted by non-business traffic can mean the difference between a customer choosing your offering over another provider, thanks to greater service levels, speedier response times and stronger brand reputation.
Helping customers achieve this status is something all channel partners want to achieve. The more value you can bring to your customer’s operations, the more they’ll trust you as a purveyor of quality solutions that are fit for the future. And this, in turn, will boost your profit margins.
Think of it this way: you wouldn’t want to promise your customers the world with the benefits of cloud, without at least explaining the benefits of stronger data services through a business-only network.
So, forget making your customers share their traffic with consumers and take the lion’s share of the channel market today.
Learn more about how to give your customers the data service they want with this blog.
