Selling considerations for VoIP Solutions

Real customer communication is more than telecom acronyms

Telephony technology is full of acronyms. The sales it and telecoms professionals may know what you mean when you talk about DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) and DECT (Digital European Cordless Telecommunications) but the customer, the SMB owner, considering this major purchase may be overwhelmed and confused. Worse still, they may be too proud to admit this lack of knowledge. As a result you may miss an opportunity to discover what the client really needs from their new system and so what extra things you could sell them.

"Stand out as a true expert  by saying really clearly what you really mean"

Always offer products based on client's needs

There is no problem without a solution. It is your job to listen carefully to your client as they describe their business and its practices so you can determine what they actually need instead of what you assume you can sell them. And don't offer them a product based on their current broad band. Make sure they up-grade their Internet connection to match the job to be done, and not vice versa.

Scenarios

• Companies with  large number of concurrent calls, have sophisticated call routing and voice prioritization features, and a system that links their tradition PBX traffic to the Internet. They will benefit from a gateway product that offers greater capacity, gives good sound quality and can be integrated with other applications.

• Growing companies that have various telephony-connected devices that operate in analog mode (e.g. a building security alarm, credit card machines, fax machines) will need an IP PBX solution that can accommodate fax lines and their regular plain old phones.

Always offer a complete solution

Make your sales pitch have real meaning. Tell your client what a feature really does and why it's important for them to have it to accomplish their business goals. For instance:

Scenarios
There are more FXO ports.

What the customer really wants to know: The FXO (regular analog telephone) ports make it possible for you to continue using your existing analog phones, fax machines and other analog devices. This way you can integrate the features of a new, IP telephone system with equipment you already have.

You can buy keys in 16-port increments.

What the customer really wants to know:  Buying keys to increase the number of available ports is an inexpensive way to add more capacity (= internal telephone lines) to your system. Your phone system can grow with your business, without having to buy additional hardware.

There is a built-in capacity for fail over calling.

What the customer really wants to know: We can configure your system to default to your traditional land line in case your Internet connection fails. This means that people in your office will still be able to make some calls until the connection is restored.

After the sell: 

More security now means fewer regrets later 

In a recent study among a group of VoIP users in the US, 40% of the respondents said they did not have specific plans to secure their VoIP deployments. 

The endpoints of your client's VoIP system are vulnerable to attack. Among those areas that are now vulnerable to unauthorized access, viruses and worms are: operating systems, Internet protocols, applications and management interfaces of VoIP phones, desk-top computers and laptops running soft phones.

It sounds scary however, it also means that there is a lucrative market for those who sell VoIP security products and services to their customers. Network security has to be part of a successful deployment. You can be a hero to your client by offering them the protection they need.

A good installation plan will make the configuration of the system much easier for you and your client.

Choose your options; a quiet weekend on the lake or golf course or 48 hours in your client's offices trying to discover what went wrong with their deployment. Good planning makes the difference here, although many people in the industry say that good pre-installation planning is unusual.