IPitomy's Emergency Notification

IPitomy Emergency Notification by Matthew Bellisario

Be a Leader in Today’s Competitive PBX Telecom Market!

There are many PBX companies in the telecommunications industry all competing for a limited market share. Many businesses are hanging on to their old phone system as long as they can, and those who have decided to invest in a new system are not quick to move. This equates to a much higher level of competition than ever before. What are some factors to consider when choosing a PBX product line to keep your business competitive? There are several elements to keep in mind to determine the overall value of a PBX manufacturer. Once you determine this and take on a new product, then you must also differentiate yourself on how you market your company and product.

1.       Price Point: Although only about 30% of businesses buy on price alone, having a lower price point on your equipment purchase does not necessarily have to equate to a rock bottom price to your buyer. Yes, you want to have a very competitive price point so that you can come in under your competitor. But most importantly, you want the flexibility to have the margins that you need to make a profit.

2.       Quality and Loyalty: Having the best price will not get you far if you do not offer a quality product and service. Your equipment must be reliable, and your company must also be reliable. It no longer suffices to keep your customers “happy.” You have to keep them loyal, and that means you must earn their trust. One of the most important factors is equipment quality and personal service. Keeping in touch with your customers earns you loyalty. Don’t be an ‘install it and disappear’ kind of company.

3.       Value in the Product: Overall value does not end with price. Being able to offer more features and flexibility with your PBX is extremely important. In order to differentiate yourself from the competition, you should look for a VoIP phone system that is rich in features and does not require extra licensing for every feature the customer wants. A PBX with a large standard feature set out of the box is more valuable to a potential client than one you have to keep adding licensing costs, even if the PBX is cheaper on the front end. Watch out for those back end costs. You also want a product that is easily upgradable so that when the latest features and applications are developed, you can upgrade at a reasonable cost to obtain the latest and greatest.

4.       Premise Based and Cloud Based Platforms: Since many businesses are looking at running their communications solutions in the Cloud, it is wise to find a manufacturer that can give you the best of both worlds. While premise based systems are here to stay, it is imperative to be able to offer a Cloud solution to those companies that desire it. Look for a manufacturer that offers a robust VoIP PBX as well as a Cloud based solution. Ultimately, the Cloud based solution would be one that lets you retain control and direct contact with your customer. A hosted option in which you are only a reseller for a hosted company builds up their customer base, not yours!

5.       Customer Service: No PBX can fit the value mold without support from the manufacturer. Being able to contact personnel in the US who can actually help you with your challenges is extremely important. You must also receive the proper training to install the systems and maintain them. Does the manufacturer charge for tech support and training, or do they offer it as a value in the dealer partnership?

6.       You Are The Final Differentiatior: Once you have chosen your product line, it is now up to you! You must now make the effort to personalize the PBX solution to match the desires of your potential clients. Your company must be known for its commitment to helping customers obtain an efficient and well managed communications solution. Sales is not a part time job, it’s a fulltime commitment to introducing your company to as many people as you can as many ways as you can. Utilize every avenue available to you to communicate the expertise of your company. Use manufacturer brochures, videos and testimonials to build an effective website. Remember, when you meet a potential client they are buying you first! Once they buy you, then they will consider your value offering.

Meeting the requirements of these six key elements will have you well on the way to being a leader in today’s telecommunications industry.

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Utilizing the Power of "Smart" Call Routing

With all of the cool features available on today’s VoIP phone systems, many people forget the primary reason for having a phone system, which is to route callers efficiently throughout the company. With the increasing use of auto attendant, there is a need to automate the ways calls can be routed.

IPitomy’s “Smart” routing allows you to route calls by including or excluding a number or numbers programmed in the system through expressions. There are many applications for this feature, which can be used in any number of businesses, small and large. The digits can be collected by caller ID or even after the system has answered through the auto attendant.

If a company were to have 3 branch offices for example, perhaps one in New York City, one in Rochester and one in Buffalo, it would be possible to route calls by area code to the appropriate branch office. This ensures that those customers who live nearest to the Buffalo area would rout to the Buffalo office, alleviating the need for an operator to take the time to find out which office they are closest to and then transfer them manually. The phone system can easily be programmed to automatically route calls by the first three numbers of the caller ID.

Many companies have the need to route their customers to an appropriate individual or group based on an ID number, account number, etc. For example, a company may have tiered technical support where a platinum member may route to a different group than a gold member, or can even be queued behind a platinum member. Once the caller rings into the main menu through the auto attendant, the caller would be asked to enter their ID number and they would be instantly routed to the appropriate call group. There are endless scenarios that this function would fit into nicely.

This feature is extremely powerful, and several expressions can built in the system for dynamic call routing, where you can discriminate according to the incoming numbers in great detail depending on your needs. This added feature gives even more depth to an already robust, efficient call routing platform.  Be sure to check out IPitomy’s website for more information on its impressive IP-PBX lineup. 

The Economy: A Curse and a Blessing (Utilizing Social Media)

Today's extremely competitive economy is both a curse and a blessing. For those who want to run their business on an antiquated model, a decade behind the times, it is a curse. Those who are taking advantage of new technology and learning a more personalized way of of doing business are seeing it as a blessing. The Internet and social media have changed the way we do business. We are now connected to one another in a variety of mediums which are able to communicate data in a very personalized manner. No longer do we have to fly all over the country to introduce ourselves to prospects. It no longer takes millions of dollars for a start-up company to compete against the big boys. Now you just have to be smarter, more creative, and more personable.

Every day you wait to engage in social media, you fall behind your competition. Devote an hour a day to Twitter, Blogger, Facebook, Linkedin, and YouTube. Write interesting articles that offer value to people, and create videos for YouTube so people know who you are and can identify with you on a personal level. Find ways to add value through these avenues and find ways to be creative in making new contacts with people. Remember, be personal. Tweeting out advertisements for your business all of the time is not a great way to build rapport with people. It would be like you going to a dinner party and and blabbing about your company and product all night to everyone you meet.  Once they know and like you, they will know what kind of business you have, and be willing to do business with you when the opportunity presents itself.

Is a Hosted PBX Solution Really Your Best Value?

IP-PBX VS the Average Cloud Product

The Dilemma

Many companies today are faced with a dilemma of sorts in trying to decide what direction to take their business communications in. Do they go with a premise based IP-PBX solution, or do they take their company in the offsite hosted direction? Hosted marketing material boasts a low monthly cost and a low maintenance model, while the premise based solution boasts more control and the advantage of not being tied to a monthly cost for the life of the business’s communications needs. In order to make a good choice based on the facts, we must closely examine the real cost, features, and benefits of each. 

Are You In Control?

As soon as you make the decision to hand off your communications needs to a hosted company, you are no longer in control. Although your hosted company may boast of having essentially no “downtime” you are still at the mercy of the hosted provider’s connections, data center issues and your local internet company. Also, you are not able to troubleshoot issues as easily as you can with a premise based system. Having a hosted solution adds another layer of support to your model; just like calling the phone company. That means you have to rely on someone who may be located halfway across the globe to help you troubleshoot your problems. Your local IT group or local communications vendor can be available in person to troubleshoot your premise based solution. Finally you can customize and make changes to a premise based system much easier than a hosted. You control the system, its upgrades and growth. The key question is, do you want control? 

Is Hosted Really A Better Value?

The short answer is no, it is more expensive. To start with, in order to compare apples to apples we are going to break both solutions into a monthly cost. The one misleading marketing tactic that the hosted providers do is compare a large upfront cost of a premise based solution vs. an apparent low monthly cost of the hosted. They also fail to tell you that you are going to be paying their monthly cost forever, as long as you use their service. The truth is, once you break the IPitomy premise based solution down to a monthly payment, the hosted solution begins to lose its shine. Additionally, when you begin to compare them feature for feature, the IPitomy premise based system for example, really leaves the hosted competition lacking. 

Is Hosted Really Invincible?

A hosted PBX runs over the Internet! No Internet, no phones! Are you really going to forward all of those lines to cell phones while the cable or Internet company fixes that outage? On a premise based system you can have two service providers. A traditional PRI for example, and Internet based SIP lines. Why put all of your eggs in one basket when you can diversify? Can a premise based system crash? Sure, save your backups and use a RAID drive and a redundant power supply to drastically reduce your chances of an outage. If you have a reliable interconnect, you will have the proper backups and replacement equipment available to get back up quickly in case of an outage. Finally, one good reason to use the Cloud, is for backup. You can have your IP phones hit the Cloud in an emergency if your premise based system completely dies. To sum it up, a premise based system gives you more options for system redundancy that a pure Cloud solution. 

Well What About Service Costs?

The great pitch of the hosted salesman is to tell you that you never have to worry about service again! Even with hosted, phones still go bad, and if you have a bad one, you have may have to wait to get a new one mailed to you. If you are experiencing problems, dropped calls, buttons not working, etc., you have to call someone on the phone and haggle with them to determine what the problem is. Then you may still be wrong and find out you have a network problem! Is it really worth paying all of that extra money every month to have to do the troubleshooting yourself? Why not save those hundreds of dollars a month, and when you have a problem, someone can actually come out and talk to you personally and solve it for you? I guarantee that the amount of money you will spend on service will not even come close to the money you are wasting every month for that “invincible” system that you still don’t own. Looking at the comparison example, which you will see on the next page, once the equipment is paid for a business would save close to $4000.00 a year for a small 20 phone system. 

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Sales tip #5: It is Not About Statistics and Features, It is About Personalization

One of the major mistakes sale people make, is that when they have the first opportunity to speak to a prospect they quickly tell them as much as they can about their product or service. It is like a fire hose gone wild! No one wants to waste a valuable opportunity, and we certainly want to make the most out of it. Unfortunately rattling off all of the features and statistics about your offering is not really making the most out of your opportunity, its wasting it. There are a few key rules to keep in mind when you make a sales call.

Do They Like You?

People don’t usually buy from people they don’t like. If at the first opportunity you start listing off every feature you can remember about your product or service, they probably are not going to like you very much. They think you just want to sell them something, and that is usually a big turn off for people. Be friendly, ask questions so you can learn about your prospect and start to build rapport with them. As you begin to understand who your client is and what his wants, needs or desires are, you can then begin to advise him on how your product or service could benefit them.

Do You Personalize Your Product?

Prospects don’t necessarily care about features, they want to know what value you can provide. For example, I work in the telecommunications industry. Instead of telling a prospect that your phone system can have remote phones, why not personalize the feature for them? For example, do they ever wish that their key employee who is home with their sick kid could answer some important calls instead of being completely out of commission for the day? Have they ever considered letting some employees work from home to save costs on office space? Personalization is extremely important.

Do You Know Your Prospect’s Motivation To Buy?  

What idea does the prospect have in mind when considering this new purchase? It is important to determine why your prospect wants to buy. What benefits do they perceive, and what outcome do they desire? When you go shopping for a car don’t you normally picture yourself driving that shiny new cool BMW or Lexus before you buy it? Then you decide test drive it, and finally you desire to have that imagined outcome become a reality and then you buy. Everyone who buys something has an outcome in their mind which motivates them. If you do not know that motivation or desired outcome you will have a hard time selling.

If you keep these three questions in mind when you approach new prospects you will have a much better shot at completing the sale.