Or should I say they’re “just not as into you” as they have been in
the past. One of the major complaints we hear from mid-market
enterprises is that carrier account teams are less responsive today
than a year ago, and a lot less than just several years ago. In
addition enterprises are experiencing a lot of turnover with their
account teams. By the time the current account rep is up to speed on
the account the carrier changes the person assigned.
Now I’m
not trying to knock any particular account manager, account team or
carrier. I'm a huge fan of carriers. I've either been employed by or
worked with carriers on a daily basis for the past sixteen years.
Clearly my livelihood depends on them. The reality is carriers are
faced with the same challenge as every other business – how to
accomplish more, in less time, with fewer resources. And to be fair
account managers are under tremendous pressure. Account managers that
used to manage twenty accounts now manage sixty, and more importantly
their compensation includes a large sales quota. They’re trying to
balance providing service with making or exceeding sales quotas.
So what are the signs your telecom or wireless carrier may not be that into you?
1 - Disappears for days, weeks or months at a time and suddenly reappears when the contract is close to being renewed
2 - Doesn’t make an effort to spend time with you – you’re always the one contacting them
3 - They take a long time to return calls or they don’t call you back at all, unless you have an order
4 - They’re afraid of commitment – won’t make promises or can’t keep a promise
5 - Tells you to contact other people within the carrier – doesn’t want an exclusive relationship
If
you’re in Telecom, IT or Finance and on the front lines of dealing with
carriers there’s no doubt you’ve experienced some of these challenges.
You can empathize with the carrier, and their challenges, but the fact
remains you’re accountable to your company for effectively managing
carrier services and expenses. Their lack of service may be hindering
you or your team’s productivity.
Is there a solution? Here are a few suggestions.
Find a new carrier, or a new way to work with your current carrier.
I
know what you may be thinking, my workload is already at or above
capacity, the pain involved with ripping and replacing a 200 node MPLS
network, moving hundreds of wireless devices or changing local or LD
PRI’s would be more than the pain associated with the lack of service.
However there are options, such as moving to a reseller or aggregator
at the end of your contract. Many times you can complete a TOS
(transfer of service) which keeps the network in the ground and only
changes the billing and customer service.
Work with a Telecom Agent or entity other than the carrier directly
All
of the carriers have sales agents. Agents are not direct employees thus
they can sell the entire suite of services from just about any carrier.
The benefit of using an agent is two-fold. First, they’re typically
compensated a small amount for as long as you remain a client of the
carrier, which tends to make them more responsive to day to day service
needs. Secondly, since they're not employees they can offer services
from many carriers, whereas a direct carrier employee can only offer
services from their employer.
The squeaky wheel gets the grease – Document issues
If
you’re not getting what you need the easiest thing to do is to ask for
another account manager, but keeping a record of issues (intervals for
service requests, resolution time for trouble tickets, when the SLA was
breached) and providing the information to your account team can also
help. This serves two purposes.
First
it allows the carrier to understand what the issues are, many times
they aren't aware of their challenges, by informing them it may result
in more resources being added to manage your account. The second reason
is you can provide the documentation to your account team during
contract negotiations. The documentation will give you leverage and you
will get better rates and contract terms.
Choose a carrier where your business is important
No
one may get fired for using AT&T, but I don’t think many people are
getting promoted for using them either. Why? AT&T has 119 billion
in revenues and Verizon has 94 billion. Clearly there’s stability, but
does your service have a meaningful impact? Not unless you’re spending
a million dollars or more a month. Why not look to the many niche
carriers where your business would make an impact? If you choose a
carrier that has $10 million or $100 million in revenues your business
would have an impact and you should be treated accordingly.
The
only caveat is making sure to select the “Best of Breed” niche
providers. Many decision makers have been burned by some of the small
carriers in years past so they are hesitant to use them. That’s
understandable. You don’t want the CEO calling and asking why their
Internet or phone service is down, and then explaining you moved to
"almost broke telco" and they’re experiencing an outage or went out of
business. The point is there are many well run, financially stable,
small carriers that outperform AT&T and Verizon for some services.
The bottom line is we’re in an era with a tough
economy and everyone is scrambling to do more with less, but that
doesn't mean you need to be in a relationship with a carrier that isn't
meeting your needs. There are lots of carriers that would love an
opportunity to earn your business and would be "totally into you" if
you were to give them some business.
Which telecom and wireless carriers are providing the best service to your company?