Becoming a VoIP reseller and building recurring revenue is surprisingly easy, even with no experience. However, as you get started, there is some expertise that even the best service provider can’t provide.
Your provider can bring technical knowledge that can be used to guarantee quality of service, make deployment simple, and support your customers. But the most successful VoIP resellers combine this technical know-how with their own insights into their customers.
Whether you decide to focus on a niche or specific vertical, it’s essential that you know the challenges your customers face, the benefits your customers are looking for, and how hosted VoIP can help.
What are your customers really looking for?
It’s tempting to think that your customers are looking for hosted VoIP, but that’s not always the case. In reality, your customers are looking for solutions that have a real impact on their businesses and align with their short and long-term planning.
Few customers come with a desire for VoIP. Instead, they come with plans for their businesses and obstacles that are in their way.
Understanding customer objectives
Before you start your VoIP reseller business, you need to know what your potential customers are trying to achieve. This could include:
Growing revenue
Increasing efficiency
Improving customer experience
Supporting an increasingly mobile workforce
In many cases, these objectives are customer-specific. However, our most successful VoIP resellers stay up-to-date with the wider trends in business. For example, today’s high-pressure climate sees many businesses focusing on reducing costs and supporting a mobile workforce that can seize opportunities before competitors.
Understanding customer pain points
Once you understand the goals your potential customers are striving for, you’ll need to examine the various obstacles that are in their way. These could include:
Lack of capital
Limited resources and a small workforce
Traditional telephony that limits flexibility
Poor visibility over customer communications
At the earliest stages of your reseller business, there’s little more important than understanding what your customers are trying to achieve and why their current approach to telephony holds them back.
You can find out more about the major benefits of hosted VoIP in our recent blog post,Five Reasons to Move to Hosted VoIP.
How do your potential customers make a purchase?
Equipped with knowledge of what your customers need and the benefits you can offer, it’s time to consider how you will actually reach those prospects and build successful sales. While making sense of how your customers buy services gets easier once you’re up-and-running, it’s possible to start developing your expertise before your first sale.
We’d recommend embarking on research into your chosen audience, which could involve cold calling, online surveys, and internet research. Ideally, you’ll begin to understand who key decision makers are (in terms of job titles and seniority) and where they look for new services.
It can also be valuable to get a sense of how mature their views of hosted VoIP services are – some types of customer may have little understanding of VoIP’s potential, while others may come with their own expertise and very specific technical requirements.
Even at the earliest stages of your business, this insight will give you a head-start in marketing your VoIP services, reaching customers, and winning new business.
How Hostcomm helps you start as a VoIP reseller
While you’ll need to bring your enthusiasm, customer insight and a proactive attitude, Hostcomm backs you up with the right technology to solve your customers’ problems.
As part of our VoIP reseller programme, you can sell innovative hosted VoIP services without any need for technical expertise. Then, over time, we’ll help you grow your knowledge of our technology, allowing you to take more control of customer support and find new ways to add value and drive revenue.
Find out more about the Hostcomm Reseller Programme: Visit www.hostcomm.co.uk/resellers