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“Peter possesses a keen sense and insight for turning telecom services and products into customers and dollars. He is passionate about this industry, his work and the people he serves. Visit his site, read his blog and sign up for his newsletter at marketingideaguy.com and you will discover what makes Peter a sought after marketing consultant.”

Cynthia de Lorenzi, CEO, Patriot Computer Group
Rate Increases
NSP Strategist
Monday, 23 January 2012 07:06

Last year we saw big rate increases in AT&T Metro Ethernet. This month, AT&T raises its cellular data rates but also changed the data cap. They also added about 25 different data plans "to fit your needs".

Windtream raised the prices on its DSL. (see here.)

That likely means you can raise your rates a little too! Depending how you do it, you will increase revenue and margin and only lose a few customers. However, the revenue increase will more than make up for the few customers you lose.

Peter Radizeski is a telecommunications consultant and analyst with RAD-INFO INC. Service Providers have called on RAD-INFO INC for assistance building a channel, improving sales, managing online marketing efforts, and overall company strategy. Contact RAD-INFO INC at 813-963-5884 or http://rad-info.net

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Another Broadsoft Merger
On Rad's Radar
Saturday, 21 January 2012 07:19
In a surprise move (to me anyway), Megapath acquired IP5280 Communications, a Colorado ITSP. Both Megapath and IP5280 utilize Broadsoft, so that will make some of the transition easy. (And likely was a factor in the acquisition decision.) IP5280 had 1000 customers. Megapath, a combination of Speakeasy, Covad and Megapath, has 62,000. IP5280 has a dozen employees, all of whom were offered jobs with Megapath's 1,000 employees.

Megapath offers Hosted PBX service, but the Megapath portfolio has mainly been about transport and transit, including DSL, Ethernet and T1 in 4200 Central Offices. After the combo, Megapath did try to re-brand as a managed services provider. However, I think they are still mainly looked upon as a DSL shop. This merger will add some more voice cred and voice revenue. 

A little speculation: There are way too many VoIP Providers. Most do wholesale and retail - anything to drive revenue. Most are barely eking out a living. Most deliver poor service because they don't stick to doing one thing really well. More consolidation is needed. I wonder how that consolidation helps Broadsoft. It has to mean less licenses being sold in the short term and in the long term less licensing due to volume discounts, but I may be wrong.  
Read more... [Another Broadsoft Merger]
 
End Caps
On Rad's Radar
Saturday, 21 January 2012 04:49
This was the week that we learned that online protesting can work -- if enough people get involved and if you get the support of some powerhouse websites like Google and Wikipedia. It looks like SOPA was dropped and the vote on PIPA was delayed. (It is still alive due to Democrat lawmakers who are beholden to Hollywood like Florida Senator Bill Nelson. If he knew how to turn on his laptop by himself I could understand it, but come on!)

We don't really need any more copyright laws. If we did, would the feds have been able to fly to New Zealand to arrest the owner of MegaUpload? What was he arrested and renditioned for? Online piracy. 

Not for nothing, but don't we have more important things to be spending federal dollars on? We are a nation with lost priorities.

And yet another carrier joins the CLOUD: "US Signal recently released an Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) product offering, what US Signal calls Managed Data Center. Customers have increasingly requested US Signal to host their applications, for financial reasons, scalability, security, and more."

Yesterday, TCA held its monthly agent webinar with Netwolves presenting on Managed Services. With most of the telcos offering Managed Servcies, we at TCA thought it was time to give an overview of what Managed Services are from carriers, who is buying them and how does an Agent sell them. How does an Agent start that conversation with the prospect about managed services? The webinar was recorded and TCA members can play it back at any time.

Nemertes Research predicts a shortage of colocation space in the U.S. beginning this year. That is likely because some colo space is being used for PAAS and IAAS. Also, some colo houses don't want to sell colo any more because there is more cash in xAAS. (Or so they say.) I have seen that trying to find single rack colo slots are getting more difficult. Personally, I thought that when Amazon, Facebook, Google and others built their data centers, a lot of space would be opened up in other data centers. 

The other issue with colocation is that Equinix, InterNAP and now Savvis have cut the channel out of selling their space. Other data centers - like Vegas' SwitchNAP - are difficult to deal with. That kind of affects colo sales, too.  Luckily, ViaWest and TELX are still agent friendly.

Code 42 Software, a cloud backup service named Crashplan, got $52M in funding from Accel Partners. It seems a massive amount of funding for an online backup company.

Is 5G around the corner? Heck, most of the US is still in 2.5G-3G land.   
Read more... [End Caps]
 
Use the Phone More
NSP Strategist
Thursday, 19 January 2012 09:03

from Khali Henderson of Virgo who was live tweeting from CenturyLink's Channel Advisory summit: "#CCAExpo Michael Stephens: Email is a lousy tool for communicating. We need to do more in person or by phone. We will do less email in 2012."

That's the second time in a couple of months that advice has been to let go of email and use the phone more. A Harvard Biz Review article said that a phone call is quicker and clearer (if you can get through voicemail obviously).

Another tweet: @thesocialpro: Great advice from Michael Stephens, no need to write emails in ALL CAPS for me to respond.

And you don't need to Reply to All every time either.

Peter Radizeski is a telecommunications consultant and analyst with RAD-INFO INC. Service Providers have called on RAD-INFO INC for assistance building a channel, improving sales, managing online marketing efforts, and overall company strategy. Contact RAD-INFO INC at 813-963-5884 or http://rad-info.net

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Woes: AT&T, Spectrum, Yahoo, RIM
On Rad's Radar
Tuesday, 17 January 2012 12:16
How badly does AT&T need spectrum now that the T-Mobile deal is dead? According to analysts (who are likely just trying to get press and pump up some stocks so they can make short term gains), AT&T has to make a move soon.  T-Mobile does too.

I find this interesting because AT&T and T-Mobile are sitting on spectrum that they have not deployed. If you needed it that bad, you would use what you have - at least for now.

Let's look at Clearwire as a 4G wholesaler. Clearwire has a ton of spectrum - not all of it deployed obviously, because they need money badly to operate what they have deployed and to build out the rest of their nationwide network. T-Mobile could partner with Clearwire for 4G.

T-Mobile could also outsource their 4G network to someone like Nokia Siemens (NSN). 

There is also Lightsquared. Oh, wait. The DOD kind of put the nix on that idea.

That must be why the analysts are bullish on DISH - and AT&T buying DISH. As a bonus, AT&T gets satellite TV and Blockbuster. That must be to counter Verizon buying Netflix.

MetroPCS and Leap are still in play in the bankers world of M&A. In the past, these two have had failed merger attempts, but this is a new dawn. Meanwhile, MetroPCS, which wanted to buy leftovers from the AT&T-T-Mobile merger, is saying that they could use Clearwire spectrum, too. Well, sign a wholesale agreement, Mr. Lindquist.

Today, we have both the FCC and CTIA stating that consumers will require 500 MHz of spectrum for bandwidth usage in the future. What they are really saying is that all spectrum will belong to 4 companies for all reasons - radio, TV and cell. You watch.

Comcast bought NBCU. Most MSO's own sports channels like MSG and YES. If Clear Channel, the mouth of Bain Capital's former managing partner (Romney), goes BK in 2014 as predicted, it won't be long before the radio, TV, news and cell are all owned by 4 companies: ATT, VZ, Comcast and Cox. That's my prediction by 2015.

in other news:

Jerry Yang, Yahoo's co-founder, has quit all positions at the company. This move comes as Wall Street is rattling sabers about selling yahoo off in pieces - even though PayPal's Scott Thompson just signed on for the top job at the struggling search company.  Thompson has a big job on front of him. Let's hope that Yahoo! isn't the next Kodak.

Another troubled company, RIM, maker of my Blackberry, reportedly is in talks to sell to Samsung, HTC, or anyone.

Oh, yeah, one more rumor: Sprint merging with T-Mobile after buying Clearwire.
Read more... [Woes: AT&T, Spectrum, Yahoo, RIM]
 
Sales Math and Marketing
NSP Strategist
Tuesday, 17 January 2012 05:09

Most CLEC/ITSP/ISP/WISP do little marketing. And Branding isn't even in the picture. Heck, something as simple as having an updated website seems beyond the reach of some service providers.

What most execs don't grasp is that most sales are moving online. Buyers do research before they buy. They check reviews. They ask their networks on Facebook, twitter, Linkedin, Google+. All of this online.

If you are not online - or worse your image online is awful - sales will be hard to come by.

I think one issue is that service providers don't have a grasp on who they want to market to because they think everyone is a prospect. WRONG!

Your marketing should target the most profitable prospects with the most profitable services.

Don't worry it isn't just you. I read this article yesterday, "Most entrepreneurs have NO idea how much they really need to be marketing in order to effectively and consistently attract more clients and make more money. You need to be really clear on what you want to accomplish that will make you happy with your progress."

Do you have a monthly sales goal? Do you know what/who/where that will come from? [i.e., from two medical offices at $750 per month for Internet and Hosted PBX.] This gives you a target prospect and a product bundle.

What is the average dollar amount each client is worth to you each month? What is your ARPU?

next we do sales math. How many prospects do you talk to? How many proposals to you send? How many contracts get ink? Closing Ratio = INK/proposals

More sales math: Your closing ratio times your ARPU is your monthly revenue. So if you want 2 sales and you close 10% of the time then you need to do 20 proposals and that means talking to XXX prospects OR talking to 40 qualified prospects.

So how does Marketing come into the picture?

You want to have a certain message go out to your marketplace, especially to your most potential prospects. Email, website, social media, networking, direct mail, webinars/seminars, trade shows, search marketing (SEO/SEM) and guerrilla marketing are all possible tactics. The strategy is to reach the targets that the message and product bundle will resonate with. The fact is that it takes a lot of touches to make an impact on a prospect. That's where the tactics come in.

So you need to identify your best prospects.

What will they buy from you?

Why would they buy from you?

How will you get this message to them?

How do those messages convert to sales? Branding a consistent message to your best prospects means that sales will be more targeted and if you have the right message, product and target --> KA-CHING!

Need help with this? Give my office a call at (813) 963-5884

FYI, these slides sum up what I said.

Peter Radizeski is a telecommunications consultant and analyst with RAD-INFO INC. Service Providers have called on RAD-INFO INC for assistance building a channel, improving sales, managing online marketing efforts, and overall company strategy. Contact RAD-INFO INC at 813-963-5884 or http://rad-info.net

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What is it with Agents and the Web?
On Rad's Radar
Monday, 16 January 2012 07:48
When I skim through telecom websites, it is pretty obvious that most telecom companies - agents, masters, VAR's, carriers, ITSP's, ISP's - don't really give the web any love.

The websites are rudimentary - many without an update in the last two years. A majority are filled with marketing buzz speak that does not clearly (and concisely) tell the audience what they do or sell. Why? You have 8 seconds to load a page and tell your story before people bounce. Page views are a nice statistic to chart, but at the end of the day, it is all about leads.

Another thing: what's with Agents not having a Linkedin profile at all or a partial profile? LinkedIn gets indexed by Google nicely. Having a complete profile (with picture) gives you access to possible prospects and partners.

We live in an age where everyone Googles you. If they do, what will they find? If your prospects find incomplete or useless information, you lose credibility. No sale without credibility.

It strikes me as funny that people selling INTERNET, don't appreciate Internet marketing.
Read more... [What is it with Agents and the Web?]
 
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