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Are Your Phone Users Raving Fans? ShoreTel CEO Tells CIO's How to Get "Rich & Famous"

Head of Phone Equipment Company Speaks Directly to Harried Business Decision Makers in ITEXPO Keynote Speech

By Dan Baldwin, 9/11/9

At last week's ITEXPO in Los Angeles, ShoreTel CEO John Combs gave a keynote address to the expo audience where he delivered frank advice to business owners and Chief Information Officers ("CIOs") as to how they can solve their business communications problems and turn their businesses phone users into "raving fans" by delivering to them a phone system that has applications with high user adaption rates and is easy to manage because of "brilliant simplicity".

I videotaped and summarized the points of Mr. Combs' presentation which you can view and watch down below.

Combs' keynote address could have easily been titled, "This is How to Sell IP-PBXs". It was an excellent tutorial for any person struggling to sell either hosted or premise based VoIP phone solutions. Instead of concentrating on "this is how this feature works" he focused on "this is how your life, and your users lives will be better".

CEO's are often considered (or should be) a companies best sales person. The key "hook" in Combs' excellent ShoreTel keynote speech is the repeated use of the phrase "brilliantly simple". If you're serious about selling VoIP, listen to Combs' presentation several times and make note of the emphasis on simplicity.

(If you're reading this on the weekend, you're over 21 years of age and you're not responsible for the safety of others you can play the fun new "ShoreTel Drinking Game" where you do a shot or chug a beer every time you hear Combs say "simple, unified applications or 'UC'".)

Seriously though, when I sold a nine-location, 140 seat IP-PBX last year to a multi-location law firm I used used an approach that was very much like the one Combs shares with us in his keynote address. I rarely if ever referred to SIP or VoIP. I did focus much of my efforts on how the new system had the "simple functionality" that the law firm wanted - that their current system did not have.

Combs' keynote reinforces the "safety" VoIP sales approach we discussed on this web site several months ago in this article about how to sell hosed and IP-PBX VoIP. If you've not read it (and even if you have) click here to re-read it again.

So click the video below and listen (a couple times) to ShoreTel CEO John Combs' sell the ideas that have made ShoreTel very successful. Below the video you'll find my notes.

If you're interested in distributing or purchasing ShoreTel's IP-PBX or software solutions, contact TA member Pete Keane, and Authorized ShoreTel Partner at www.KeaneTel.com.

Keynotes Speech Notes:

Main Themes

1. Trends in the Industry

2. Simple Actions

3. Keys to Becoming a Hero

Unified Communication ("UC") Tools

1. Voice

2. Audio conferencing

3. Unified Messaging (voice mail in email)

4. Web collaboration

5. Mobile integration (work from your cell phone)

6. Presence (Know where everyone is & if they can help)

7. Instant messaging or "IM"

8. Video conferencing

9. Business process integration (CRM, accounting, quoting, etc.

Too complicated?

Not for Jim Barksdale, the CIO at FedEx who used business applications integration to make it possible for FedEx customers to access FedEx's own network to see "where their package was".

Barksdale's use of technology as a marketing tool helped FedEx whip UPS in the marketplace and then earn him a job as CEO at Netscape (and $700 million dollars when AOL bough Netscape in 1999.)

Want to Become a Hero CIO (and get rich) Like Barksdale?

Use the technology that's available to you to make your (employee and customer) users "raving fans". Work with a vendor that has unified communications tools that have a very high rate of adaption because they are "brilliantly simple" to use and for the IT department to maintain.

Best Practices for Selecting a Phone System
(after creating a great team to help do the selecting))

1. Use The System. Require an onsite demo. Have them leave it overnight. Compare the final two vendor demos side by side. Have your IT team observe & participate in the installation.

2. Reliability. What is the probability of failure of a server. What is the mean time between failures using the Bellcore/Telecordia standard TR/SR-322? Count the number of servers and then estimate your time without phone service.

3. Availability. What is the impact on your business of a phone server failure and resulting dial-tone outage?

4. Scalability. How much more will it cost if you need to double the size of the system?

5. Architecture. How was it designed. From the ground up for IP or as some amalgam of different designs from different acquired companies?

6. TCO / Total Cost of Ownership. Many firms are seeing that the upfront costs (telephony hardware + network costs + implementation) amount to no more than 20% of the total long term cost over the long run. Operating costs (training + moves/adds/changes + system management + network + electricity) can equal 80% of the long run costs. How does this effect your cost justification figures?

7. Vendor Financial Strength. Will your vendor be around to support your phone system? Are they carrying too much debt to survive?

8. Vendor References. ask everyone on your team to contact all their peers as well.

     a. Would they repurchase?

     b. Who else uses it?

     c. How do actual / realized costs compare to estimates?

     d. Easy for their IT staff to manage?

     e. Are there any "raving fans" to be found?

If you're interested in distributing or purchasing ShoreTel's IP-PBX or software solutions, contact TA member Pete Keane, and Authorized ShoreTel Partner at www.KeaneTel.com.