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TA Editor's Review
I have known WCS's Chris Barton for several
years and can honestly say that he's one of the smartest and most complete
telecom network services distributors I've ever met in the industry. He
knows in an instant if any telecom deal is "margin worthy" which makes him
the "go to guy" for any large network service deal that's "out of the
box". If you think you've got a large deal that you can sell if you only
had all the right "piece parts" give Chris a call. If a large deal can be
done, the piece parts you'll need are in the WCS tool bag and Chris will
tell you straight up if the potential deal is worth your time.
In the late 1990's I handled several large
enterprise customers within my own agency in much the same way WCS allows
WCS agents to handle their large enterprise customers. After just a couple
years though of trying to manage several large customers on my own, I lost
the customers to Qwest direct mostly because I lacked the in-house ability
to efficiently consolidate all my large customer's bills while giving them
competitive rates that still provided me a decent margin. Had I had access
to WCS's "virtual reseller" billing systems and their "buy-sell" margin
model I would no doubt have been able to retain those large enterprise
customers.
Clearly, the WCS program is not designed for
the feint of heart due to the "take-or-pay" volume commitment and the
bad-debt exposure. WCS has little interest in customers you don't know and
trust. As well, WCS is not the place for new telecom distributors who
haven't yet "found their niche". Most new telecom distributors don't yet
have a proven marketing formula they follow every month which consistently
produces new customers every month.
WCS may be the perfect program for seasoned
agents looking for the "final home" for their largest customers.
Interconnects and network integrators with an embedded base of solid
equipment customers can cash in big by adding WCS's co-labeled or private
labeled network service solution to their equipment sales process. Not
doing so leaves money on the table and allows for the possibility that the
Interconnect or network integrator will lose future sales by allowing a
network service provider with different equipment allegiances access to
their customers.
If you're one of WCS's thirty or so agents you
know that "you've arrived". You've partnered with one of the industry's
most respected and seasoned carriers whose focus is putting together
margin-rich, out-of-the-box solutions for professional telecom
distributors bringing real value to solid enterprise customers.
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