Success in Selling Telecom Services Through Strategic Partnerships

IT VARs:

Industry convergence has propelled VARs into the telecom services space—and the trend is certain to continue as more VARs peg telecom services as an ideal addition totheir portfolio.

The new territory is rife withopportunity and rich with history.Recognizing not only the opportunity but also the necessity of strategic know-how, VARs are drawing on industry leaders as partners. Increasingly, those partners arecablecos like TWCBC that have spearheaded programs specifically to benefit VAR partners who maintainsignificant relationships with theirbusiness customers.

Convergence:The New Status Quo

“A tremendous upheaval in thegeneral IT and telecom landscape— most notably convergence that is being driven by cloud computing, new routes to market, increasing customer leverage and managed services—is forcing all players to take a look at where they fit…”

—IT VARs & Telecom Service Sales: State of the Channel Report co-produced by Channel Partners & CompTIA

A February 2014 survey asked about the estimated percentage oftelecom services revenue that results from sales e�orts in the channel. Here’s what the survey found:

TelecomServices Sold

Throughthe Channel

Telecom Services Revenue in The Channel

2%

9%

36%

40%

13%

said 75-100% of revenue isthrough the channel

said less than 10% of revenueis through the channel

said 10-24% of revenue isthrough the channel

said 25-49% of revenue isthrough the channel

said 50-75% of revenue isthrough the channel

As the channel’s share of telecom services revenue grows, carriers areaiming to diversify their partner base to include IT VARs andSolution Providers. Why?

Telecom Carriers Court VARs

Telecom services are an optimal fit for the VAR portfolio as itcomplements their existing product lines. VARs have identified theseservices as a way to di�erentiate their business:

VARs Court Telecom Services

VARs o�ering telecom services were asked why they’re adding telecomservices to their portfolios. Reasons given were these:

VARs Stand to Benefit

IT VARs see value in partnerships—especially when addressing core areasof concern about telecom services. Areas of concern are these:

Value in Strategic Partnerships

Who have VARs chosen to partner with to sell telecom services?

Identifying Partners

Cablecos are an untapped, optimal resource for VARs. Cablecos know theindustry and, thinking ahead, they have developed programs to meet thespecific needs of IT VARs.

TWCBC already o�ers a successful Partner Program for IT VARs thatenables Partners to o�er competitively priced IP-based data and voicecommunications solutions. Partners get the following benefits:

Choosing the Most Valuable Partners

Despite concerns...

Customers alreadytrust VARs.

VARs understandcustomers’ current

technologyenvironments.

VARs are well-positionedto sell network services,

computing and communicationstechnologies, and

cloud-based services.

100%AgreeLess than half

of carrierrevenue flowsthrough the

indirectsales channel.

Butmost expect those revenue

numbers to increase.

expect channel revenueto “increase somewhat”

expect channel revenueto “increase significantly”

57%23%

Video & audio services for

conferencing &collaboration

Broadband

Wi-FiIP/PBX

WAN servicesAbout 1/3

of IT VARs o�erthose five services

To increaserevenue/

profitability

Recruited byspecialistto do it

Customerdemand

To remaincompetitive

To win newbusiness

As an add-onto cloudsolutions

IT distributionpartnersadded

telecom

Add a newline of

business

To o�ermore voice

services

24%24% 8% 48% 28%

40% 15% 41%

45%

29%

Choosingwhich pieces of

telecom tosell or

recommend

Competitionfrom

traditionalagents

Customerpreference for

traditionalprovider

98%of IT VARs viewtelecom services

positively 32%

66%

view telecom services as anopportunistic component

of IT VARs view telecom servicesas part of their core portfolios

50.8% 49.2% 56.9%

Telecom

carriers

Telecom

resellers or

aggregators

Cable

operators

33.9%

Telecom

agents or

master agents

20%

A/V

specialists

13.9%

None of

the above

Successfully selling voice anddata services

Marketing support forselling services

Onboarding and training

Migrating to a residual-basedcompensation model

Presenting e�ective customertalking points

Order process training

Selling telecom services toSMB and Mid Market clients

TWCBC ispartnering

with IT VARs toachieve thefollowing

An infographic presented bybusiness.twc.com/partner

38%30% 30%

37% 9%

Lack of salesexperience

with telecom

Don’tunderstand

businessmodel

Insu�cientsta�

Lack oftelecom-specific

technologyskills

40% 45%

Diversifiedportfolio with

data, voice, andEthernetsolutions.

Opportunityto white label

TWCBC servicesto rebrand

as their own.

Ability toset their own

margins to createa recurring

revenueopportunity.

Optimalproductivitywith online

self-service toolsthat drive

e�ciency andfast results.

Increasedprofitability via a

performance-basedcompensation

program.

Access toTWCBC’s wholly

owned fibernetwork.

Sources:

http://www.channelpartnersonline.com/news/2013/05/twcbc-focused-on-key-wins- through-ingram-micro-va.aspx

http://www.myalliances.com/community/seeking/639-time-warner-cable-business- class-wholesale-program

https://www.timewarnercable.com/en/business-home/part-ners/partners/channel-partner/overview.html

IT VARs & Telecom Sales: State of the Channel Report A Report Co-produced by Channel Partners and CompTIA By Carolyn April and Khali Henderson