I wasn't bringing anyone's abilities here into question. I am sure every one of you is well versed in many different capacities and does very well by your clients. The ones who are typically the most shoddy, are the ones that you don't find searching for answers and education online. They aren't interested in expanding their knowledge, just in finding the next victim.
I knew someone would pull the statement about me not getting service calls or repeat sales from my clients. My point there was they don't need to call ANYONE when I am done. Not that they go somewhere else. Always leave it to somebody to find the negative aspect of a statement and run with it.
So on the slim POSSIBILITY that they MIGHT need to add a 5th line we should sell them a package NOW that costs 20 TIMES (or more likely more) what the one that fits all their needs now does? That's some sound business advice. And when they WERE a much larger firm (I'm talking four times the staff they have now, all office based) they still only had 4 lines. Blows that argument all to hell.
I've worked with businesses with dozens of people in their offices, and VERY few of them required more than 4 phone lines into their facility. Most of them never even used THAT many. And now, with the proliferation of cell phone usage, even more of those phone lines sit dormant throughout the work day.
As I stated, there IS a HUGE market for the higher end services most of you provide. However, all across America are small businesses with way more invested into their telecom system than was necessary. Most of it because they were sold by some dealer on the features and how great those features would be. These phone systems have no place in 70% (give or take) of the businesses that have them.
I realize not a one of you will agree with me on that point, otherwise a good portion of your business comes into question. All I am advocating is give the end users a proper breakdown of what is out there. True, it is up to them to handle their due diligence, but most are completely lost when it comes to what is available. It then rests on the shoulders of businesses such as all of yours (and mine) to provide them with the information they need to make a solid choice. And when that choice is limited because whomever they are dealing with can only sell/service Brand X then they aren't properly educated.
I ALWAYS give them a variety of choices, in a variety of price ranges with the pros and cons laid out of each choice. That list is comprised of my evaluations of what they feel their needs are, versus what I can see those needs expanding to.
This debate can go on forever. You will most likely not be influenced to see it my way, and I most likely wont be influenced either. That doesn't make either of our points wrong. I think we are talking from two different lines of business thinking.
Here's a question for you. How many of you have sent a business elsewhere who was looking to make a significant investment in telecom because you KNEW that a different platform was better suited to their needs? Or did you just justify that what you were selling was good, they just needed to change the way they wanted to operate to fit some small concessions? I'd like some HONEST answers to that one. I know I have sent more than a few customers to some of my "competitors" because I felt they could supply a better service for what that client needed.
If you've had enough of the crappola, then quit dishing it out and expecting me to just curl up in a corner and concede you are right. And it ISN'T just my opinion, I get great feedback from my clients, happy that they finally are working with someone who doesn't feel like a snake oil salesmen to them. Too many in both the IT and telecom industry are exactly that and give the rest of us a bad name and an uphill climb to convince them we aren't ALL like that.
