Technology Reseller - v29

01732 759725 32 INSIGHT at software designed networking company Masergy, says there are three principal ways for resellers to grow their business – to cross sell, to up-sell or to find new customers – and that portals can help with all three. “Portals can provide resellers with a lot of data and visibility of user estate. For example, are lines going hot and at what times of the day are circuits getting near their maximum loads? For resellers, this is a clear opportunity to sell their users more bandwidth. Any vendor should be able to provide this kind of data,” she said. “Portals can also provide applications visibility for resellers: what apps are being used and at what times, and can you provide those applications instead of a competitor? Running all this data through an analytics package will provide greater insight into how your customers are working. Resellers can package up all that data and present it to their users or even make it freely available to them.” Nerland added: “Users value supplier transparency and giving customers the freedom to use that data is a sure-fire sales tool.” Billing built-in Another key attribute of successful portals is integrated billing – an essential requirement in an age when use of the cloud has become the norm and the ability to change customers’ configurations and services has reached the micro level. To understand why, just consider how hosted telephony solutions have evolved. Billing was easy when all you had to do was bill the cost of each dial tone licence, say 50 users at £6.00 per month each. However, that basic dial tone charge was quickly augmented by a charge for all users who wanted voicemail. That’s another £1.00 per user. Then, let’s not forget the call recording option and so on, to the point where a hosted telephony application could have 50 or more chargeable add-on features. Such is the flexibility of these solutions that a customer can specify for 10 users, Union Street Technologies, a provider of billing, provisioning and customer management solutions to resellers in the communications, data and IT sectors, has joined household names such as John Lewis & Partners, Amazon and Laithwaite’s Wine in winning an award at the UK Customer Satisfaction Awards organised by The Institute of Customer Service. It won the Customer Focus category, which was judged on a variety of factors including how Union Street’s customer focus strategy was implemented, its beneficial outcomes and how both employees and customers have engaged with it. Union Street’s success in the awards follows its attainment of ServiceMark Acceditation by The Institute of Customer Service, in recognition of its commitment to the highest standards of customer service, barely a year after joining The Institute in March 2019. The Institute conducted an extensive survey of Union Street’s customer base and employees to gauge customer satisfaction levels and employee engagement with the company’s customer service values. As well as assessing activities and processes that impact the customer experience, the accreditation process examined other elements of Union Street’s operations, including the quality of its products, the Union Street service portal, complaints handling processes and channels of communication. Union Street Operations Director Robert Bristow said: “By gaining the ServiceMark, our customers can be assured that the trust they’ve shown in choosing Union Street is well placed and that their billing operations will be supported with the highest standards of quality and professionalism. Our teams put huge effort into delivering excellent customer service, so to have their hard work objectively recognised by the country’s leading authority on customer service is a massive boost to morale. The positive results achieved in the customer survey was a particular highlight of the process as it’s always encouraging to hear that the work we’re doing is appreciated by our customers.” Commenting on Union Street’s success at the UK Customer Satisfaction Awards, Head of Sales and Marketing Vincent Disneur said: “We’re very honoured to have won this award, especially given the high calibre of entrants from across the UK. To have our efforts recognised in such spectacular fashion is extremely rewarding, but we won’t be resting on our laurels. We have a number of new initiatives planned for the coming months that will enhance our service still further.” unionstreet.uk.com say, to have three of these features for two weeks and another 10 users to have two other features for three weeks. Automated billing systems ensure customers are billed for all the services they use, including ad hoc charges, landline and mobile minutes and services. In the case of a ‘one pane of glass’ portal like VanillaIP Uboss, where billing is integrated with provisioning (and not all portals have this dual functionality), resellers only have to enter contract details once, rather than separately for provisioning and billing, saving time and reducing the risk of error. If the user wants to self-provision – and most do – the same applies, with any provision triggering a commensurate billing action. In a very crowded and competitive market, portals can be used and leveraged by resellers as a differentiator to grow their business and retain valuable customers. Not all portals are the same, so when choosing a supplier, make sure you pick one with a portal that can work for you. Billing specialist recognised for customer service excellence Double success for Union Street (left to right) Vincent Disneur, Head of Sales and Marketing; Tracey Chessell, Customer Experience Manager; James Wilson, Operations Manager; Robert Bristow, Operations Director; and Angelica Bell, the host. (left to right) James Wilson, Operations Manager; Tracey Chessell, Customer Experience Manager; Robert Bristow, Operations Director; and Sue Hopson, Client Relationship Director for the Institute of Customer Service. ...continued