Currently experiencing huge growth Tollring has doubled in size in the last 18 months, doubling profits and increasing headcount by 25%. It has also been recognised in the European arena for IT and software excellence. Tollring say this growth reflects the opportunity available to the channel to increase profits and phone system sales by adding real business value and most importantly delivering a quantifiable return on any telecoms investment. Tollring encourages the channel to lead with the business solution, which is a proven way to increase margins and double system sales volume.
Simon Whatley from Tollring comments “All our fully integrated products; call logging, call recording, contact centre analysis, CTI and automated dialling share the same common business reporting tool. The real value of icall suite and indeed our differentiator over competitive products, lies in the central ‘holistic’ view of the individual elements working together, providing the insight required to increase productivity and ultimately profitability.”
Tollring estimates that historically a 14% attachment rate would have been an average figure. Simon Whatley explains “Today, amongst our most successful channel partners, 100% of systems are now sold integrated with call management, CTI and call recording products.” The MD of one of Tollring’s larger resellers recently said “Over the last 2 years our new system sales have doubled and our software sales to existing customers have too. With a customer base that is already recording and statistically aware, there is a real demand for better functionality and reliability.” On the contrary, Tollring estimates that at least 50% of their resellers opt to sell phone systems rather than solutions. Reasons may include fear of over-complicating the sale or the risk of increasing the price in the quotation and losing to a competitor on price.
The question is whether such products should be considered as options or necessities. Simon Whatley strongly believes that as managers become increasingly accountable for company expenditure, selling using the cost-justification model gives solution partners the advantage, differentiating them from those strictly meeting a list of telecoms requirements within a specific budget.
Tollring believe understanding and consulting on the ‘bigger picture’ and the business significance of call management is where channel partners can gain a real competitive edge and add longevity to relationships by becoming a trusted partner, not just a reseller. Adding value and providing fast ROI helps them to achieve increased profitability through a wise investment.