The Importance of Choosing the Right Supplier

The importance of choosing the right communications provider

As you may well know, telecoms services are an important foundation of any successful business, and while it can be easy to get swept up by big brand solutions, that’s not always what’s best for every business. Rather than just a ‘big brand logo’ you need to consider culture alignment, straight talking, flexibility of service and in-life experience, which are all key to long term success. Having an honest and open conversation with potential suppliers is vital to find the partner that will best suit you, your teams and your business.

Do your research 

We don’t just mean trawling the internet, looking for potential solutions and providers, we also mean doing your internal research. Make sure you understand who will be using the solution, the different types of requirements for different teams and what challenges they’re having today. Understand how they work and what would help them be more productive, effective and ultimately provide a better service. Of course, also do the desk research. Understanding what potential solutions can provide will make you feel more confident when entering supplier conversations, however, be aware that websites and brochures usually give a glossy version of the truth so talk to people too, ideally finding the solution advisors who are more interested in you and your business than selling their solution from the outset. What you’re ultimately looking for is the partner that isn’t focused on talking you into the most complicated, expensive solution, but the one who will find you the simplest way to achieve what you need, without the unnecessary bells and whistles that will only confuse your users.

Questions to ask when choosing a supplier

Before committing to a supplier ask yourself “Can I trust my supplier to do the right thing for my company?” This means trusting that they understand your needs, and care about your businesses success like you do. If the answer is no, you need to move on to the next supplier.

Here are 10 questions to ask your potential supplier to determine if they’re a goof fit for you and your business:

1. What’s it like to work at [supplier company]?
2. How can we make sure that the system is set up to best support different user groups?
3. How will we work together through deployment?
4. How will you help me onboard our agents and colleagues?
5. How will you work with me to ensure we’re set up for customer success?
6. How can you support me as our business scales, either up or down?
7. What if I have bespoke needs, how will you help me?
8. How easy is it to add extra functions and integrations later? What will it cost me?
9. How will you work proactively with us to make sure the solution always delivers its best?
10. Why should I choose you?

Find the balance that works for you

Important things to think about when choosing a telecoms provider is the balance between price, quality, and service. Let’s start with price; of course you want to save money where you can, but the cheapest solution isn’t always the best. Different suppliers will have different ways of packaging their solution with additional extras included in the price, so make sure you’re comparing apples with apples and instead of focusing on the price, look at the value each specific solution will add to your business. Like the price, skimping on quality to save money is not a long-term solution for your company. On the other hand, you often don’t need all of the bells and whistles that come with these plans, as they can make things unnecessarily complex and hard to onboard – so having a customisable plan is essential. Make sure you know what you need before committing.

Service is one of the biggest factors that pushes companies towards changing provider. We all want our technology to work, but on the rare occasions that something doesn’t quite go to plan you want it quickly and painlessly fixed. You need a partner that will sort out problems quickly with friendly and knowledgeable staff, but how do you know this before working with them. You should get a good feel for the team’s knowledge through the sales process but also ask for references, check out their Trustpilot reviews and take a look at their customer testimonials and case studies to see how other people enjoy working with them.

The right communications partner

Every businesses needs to be able to keep in touch with their customers, so a reliable internet connection and a flexible phone system are vital. Add to this the explosion of collaboration apps like Microsoft Teams and omnichannel contact centre over the past few years and it’s easy to see how important it is to find the right supplier. There’s a clear benefit in choosing a single provider so you have one solution for both service and billing, however make sure they have the solutions you need now, as well as ones you might be interested in in the future. Businesses don’t stand still, so neither should your ideal partner.

If you’re looking for a partner that does all this and more, get in touch, you know the questions you need to ask!