Corporate Telecommunications’ New Dealer Strategy Goes Live
It may be one of the best-kept secrets in the industry, but with its existing distribution pedigree and increased commitment to the channel, Corporate Telecommunications thinks comms dealers will be impressed by what it has to offer.

Beginning life as a fairly specialist headset supplier to large call centres and businesses, Corporate Telecommunications has always dealt with the dealer channel through referrals. But now it wants to proactively grow this side of its business.

It’s already Plantronics’ fastest growing distributor in the UK, GN Netcom’s biggest distributor in Europe and the largest UK distributor for Sennheiser. The company is also expanding its product portfolio to make it even more dealer-friendly.

Aside from its established headset business, Corporate Telecommunications carries a range of analogue, DECT and IP handsets. And in addition its voice and data installation portfolio is a growing segment within the business; giving dealers an alternative source for their installation products, whichever supplier they choose for phone systems.

The firm has recently significantly expanded its warehouse space in preparation for new product lines and increased business it hopes to generate through the channel.

But what value can it add to dealers who already have relationships with other distributors?

Corporate Telecommunications is in the enviable position of being a growing and profitable company, that hasn’t got so large that it has lost its personal touch. In 2005 its turnover hit the £7.3 million mark, up nearly 50% on the year before, and it has ploughed profits back into developing an industry-leading customer service proposition.

The distributor has taken the bold step to focus its presence to dealers though its website, rather than showcasing products through a catalogue. It believes that dealers get more value through its Webstore, with regular online deals and personalised pricing available for dealers once they login.

The company is also the first comms distributor to add video and text chat functionality to its website. Once dealers are logged on, they have the choice to connect to their account manager via the Internet at any point in the Webstore - for further information on products, advice or even to place orders.

Chan Bansal, Business Development Manager at Corporate Telecommunications, explains: “If you have a question you just click one button on the screen and Live Chat connects you straight to the sales department. You can have either a live video connection or a text chat, depending on whether you have a webcam. All of our PCs here have cameras, so either way you can always see the person you are talking to at Corporate Telecommunications live on your computer screen.”

He has been impressed with how quickly dealers have been to use the new functionality, and says that he hopes that new dealer customers will be encouraged to give it a go. “The website has been live for around a month now, and the number of customers who have tried it has been phenomenal. We are actually seeing customers place orders via text and video chat; and the great thing for them is that it doesn’t cost anything because it is all via the Internet.”

The Webstore also gives dealers access to all of their historical orders, as well as the contact details for their appointed account manager if they would rather speak to someone on the phone.

Whichever way dealers wish to communicate with the distributor, they can be assured of a friendly and knowledgeable account manager. Bansal says that service is something that the company has always prided itself on, and it is determined that this will not change as it grows further. Many of its employees have more than nine years’ service and have maintained and strengthened relationships with their customers. “It is a fairly close-knit family atmosphere here. But it is also a fairly autonomously run business. The managers, including myself, run the day-to-day operations, so our people are empowered to make decisions,” explains Bansal.

The Live Chat tool isn’t the company’s only USP. Headset repair is another underpromoted service that provides real value add for dealers. Corporate Telecommunications deals with all makes and models of headset, and this not only provides additional revenue on previous sales, but also gives dealers’ customers greater peace of mind when they make purchases in the first place.

Headsets have become a more integral part of telephone system sales. And Corporate Telecommunications’ online headset locator gives dealers a helping hand when specifying products for their customers, but with the Live Chat function, they can quickly and easily escalate their queries to the sales team if they need more detailed advice.

Bansal says that the company aims to provide dealers with competitive margins – up to 30% depending on volume – but that it won’t undercut its competitors if cheaper prices are at the expense of customer service.

Plus, dealers get all the extra added value that they would expect from a telecoms distributor. Says Bansal: “We will help with sales support and marketing support. We do our own end user marketing and will also pass leads on to dealers, especially for the more specialist products that we are looking to launch.”Corporate Telecommunications makes it clear that it is in the distribution business for the long-term, and is not just looking to the dealer channel to bolster sales in the short term. Bansal concludes: “We are not after quick wins and transactional business. We want to build long-term relationships with new dealer customers.”