Why large telcos can’t show you what you are losing

For a moment, forget about work and think about any personal experiences you’ve had with large telcos. What comes to mind? Would I be mistaken if I said that the memory wasn’t a good one? Why is it that the majority of readers will have an instant reaction—one that involves anger, frustration, and perhaps contempt for these types of companies? It’s because, for the most part, they aren’t able to care about you.

Now, notice I said, “aren’t able to care” as opposed to “don’t care,” there is a distinct difference. Rarely if ever are there companies that don’t care about their customers. And though I’m sure many of you would love to argue that point, that conversation is for a different day. But in all seriousness, most companies care. The crux of the issue is more about internal processes, technology, and the ability of individuals to make real decisions in the best interest of the customer. This is where things usually begin to break down.

The fact is that massive telcos simply aren’t nimble enough, nor are they able to make real-time decisions to truly solve customer issues. In short, the only thing to blame is their size, they are entities that can only move at glacial speeds on the best of days. It’s understandable as their mammoth size is down to acquisitions, and many of these acquisitions are business units that operate independently with their own P&L, teams, initiatives, etc. Additionally, to exacerbate resolving customer issues quickly, several of these business units compete for the same customer on the same product.

Now that you’re amped up over the thought of your own personal big telco experience, let’s talk business. If dealing with a single service set for a single person can be viewed as devastatingly frustrating, how does that translate to the challenges surrounding hundreds, if not thousands, of employees representing a suite of productivity tools, the entirety of your Unified Communication (UC) infrastructure, and the potential suspended ability to connect with your customers? Is your blood pressure rising yet again?

Again, I’m in no way insinuating that these massive companies subscribe to the motto of “We’re not happy until you’re not happy” on purpose. Far from it. But, and this is a big but—their processes, people, and technology are all designed for a baseline experience—one that places people in queues, one that rationalizes and compartmentalizes issues based on tiers and, lastly, processes that are designed to be anything but flat, nimble, or fast.

What is the alternative? In 2020 and beyond, small-to-medium enterprises that offer highly focused solutions are becoming the single greatest threat to big enterprise. The reason is simple. Processes, technology, internal teams that engage with customers every day, all live in a world with far greater empowerment. This means they can make faster and more poignant decisions for their customers, and they can move at a pace that matches the speed of business that the customer demands. Look at what Tesla is doing to utilities with its battery and energy technology—they are disrupting that whole space.

As they pertain to telecommunications and UC, speed and agility can represent everything. When issues arise, no matter the cause, being able to remain connected is everything in today’s always on, always connected world. And yes, I may sound like a bit of a broken record, but the cost of downtime or time-to-resolution isn’t a subject that should be broached in this day and age. And that’s because it’s critical customers experience real-time communications. No margin for error: Deliver a poor customer experience, and there’s no taking it back.

Yes, everyone has played with downtime calculators that show the thousands, to hundreds of thousands, of dollars lost in the event of an outage, or what mistakes or misconfigurations can cost. But to me, that’s not the point. Instead, what you and everyone else should be doing is analyzing the relationship that you have with your current telco, what your current infrastructure actually does for you and what it doesn’t and, most importantly, what your current situation as whole is to ensure that you are truly maximizing your UC investments at every stage of the game.

In short, I can guarantee that you are not only wasting money, you are 100% simultaneously shorting yourself on opportunities—ones that large telcos by nature are unable to qualify or quantify.

Here’s my challenge. What if I prove to you beyond the shadow of a doubt that everything I have mentioned above is happening to you and your company, right now. And I’ll put skin in the game to prove it. I’ll show you how I can give you back $100,000+ of your current UC budget to reallocate to bigger and better projects that deliver far bigger returns.

Are you willing to take 15 to 30 minutes to find out? Or are you willing to just let this slide? It’s your choice. Your call. I’m happy to help. Contact me through LinkedIn.