Monday, January 09, 2006

ISP-Planet: Selling VOIP

A Disconnect Between SMBs, VoIP
In a survey of 300 SMB decision-makers released at the Fall 2005 Voice Over Net (VON) show here, Savatar found there's interest in VoIP, but also a lot of confusion. When asked which type of provider comes to mind for business VoIP, answers were all over the map: nontraditional telecoms, 25 percent; equipment vendors, 17 percent; traditional telecoms, 14 percent; cable companies, 13 percent; no one in particular, 13 percent; ISPs, 10 percent; resellers, 7 percent; other, 2 percent.
What VoIP Can Learn From Car Dealers
According to Savatar's report, many SMBs have also done their homework. Seventy percent are familiar with VoIP and almost as many are interested in signing up. They want a test drive, but can't find the dealership. ...When asked who they think of for business VoIP the results aren't encouraging: 25 percent said nontraditional telecoms (like Vonage); 14 percent said traditional telecoms (like Verizon); 13 percent cable companies (like Comcast) -- which tied with 'no one.".... Of the 800 calls Savatar made to VoIP providers, some sales people didn't even know their company offered the service.....One salesman who visited Savatar's office left the meeting with a legal pad full of questions he should have known the answers to. Another problem is that telecom sales teams can't sell across product lines.

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