The Thrill of a New Customer

It is the unexpected phone call you love to take. Normally when your mobile rings you look at the screen and it's a pal, work colleague, family member or a just a number. Most times you recognise the number... sometimes you don't...

I took a call yesterday from a local number I didn't immediately recognise, "Hello?", I chirped expecting a run-of-the-mill service call from a clients' home number or somesuch. "Hi Matt, it's John.", "Hi, John", I'm non the wiser as it's a pressure point of the day and I'm running my eye over an urgent email whilst taking the call. "John Smith, from ABC Ltd, have you got a couple of minutes?"

John runs a successful windows & doors company in Basildon, we'd had one meeting which was with the guy who referred us, and I'd provided him with budgetary costs after one of our engineers had completed a full site survey. That was the last time we spoke and if I'm honest I assumed it had gone cold...

After a breif chat about how busy he had been these last few months launching new products (aaah, that's why he didn't return my calls) he laid the best line any prospect can, with little fuss or fanfare, "Matt, we'd like to go ahead with your proposal please."

John doesn't know this, but he made my bloody day yesterday.

Every time a brand new customer says 'yes', it's affirmation that you're doing something right, that your presentation is working. A 'yes' means someone who has no previous experience of your company is confident enough to place their business with you. Existing customers do this all the time because they know and trust you, but there is an extra thrill when someone new comes along and places that same level of expectency on your business.

I'm off to see John this morning to tie up loose ends and shake hands on the deal, talk about the delivery schedule, the installation stages and all the minutae that makes up 'the deal'. Very much looking forward to delivering the Cat5e cable network and brand new telephone system that ABC Ltd are expecting.

Thank you, John.

Free phone system offers, deal or no deal?

You're sitting there deeply involved in what you're doing, be it an urgent report, fire-fighting someone elses cock-up or updating Twitter; when suddenly you get a call from an assertive young person promising all the telephone systems you can eat for FREE!

You are understandably sceptical, however, you've had the existing phone system for a number of years and, hell, if you can bag a deal like this then you will be a star, right? Well, maybe?

We're all business people so let's think about this logically for a moment.

Take a product or service that you provide. Good isn't it? Now, if this is a physical product or your professional time then that carries a tangable cost, right? Now give that to someone, for nothing, and consider the obvious consequences.

Firstly, no business in the world has ever succeeded in just giving stuff away for nothing, there has to be an income stream to cover the costs. So, you will be paying for the phone system, just not as explciitly as handing over a cheque. It will be built in to an extended service/rental agreement, which is in itself a dressed-up leasing document, tying you in for up to 7 years of inflated 'rentals'. At the end of which you will not even own the equipment!

Secondly, the company 'giving away' the phone system is not a telecoms company at heart, they are a finance house using telephone systems as a vehicle for the finance. How do you think the support and maintenance will shape up? If they have no investment in the phone system then this will directly impact on the level of service you receive.

Lastly, ALWAYS talk to your incumbent supplier who should be able to advise you on upgrade options that may not even involve a new phone system, just some new software or part-upgrade.

We have been unfortunate enough to uncover deals where a business has signed up to a 'free' phone system worth approximately £2500 installed, only to be locked in to a horrible finance arrangement resulting in the business paying over £14000 for the phone system. This is not uncommon.

Sometimes, free can mean free, just look at the detail.

The rule of thumb is that as long as the supplier qualifies the freeness of the free then you can feel more comfortable and understand the deal on face value.

For example, Extel will replace your old phone system with a new upgrade free of charge. The conditions of the offer are simple. You will let us dispose of your old system under WEEE regulations (helps toward carbon reduction), and the purchase the system cards and handsets from us. Easy.

So, free can mean free, it's just how free that's important.