VoIP Resellers: Strategies to Help Improve Customer Engagement
Cloud-sourced communication services have dramatically altered how we stay connected, both on the job and on the go. With the rapidly increasing demand for reputable, responsive platform providers, there’s been a steady increase in the number of IT consulting firms, managed service providers, and other like-minded professionals offering unified communications as a service (UCaaS).
Branding and reselling VoIP services is a cost-efficient business move with the right white-label provider.. Establishing your brand as an experienced industry expert could be much be a lot easier than expected.
Cloud-sourced communication services essentially sell themselves, but uploading your logo and contact information into an established white-label platform won’t ensure optimal success. Attracting customers is easy enough. But in today’s competitive market, you’ll also need to give your customers a reason to stick around. Whether you’ve been offering UCaaS for years or still reviewing your options, consider some of the strategies today’s most successful VoIP resellers rely on to improve customer engagement and promote brand loyalty.
What Is VoIP?
The easiest way to explain VoIP is to compare the technology to traditional (legacy) telephone services. On legacy business phones, incoming and outgoing calls are connected through a complex network of physical phone lines linking their private branch exchange (PBX) system to a public switched telephone network (PSTN).
Business owners typically pay for groups of PRI (primary rate Interface) circuits. Each circuit supports 23 call lines and a single data channel simultaneously. Expanding the capacity of a legacy PBX system beyond 24 lines requires paying for the installation of a second circuit.
VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) technology allows business owners to make and receive calls over the internet. The service is compatible with most legacy phone systems, VoIP PBX systems, or any digital device.
Instead of paying the high cost of installing, maintaining, upgrading, and repairing increasingly outdated technology, most business owners find they spend less money for more features when they take their private branch exchange (PBX) to the cloud. Since there’s no costly infrastructure to maintain, it’s easy for your customers to increase or decrease the number of virtual “lines” included in their service as their business needs evolve.
How Could a White-Label VoIP Service Platform Benefit My Brand?
As more businesses take various aspects of digital communication to the cloud, market analysts predict the growth rate of the hosted PBX segment of the VoIP market to increase 20% by 2027. Although those numbers suggest taking on the role of a VoIP service provider is a sound business decision, developing and maintaining a private platform requires a considerable investment. As a reseller, the work is already done for you.
With the right provider, you retain full control over every aspect of your business, including the prices of your digital services. It’s a win-win situation. The customers logging into your platform see your company name, your contact information, and your logo. You’ll get the training you need to provide expert service, complete ownership of the customer experience, and the opportunity to make an impressive return on your investment as you expand your reach.
Related: How to Discover the Best VoIP Reseller Opportunities – SkySwitch
Where Does Customer Engagement Factor into the Equation?
Most business professionals understand the importance of providing exceptional customer service. Far Ffewer recognize the value of customer engagement. Although many aspects of customer service and customer engagement overlap, they are not the same. You’ll typically rely on your customer service skills when tasked with solving any problems that arise after a sale.
To excel, you need to be prompt, courteous, responsive, and resolve service issues in a way that promotes a favorable view of your brand. The strategies you develop to improve customer engagement help you build long-term relationships. Highly engaged customers tend to develop a stronger sense of brand loyalty.
Which Customer Engagement Strategies Are Most Effective?
One of the easiest ways to keep your customers engaged and loyal to your brand is to remember a strightforward concept, a one-size-fits-all approach as a VoIP reseller is likely to score a few points. Most people will only committ to a purchase once they’re reasonably
sure a product or service fulfills a need, solves a problem, or helps them achieve a goal. Before you get too far into a long-winded, over-rehearsed sales presentation, take a step back and reassess your motivation. Are you focused on the needs of your customer?
Strong, lasting relationships take time to develop. Instead of “selling” your services, take a few minutes to ask questions and get a better grasp of what your prospect is hoping to achieve. While there’s no single customer engagement strategy that appeals to everyone, you may want to consider how the following suggestions could help you forge stronger bonds with your customers and improve overall engagement.
Practice Active Listening
Engaging your customers is much easier
when you offer suggestions based on their business needs. Your ability to respond to those needs requires active listening, a skill that may not come as naturally as you might expect. The passive listener appears disinterested. The competitive listener tends to wait for opportunities to hijack a conversation. Only active listening facilitates effective communication. It’s a listening style that helps you formulate solutions based on facts rather than assumptions.
Establish an Onboarding Engagement Model
Some business owners will prefer learning to navigate your platform through written instructions, in-app tools, or video tutorials. These are your “low touch” onboarding customers. Others may require a more hands-on interaction, a “high touch” approach that could include multiple meetings, in-person training, or video collaboration. You’ll need to prepare accordingly. Once you’ve determined where each customer fits, it’s much easier to keep them engaged because you understand their preferences and expectations.
Offer Customizable Service
Most customers want exceptional value and exemplary service. But they also value convenience. Although your VoIP customers are sure to appreciate how your UCaaS platform helps reduce their telephone bills, consider establishing your brand as a multi-service provider. Offering additional features like business SMS, video collaboration, and call center services will help establish your brand as a premier source of comprehensive communications services, a one-stop shop. Having the freedom to scale multiple services on a user-friendly platform as their business needs evolve will help ensure frequent customer engagement.
Offer Helpful Information
If you don’t have one already, consider adding a blog to your website. Providing the information your customers need to make informed service decisions will help ensure continued interaction with your platform. What should you post? Consider utilizing the space to your advantage by highlighting the features and benefits of some of the various applications that could have a positive impact on your revenue stream. To encourage debate, discussion, and customer engagement, consider inviting your readers to comment.
Encourage Interaction on Social Media
Maintaining an active presence on social media is one of the most cost-effective ways to increase customer engagement. One account is good; several are better. Whether you have accounts on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram, take a few minutes to post status updates, ask compelling questions, and initiate meaningful (or fun) conversations. Not only will an active presence help establish your brand as a VoIP industry expert, you’ll soon have an impressive number of satisfied customers advocating on your behalf.
Follow Up & Ask for Feedback
Following up with your customers after a successful onboarding can help you make a lasting impression. So could checking in with anyone who calls for technical support. Using tools like feedback forms, customer surveys, and questionnaires also speaks volumes about your commitment to customer support and consumer satisfaction. Asking for feedback on the services you provide helps keep your customers engaged while confirming the value of their input.
Related: How to Choose the Best White-Label VoIP Provider – SkySwitch
Could Reselling a Next-Generation VoIP Platform Benefit Your Brand?
Branding and reselling white-label VoIP services could be a lot more profitable than you might expect. With so many business owners feeling the strain of trying to keep their hybrid workforce connected, UCaaS is in high demand. Market analysts anticipate the UCaaS market will reach $87.3 Billion by 2031. That is
a calculated annual growth rate (CAGR) of 19.25%.
With the rapidly rising demand for reputable platform providers, there’s also been a steady increase in the number of IT consulting firms, managed service providers, and other like-minded professionals offering unified communications as a service (UCaaS). Although many companies offer white-label platforms that could help boost your revenue, only some companies offer the experience, features, and reseller support you’ll find at SkySwitch.
To see what our fully-managed brandable white-label platform could do for your business, visit SkySwitch to schedule a demonstration. We offer real-time support, hundreds of app and system integrations, and a user-friendly UCaaS platform you can deploy and learn in as little as 30 days.