First let me start off by asking all of you business owners and managers one simple question; are you using a telecommunications /broker/advisor? If you are I commend you, if you are not , perhaps you can rethink your decision. Let’s think about this for a minute.

For those of you who are using a consultant (hopefully a competent one), I am sure that they have freed up a lot of your time when searching for the best T1 Line, DS3 Bandwidth, Fiber, Network and Ethernet pricing and solutions. I bet it also helps you focus on what you do best, your business.

I have a few questions to ask the ones who are not using a telecom advisor. What are your reasons for not using an advisor? Why are you thinking this way? Have you ever considered using an advisor? Now let’s address the questions. A telecom advisor has a vested interest in you and your company. A telecom advisor usually only gets paid when they make the sale, unless the client agrees to pay them a retainer where no commission can be made. In some rare cases, an advisor may get paid both a retainer an a commission if there is a lot of work and time that is entailed. With all this in mind, this is your insurance policy. If given the task, the advisor will perform. I will also shed some light on the industry and how it works.

There are two channels in telecom to work through:
1) Agent Channel.
2) Retail Channel.

Both are direct with the carrier, however, the agent channel gets paid a commission and the retail channel receives a salary and a commission. The Advisor usually has an unbiased carrier perspective. The Advisor wants what’s best for the client. The Advisor only gets paid when they solve the problem for the client, whether it be saving money or a technical solution, or both. The one that gets paid a salary and a commission is the employee of the carrier, which is the retail side. The Agent/Advisor, if knowledgeable and resourceful, usually has about 50 carriers at their disposal to contemplate a solution from. The Retail/Employee has one. Are you starting to catch on now?

Again, both Agent and Employee are BOTH directly connected with the carrier, the only difference is that the Agent/Advisor has more resources, which in turn gives the client more resources. This is common sense stuff, but highly overlooked in the industry. Another problem going with an employee from the retail side is that corporations have such a high turn over rate. This turn over rate means that the employee that you were dealing with that was employed by the carrier, probably is no longer there, or has moved onto a different department. The Advisor on the other hand is still here, Lord willing. The Advisor sticks with you through the darkest of times. The Advisor is your confidant, your eyes, your ears and your mind when dealing with problems. The Advisor is your force to solve problems and come up with solutions with their collective wisdom.

So the next time you’re searching for T1 Internet and/or Voice, MPLS, DS3 Broadband, Metro Ethernet Bandwidth, GigE, VoIP, Dark Fiber, Optical Fiber or any of the other telecom or techno jargon, give your Telecom Advisor a call!