A Reseller Educational Series Spring Planting

Business cycles are similar to seasonal cycles with autumn being the start of a recession, winter the mid-point and spring signaling the start of a recovery. In the March issue of INTERNET TELEPHONY, Executive Editor Paula Bernier (News - Alert)’s Top of Mind editorial referenced comments by Cisco leader John Chambers that the economy has entered a new “phase of the recovery.” He added that Cisco was planning to add 3,000 new employees in the coming quarters. It looks like spring is here and time for resellers to plant this year’s crop.

Business buying patterns are based on the mental attitude of senior management, and most managers are still in recession mode. Purse strings are loosening, but the lessons the recession taught are still prominent. Two key selection criteria will be the ROI and how the solution can improve a company’s competitive position. Fortunately, VoIP, unified communications, FoIP and other IP technologies can satisfy these criteria and much more.

Companies may still be in recessionary mode, but they are also anticipating and looking forward to additional revenue growth. Just like Cisco (News - Alert), they will have to add and outfit new employees yet sustain efficiencies to remain competitive. Farmers plant crops they expect to grow and harvest one or more times. You can do the same by marketing products that will grow with your customer’s needs. The net effect will be new sales today and recurring revenue later.

Looking for ideas? If you were planting vegetables, you would go to the Burpee seed catalog. If you want the latest ideas in IP technology, go to the TMC (News - Alert) Web site as I did when researching this column. A good example is one of my favorite technologies – unified communications Go to www.tmcnet.com and select “Publications” at top center, then Unified Communications (News - Alert) on the pull-down menu, then Table of Contents, and The UC 2010 Buyers’ Guide. This is ultimate catalog of the leading equipment, software and service suppliers in the UC space. But don’t stop there. Surf the entire site and pay special attention to the TMCnet Channels for added ideas.

Have a bountiful harvest. IT

Max Schroeder is senior vice president of FaxCore (News - Alert) Inc. (www.faxcore.com).

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