Enterprise View

Mathematical Order of Operations

By Max Schroeder, Vice President Emeritus at FaxCore Inc.  |  June 22, 2015

The correct order of operations is necessary to get the accurate result in a mathematical problem. For example, calculations in brackets (parenthesis) should be come prior to exponents. Addition and subtraction are performed in the order they occur. An exception would be bank accounts when it is not advisable to write checks (subtraction) until enough deposits (addition) have been made to cover them. Banks and company financial officers do not like negative balances.

Many times those of us in the communications industry jump to the latest technologies and abandon traditional marketing opportunities too soon. Frankly, we all love to work with the latest and greatest products. They are much more exciting than selling the v29.1 release of an established product. However, from a profit perspective, established products have an advantage. Leveraging current skills and experience eliminates expensive retraining; plus it maximizes the return on existing support contracts. Think of it as a monthly annuity payout.

In a March 2015 column entitled “Voice is Still the Critical App for Operators,” TMC’s Group Editorial Director Erik Linask (News - Alert) referenced a survey by Voxox. The results showed more than 82 percent of respondents indicated voice remains the feature they use most. The 19 to 35 age segment represented 71 percent of the survey respondents, demonstrating that voice popularity it not a generational bias of old folks.

Certainly it remains imperative to introduce your customers to leading-edge products and services. They need to know they can rely on your company to keep them up to date. But as with mathematics, selling also has a proper order of operations. Begin with a customer audit and work forward. This will allow you to ask questions and float trial balloons to introduce leading-edge solutions. As Erik’s column revealed, not every customer wants or needs a Star Wars solution; so first determine which balloons will fly before making recommendations. The objective is to sell products that benefit your customer and also add to your bottom line.  It is irrelevant if your customer purchases upgrades to existing products or decides on v1.0 of the Mars Mobile Communicator to link to their office on Mars.

Introducing new products and services is a great marketing strategy, particularly if your catalogue includes best- of-breed solutions, and TMC (www.tmcnet.com) is the best place to find them.

Max Schroeder (News - Alert) is vice president emeritus of FaxCore Inc. (www.faxcore.com ) and co-chair of the SIP Forum Fax-over-IP Task Group (www.sipforum.org).


Max Schroeder is Vice President Emeritus of FaxCore (News - Alert) Inc. (www.faxcore.com) and managing director of the DPCF.

Edited by Stefania Viscusi