Cornered!
Cornered! is a blog devoted, most of the time anyway, to telecommunications: local and global issues, technology, people and trends from the perspective of someone who's been reporting, analysing and commenting on the industry since the dark ages (BC - before competition). Sometimes serious, sometimes flippant, sometimes frivolous. Controversial, analytical, informative, amusing, but never boring; a vehicle for examinations of important issues and observations on my encounters and experiences in an industry where polarised views and hyperbole are the norm.
Follow the Australian Telecommunications scene NEWSLETTER- FREE TRIAL

Blog

Technology news and Jobs arrow Cornered! arrow Telstra's latest SME sales strategy: free makeovers
Telstra's latest SME sales strategy: free makeovers E-mail
by Stuart Corner   
Wednesday, 04 July 2007
Telstra has ushered in the latest in a long line of schemes designed to overcome a major challenge for all big telcos: getting small business to recognise and exploit to the max the potential that sophisticated telecommunications services offer for increasing business efficiency and productivity.

Attaining this elusive goal would bring very real benefits to both parties, but there are enormous hurdles: a small business requires a lot of handholding from a technically savvy mentor able to understand its business and armed with sufficient knowledge of the technological arsenal at the telco's disposal to put together an optimal solution. Big telcos are not very good at dealing with small businesses and small business, by and large, are not very good at thinking big picture.

Last October the Financial Review carried a glowing report on CEO Sol Trujillo's approach to the small business market. "When Sol Trujillo was appointed chief executive of Telstra last year he was shocked to find the carrier had no dedicated array of products for small businesses and no way of adequately servicing them. It was a major oversight considering Telstra has an estimated 750,000 of the country's one million small and medium sized business customers." So, the AFR reported, he had appointed long time Telstra executive Deena Shiff as managing director of small and medium enterprises. It quoted Shiff saying that the new group was "designed to be much more customer oriented, with an emphasis on marketing and providing modern communications needs."

I commented on this at the time , reviewing several Telstra initiatives over more than a decade, all aimed at coming to grips with the small business market. This week, Shiff has announced another. "Small businesses keen to overhaul their tired old technology and streamline their operations can now apply for a new Telstra technology makeover to transform the way they do business."{moscomment}

Those selected for a 'makeover' will get "some of the latest Telstra Next G and Telstra Next IP network services for free over the next 12 months." In return they will be required to "share their technology changes with customers and industry via a special interactive website and online blogs." Presumably, and most importantly, they will also be expected to share the benefits these changes bring. The offer is available to small businesses with up to 100 employees.

The selected businesses will have the opportunity for a Telstra Business expert to identify the benefits of technology enabled by the integration of Telstra's wireline and wireless network. The 'Next Dimension Working' makeover will "allow the user to enjoy the benefits of a seamless experience across all devices and platforms."

Shiff said that while technical specifications of Telstra's networks were recognised around the globe, many Australian small business people found it hard to imagine just how these world-class technologies could transform their daily operations. "This makeover gives businesses a chance to see the potential of these new services first hand and open a new dimension of communication, information and productivity growth."

Well, nice try Deena. I'm sure that businesses selected for a makeover will do very well from having the considerable resources of Telstra directed to squeezing the most from Telstra's considerable array of services. But will it achieve the greater goal of getting small businesses in general beating at Telstra's door for complete communications solutions? Somehow I doubt it. None of the earlier initiatives succeeded because, I suspect, they never got around the mismatch of Big Telstra and small customer.

What I suggest Telstra needs is a sophisticated tiered channel structure similar to those operated by many global IT equipment vendors: one that provides the training, certification, back up and support for small entrepreneurial businesses that are better suited to dealing with small entrepreneurial businesses and that allows them to own these customers.

Most vendors adopting this model, however, create clarity by not going direct to the SME market themselves in competition with channel partners. Can't see Telstra doing that somehow.

Telstra’s first small business to participate in a 'Next Dimension Working' make-over is Gaye Murray & Associates, an e-learning organisation that provides training modules for clients ranging from small companies to global corporations.

You can go to www.telstra.com/business to track Gaye’s progress  and, Telstra promises  "watch a business transform in a matter of weeks". It should make for interesting browsing.{moscomment}

Powered By Joomla Tags

Please enable JavaScript in your browser to post your comment!

 
< Next story in category   Previous story in the category >
iTWire user statistics Visitors last 30 days
694,279
Subscribers 15,210
#1 independent technology news advertise here
  •   *  
  • Search
  • AdvSeach
  • Login
  • Events
  • FreeStuff

- Advertisement -

Featured Whitepapers

Cornered! - Telecoms blog
Cornered! is a blog on all things tele-communication from the perspective of one who has observed, analysed commented and reported on the industry since the dark ages (BC - before competition).
Follow iTWire on Twitter

About iTWire

iTWire is all about technology news, information, jobs and community for the IT and telecommunications industry professional. Subscribe to our free ICT daily newsletter