4 Common Sales Objections About the UCaaS Market & How to Overcome Them

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Objection 1: The Money Isn't Worth It

Objection 2: The Responsibilities Are Too Great

Objection 3: Voice Providers Do Damage to Your Brand

Objection 4: Minimum Revenue Requirements Are Too Steep (and Risky)

The Solution: Winning in the UCaaS Market

The unified communications as a service (UCaaS) market is forecast to be worth nearly $70 billion by 2028, according to August 2021 research from Fortune Business Insights.¹ That valuation represents a 13.4% compound annual growth rate from 2020 – one MSPs, agents, and other resellers are noticing with piqued interest. 

These resellers have taken note of two important developments: 

• It’s an inescapable fact that voice is a necessary part of any successful channel sales strategy because the convergence of IT and telecom has permanently intertwined voice with other business technologies.
• The COVID-19 pandemic has forever changed the trajectory of voice technology’s growth and its prevalence in global business. In today’s era of remote and hybrid-remote work, voice technology – especially in its cloud-based form – is essential.

No doubt you’ve considered these factors as well when it comes to keeping your business competitive in an ever-changing technology landscape. Yet despite all the signs pointing to “Pass Go and Collect $200” by selling cloud voice – especially paired with video – resellers remain reluctant. 

You have your reasons, we know. They are staunch fears about losing money, burdening yourself, and waking up one day to owning a business you don’t recognize. But we’re here to divulge the truth about selling UCaaS. Read on if you want the real story about UCaaS and the money-making possibilities it holds for resellers like you.

Objection 1: The Money Isn’t Worth It

The commoditization of voice technologies and the “race to zero” is a valid concern for anyone in telecom these days. As providers offer their services for less and your competitors do the same, it’s natural to see a dwindling profit margin as a deterrent to offering UCaaS to your clientele. 

However, there are certain partner program models that make selling voice more lucrative – especially when you’re contending in a race to zero. A private label program specifically addresses this concern by allowing resellers to retain full ownership of their clientele, end user pricing, and contracts. 

In direct contrast to an agent selling model, a private label program gives you complete control over end-user pricing. You can pick and choose how to create seats, extensions, and opportunities to maximize profit while maintaining a competitive customer cost. A private label program like CoreDial’s also gives you á la carte features to provide flexibility to your customers – enticing them with not just competitive pricing but the opportunity to get exactly what they need and pay for just that.

And consider how much more powerful, effective, and lucrative such a private label program is when you can offer video alongside voice. Look for a provider that combines the two while offering a fully flexible suite of features and the ultimate control over your customer accounts.

Resource: Learn how MSP's can increase sales by leading with video

Selling UCaaS also leads to a plethora of other sales. Often, customers will think they need just voice, but once you get your foot in the door with a UCaaS sale, you’re a fox in the proverbial hen house when it comes to selling managed services, SD-WAN, or other high-profit services. Cultivating the customer relationship and getting them sticky with UCaaS is the way to get them sticky with your other offerings – and beat the race to zero.

Objection #2: The Responsibilities Are Too Great

Many resellers look at UCaaS partner programs – especially high-profit private label ones – and think there is no return on their time or effort investments. The most profitable partner programs require you to provide L1 support and to perform back office duties such as tax work and other pesky tasks – all of which are understandably unsavory.

But resellers like yourself are already providing support and performing back office tasks for the number of other solutions you provide. Voice is the least complicated of these. Voice is actually easier to troubleshoot from a L1 standpoint – most of it is helping users change passwords and making sure their phones are plugged in. Compared to IT, voice support is a piece of cake, and the right private label program will offer you an account manager who helps centralize the selling, managing, and invoicing to simplify these responsibilities. From what we’ve seen with our own partners, it adds very little to a workload and adds a lot to the bottom line. 

Resource: Learn how MSP's can support new business network requirements with SD-WAN

Consider that one of the major ways you’re successful is through maintaining superior customer relationships. (learn about other ways in this post) In agent models and partner programs that don’t let you private label, you lose control over servicing your customers – leaving them at the mercy of the RingCentrals and AT&Ts of the world. In a private label scenario, you control the support and the happiness of your customer. That control is what keeps them coming back and your recurring revenue flowing.

An agent model is often fools’ gold. Remember: with less responsibility comes less revenue.

Resource: Why Channel Partners Will Profit by Embracing Mobility in Unified Communications

Objection #3: Voice Providers Do Damage to Your Brand

Speaking of control, one of the biggest thorns in the sides of MSPs and other resellers is the reputational damage you could potentially suffer by selling UCaaS. Let’s face it: the RingCentrals and AT&Ts are not known for their customer service. Quite the opposite. We’ve seen many a reseller burnt by the lack of responsiveness and general abandon many voice and video providers have for customer problems. The brand damage is real – and many times, you won’t get that customer back. 

Which is why the private label voice and video model is the true standard for resellers wanting to maintain control over their images. Private label doesn’t just allow you to put your logo on invoices and customize your customers’ experiences – it cements you with your clientele because they never see another name. 

Without operating at the behest of the UCaaS provider, you are free to evolve your brand and manipulate pricing as you see fit. Your customers experience no surprises, you experience no reputational loss, and all that’s left is your high-profit recurring revenue and your customers’ peaceful satisfaction.

Resource: 9 key things to consider when selecting a partner for cloud communications

Objection #4: Minimum Revenue Requirements Are Too Steep (and Risky)

Voice and video suppliers have heard your call to get rid of minimum revenue requirements, and they’ve altered their programs to meet your needs. Selling UCaaS no longer requires you to promise your first-born child and risk the supplier coming after you for their pound of flesh if you can’t meet minimum revenue requirements. 

CoreDial’s recently launched Max program reflects this evolution of the private label program. With it, our partners get nearly all the benefits of our fully private labeled program CoreDial Max+ but without the minimum revenue requirements. In this co-branded model, you have some responsibilities – although not as many as the fully private labeled version – and you have no minimum expectations. You see the stunning recurring revenue that is exclusively possible with CoreDial without the stress of minimums.

Two High-Value Partner Programs to Get You Started

CoreDial spends time listening to our partners and hearing their fears about selling UCaaS, which is why we’ve created two programs that assuage all those concerns. With CoreDial Max+, you get a 100% private label program that provides the industry’s highest-margin recurring revenue. With CoreDial Max, you can build a lucrative UCaaS business as a high-revenue agent alternative. And since the future of business includes video technology, all our partners leverage our video prowess within their portfolios to compound their competitive advantages.

Get in touch today to learn more about how selling voice and video is your key to surprising growth. We’d love to learn about your business and your goals.

Sources:

https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/industry-reports/unified-communication-as-a-service-ucaas-market-101934