6 Things All Voice Over IP Resellers Should Know About the Business
Companies need VoIP to succeed in the modern workplace. Reliance on communication solutions like VoIP and video conferencing has increased by 212%. Today’s businesses are adopting VoIP solutions to ensure high-quality communications for remote employees, hybrid environments, and workflows in modern buildings without on-site PBX systems.
Your business can capitalize on this growing demand by becoming a VoIP reseller—or by making the VoIP reselling side of your business more prominent—but it takes a strategic approach.
VoIP is a unique product with its own tactics, benefits, and challenges to guaranteeing sales. By considering these six key insights into the VoIP industry, resellers can better position their services and see more profitable growth.
1. Your Prospects and Clients Don’t Know What VoIP Is
Whether you’ve been in the VoIP reselling industry for a while or done quite a bit of research before deciding to become a reseller, you know far more about VoIP than your clients and prospects. Some of the most significant areas of confusion around Voice Over IP are:
- What VoIP is
- What VoIP does and doesn’t do
- How VoIP is different from SIP trunking, traditional telephony, and using a mix of online video conferencing and calling tools
- How to determine when VoIP makes sense and how to implement it in the first place
This means your potential buyers aren’t even thinking about VoIP, let alone moving through the sales process to become clients.
However, once you understand this large gap in market knowledge, you can position your services properly. Educate your prospects about different voice and communications solutions. Focus on benefits and business points rather than technical explanations and jargon. Lastly, freely give your prospects the knowledge they need to more confidently consider virtual phone systems, virtual servers, and VoIP solutions.
2. Adding VoIP Makes Your Business More Competitive as a Comprehensive Communications Provider
Having VoIP as your sole product offering can be the base of a successful business. As any experienced business owner knows, having only one income stream is risky—especially in a fast-transforming industry. This is true whether you want to start with VoIP at the center of your reselling business or currently operate as a SIP trunking reseller.
A far more robust approach is to offer as many solutions as possible without negatively impacting your profitability or the quality of your service. Layering your product offerings so you have a wide range of options, packages, and services strengthens your business. Here’s why:
- You may encounter prospects that don’t need VoIP at all, but you still have a strong relationship with them.
- You may encounter clients who need a mix of VoIP and other solutions, which could mean you lose them to a competitor who offers everything they need instead of just part of what they need.
- An increasing number of businesses are interested in VoIP, and not offering it could indicate that your business isn’t keeping up with current trends or won’t be a good long-term fit.
- Diversifying your product lines is a time-trusted business practice. It allows you to withstand sudden swings in the market and better serve your clients through cross-selling.
3. There’s No Need to Replace PBX
When customers have a complicated setup they’re wary about disrupting, it’s your responsibility to ease their fears. Many customers will want to migrate to VoIP but have an analog PBX that’s working just fine. Thankfully, you can help them migrate without upsetting their current analog setup.
If they want to keep everything the way it is but save money, you don’t have to give up on them as customers. You can use a VoIP gateway to help ease the process along. If you can pair SIP trunking with services to add a VoIP gateway, you can allow SIP calls. The PBX will interface via the gateway, allowing their system to function the way they desire with no major snags.
4. You Can Knock PBX Solutions Out of the Running
While you might think it’s hard to compete with PBX solutions as a VoIP provider, it turns out that you can clear out the competition. SIP trunking services are versatile when bundled with IP PBX. Sell them through a lease to offer your customers everything they need.
You’ll give them the same features and functions they expect from their hosted PBX services. As a bonus, you could even give them everything for less than they pay for their PBX service.
If you have small business customers who can’t afford to rewire their whole system or install completely new services, you don’t have to scare them off. You can proactively seek out small and medium business clients if you’re able to convince them of the merits of a VoIP gateway that replaces PBX.
5. White-Label Wholesalers Make Adding a New Product Line Easy
Finding the right partner is one of the first steps in becoming a VoIP reseller. That often starts by researching reputation, pricing, technical support, and the products themselves. However, one item that new resellers often leave off the must-have list is white labeling. Becoming one of the best VoIP resellers means finding a partner with unrestricted white labeling.
White labeling means that your technical partner’s branding isn’t on the products and services—yours is. Rather than simply operating as a middleman, your business is your clients’ source of VoIP services. You can brand the service, decide on the exact services and capacity, set pricing and package options, and advertise it the way you want.
When you don’t carefully select a white-label wholesaler, you might face burdensome restrictions regarding client-facing prices, how you can structure offers, and even what wording and advertising terms you can use.
6. Behind-the-Scenes VoIP Administration Has a Lot of Regulations
Technology and service reselling is by no means easy, but working with partners offloads a lot of the technical challenges, such as uptime, administration, security, and bandwidth. VoIP is more intricate than offering office software suites.
VoIP service providers face specific taxation requirements, such as the Telecommunications Relay Service (TRS) and Federal Universal Service (FUS) charges. FUS funds are set aside to create affordable phone services across the country. Because VoIP is entirely online, it seems like this tax may not apply—but VoIP providers need to pay variable taxes and fees like these even though the hardware is virtual.
Knowing this information is the first step to compliance and ensuring you can maintain your profit margins. The next step is finding a reselling partner who can help you manage those taxes with minimal risk, effort, or liability.
Learn More About the Ins and Outs of Becoming a VoIP Reseller With a White-Label Partner
Becoming a VoIP reseller is a strategic business decision, especially if you’re considering adding VoIP services to your existing portfolio. It’s important to fully understand the industry, financial complications, and technical context of VoIP. This knowledge lets you advise your clients, position you as an authority, and protect your business’s bottom line.A solid knowledge base also helps you select the right reselling partner with confidence. At SIPTRUNK, we work hard to manage the technical aspects of VoIP while being a supportive white-label wholesaler for all of our partners. Get started today to learn more about our reseller program.