On Valentine’s Day, wholesale VoIP provider VoIP Innovations (News - Alert) posted a blog about tough love – specifically, regarding BackOffice support, or what the company calls “the Achilles heel of the VoIP industry.” The post suggests that perhaps the VoIP industry has been dropping the ball when it comes to the day-to-day efficiencies needed to support the BackOffice, and so the company takes a deep dive look into why this is and how it can be strengthened using three key ingredients: provisioning, support and billing.

In this article, we’ll discuss the provisioning aspect. VoIP Innovations describes the act of provisioning as “onboarding a new customer or turning up a new service.” The company cites that this could mean processing a sales order so that a new customer can start using t service or adding a new service to an existing customer’s account. “Either way, it is important to make this an instant and painless process,” the company firmly advises.

Image via VoIP Innovations

Now that we’ve gotten the “What” aspect out of the way, let’s focus on “How.” VoIP Innovations explains:

There needs to be a sales team in place that knows what their customers want. Next, there needs to be the customers who are willing to trust and listen to the sales reps. Once those reps target their customers’ needs, they prove that your company is the best thing since sliced bread, which ultimately leads to the sale. 

However, it’s not as easy as it may seem. Sometimes, once the sale is made, things can start to go south – and quick. The one thing that can immediately and negatively affect this is a lack of or poor communication.

The company continues:

We know that there are two sides to every sale, or promise; there is the guarantee of great services, features, and timeframes and then there is the actuality of whether or not those things can be done by the operations staff. If that guarantee doesn’t come through, the “my company is the greatest thing since sliced bread” idea that was sold to the customer turns into an idea comparable to that of a loaf of uncut, moldy bread.

One last piece of advice the company gives regarding provisioning is as follows:

The key to a great provisioning process is giving the customer a quick and painless experience.  A well-defined provisioning process allows for more predictability and less human error, equaling a better customer experience.  At VoIP Innovations, we are constantly striving to please our customers and make things easier for them. Their feedback is what keeps us on our toes and puts us in an industry leader role. It also allows us to keep producing the newest and most user friendly features and functions on the market.

VoIP Innovations is one of those “too good to be true” companies – except it really is true. The wholesale VoIP provider boasts one of the strongest customer loyalties I’ve personally ever seen, and it shows in its solid relationships and customer experiences. In true expert fashion, VoIP Innovations’ actions speak louder than its words, and the company shows how in its own operations it handles new customer on-boarding.

Click here to read the company’s post for yourself to see its recipe for provisioning success, and then head on over to its website to check out all of its esteemed offerings.

Stay tuned for our next piece tackling the second element of BackOffice support, coming soon!