CRN Exclusive: Master Agent TBI Pushes Incoming Mobility, Wireless At Annual BIG Event
At its 2019 BIG event for partners, Telecom Brokerage, Inc. (TBI) wants solution providers to get in on the ground floor with mobility and wireless opportunities.
Telecom Brokerage Inc. (TBI) wants partners to be early embracers of mobility and wireless solutions, representing a departure from the wireline sales that many telecom agent partners are used to landing.
At TBI's BIG Event, the master agents’ annual partner conference that is being held May 9 in Chicago, TBI wants its partners to see the potential revenue stream that wireless is going to open up for the channel.
"When I look at wireless networks, I just see so much potential in terms of commissions for partners if they are willing to go on an educational journey to get there. It's a greenfield opportunity, but very realistic," said Dave Landsberger, TBI's director of training and events.
The telecom agent channel is well-versed on wireline sales, but wireless was always a different story. Part of the reason was because the money wasn't there for partners selling wireless solutions, Landsberger said. These sales often used to merit a one-time activation commission, as opposed to a lucrative residual payout.
"Wireless wasn't worth the lift it would have taken a partner to get customers up and running on mobile solutions. But I think we are finally there," he said. Now, partners can take their wireline and networking best practices and transition them over to wireless and mobility management sales.
The marketplace has changed dramatically, and customers have changed too. Businesses are much more comfortable working in a mobile environment, Landsberger said. TBI can help partners implement and support complex wireless networks, he added.
"It's important that partners start selling [mobility and wireless] now educate [themselves] so they can be ready for the opportunities that are coming," he said.
The mobility conversation at the BIG event won't be limited to next-gen wireless technologies, like 5G, Landsberger said. "There isn't much to sell around 5G, but there is an education process for users and there's still plenty of 4G applications that can be sold and IoT-like verticalized applications that partners need to learn about before that big 5G jump happens," he said.
Unlike many of its distributor and master agent competition, TBI can do direct deals with the four leading wireless carriers in the U.S.; AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, and Verizon, with a residual payout on the carriers' full product set.
"That's really compelling, and we want to make sure our partners know that because over the next few years, customers are going to wireless networks that are just as complex -- maybe even more so -- then MPLS environments," he said.
The 2019 BIG Event will also feature a speaker lineup of channel chiefs from the leading telecom service and unified communications providers, including AT&T, Comcast, CenturyLink, Verizon, and 8x8. The channel chiefs will sound off popular topics such as the SD-WAN space, the partner experience, and frank discussions around mergers and acquisitions, Landsberger said.
Chicago-based TBI in April promoted Corey Cohen from director of marketing to vice president of the company's marketing department. Cohen is the first woman to join TBI’s executive team.