TrustPower Business Manager (Telecommunications) Peter Gregory

After the successful launch of voice and broadband to their residential customers, TrustPower is now tackling the small business market. The Tauranga-based company began working with Telecom Wholesale when they decided they needed more focus on the telecommunications services they were offering.

TrustPower Business Manager (Telecommunications) Peter Gregory says the company had previously been reselling a limited range of services but realised to make headway they needed better support and more flexibility from suppliers.

"We wanted to get the back-end services like provisioning, reporting and technical back-up right and also to have more control over how we developed and packaged services for our customers," says Peter.

"It was either get serious about telecommunications or get out."

The company is now selling a combination of Telecom voice services and Maxnet broadband products under the Kinect brand.

Back-end and technical support

Telecom Wholesale had the service and backend support systems to help TrustPower manage the transition.

"It's really important to us that our reputation for good service does not falter. We want our existing customers to have more reasons to stay with us as well as attract new customers, so the telecommunications experience has to be good," says Peter.

Support from Telecom Wholesale included on-the-spot training for TrustPower's customer service staff on the new service offering, as well as technical back-up and online ordering and fault management tools. Telecom Wholesale's OO&T (Online Ordering and Tracking) provides online access to provisioning systems with many requests fully automated while OFM (Online Fault Management) allows customers to log and track faults.

Account support and flexibility

TrustPower worked with their Telecom Wholesale business development manager to create voice and broadband packages they believe would appeal to customers.

"We have differentiated ourselves by developing our combination of services and our (Telecom Wholesale) account manager worked with us during that process," says Peter.

TrustPower studied customer calling patterns to develop their 30 Minute Cap Calling Plan for calls throughout New Zealand and Australia.

"We decided it was an attractive option for our customers as well as being profitable for us," says Peter.

Having successfully launched into the residential market, TrustPower is now moving to the more complex business market.

"We have made a gradual transition into telecommunications to ensure all our systems are in place to give our customers the support they need and now we're looking forward to new opportunities."

Challenge

• Successfully market a full range of telecommunications services
• Maintain reputation for high quality customer service
• Train staff on the new ranges of services being offered

Solution

• Source voice calling products from Telecom Wholesale
• Manage and track customer provisioning and fault management through Telecom Wholesale's online tools
• Support from Telecom Wholesale business development manager