When telecom agents and channel sales partners go to the regular trade shows they invariably meet dozens of master agency employees all standing in their booths trying to explain why they're a better place for a subagent to sales partner put their business than the next guy. Snazzy trade show booths aside though all vendor look about the same standing in their alloted trade show booth space. You listen to their 45-second booth pitch and then move on. Hoping to remember just one thing about each.
While trade shows exhibit halls certainly have their value (where else can you "speed date" 100 vendors) you really don't know what a master agency is all about until you visit them in their "own space" without the distraction of a trade show. That's why I particularly enjoy touring a vendor's work environment so I can see the sort of space they operate in when I'm talking to them on the phone.
But meeting vendors at trade shows or at their offices still challenges the subagent to do one really important thing - learning what vendor's unique competitive differentiator. "Will aligning or not aligning with this vendor cause me to win or loose deals?" is the question to ask. It depends. Do they have a "special trick" that will cause another subagent to beat me if I don't have it? It pays to know.
So What's MicroCorp's "Special Trick"?
I've know MicroCorp for almost 15 years. They were one of the first (if not "the first") master agencies to
automate their back office. Their Nautilus platform set the standard for many years and continues to roll out new modules. Being founded over 23 years years ago arguably makes MicroCorp one of the oldest and most stable master agencies.
Within the past year they've also rolled out a program called Commission Assurance. This program provides the agent with legal ownership of their propionate share of the commissions earned. Therefore, if something happened to MicroCorp, the agent is legally protected to continue receiving their commissions. But even with automation, longevity and payment assurances, MicroCorp still is known best for the customer service they provide to their agent partners.
Since 1986, MicroCorp strives to be seen as the "Ritz Carlton" of customer service. But every master agency says that, "We're great at customer service" - so how really can you measure that objectively. Well the easiest measure is to count employees. Great customer service takes a lot of employees with a decent amount of longevity. Carrier turn-ups and customer problem solving is very labor intensive - which is the main reason agents turn to master agencies in the first place. "Let our people solve your carrier/customer problems while you go sell more accounts!"
OK. So let's see the people who provide, "Ritz Carlton" customer service...
I visited with MicroCorp early this Summer and collected the following videos. Many of their 22 employees were out in the field providing hands on customer service the day I was there but the following videos give you a proper taste of MicroCorp. We'll add more videos as we get them.
President's Welcome - MicroCorp's President & CEO Brad Miehl welcome's telecom agents, channel sales partners, equipment integrators and value added resellers to their Marietta, Georgia headquarters
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Tour of Agent Support - MicroCorp's Director of Support Kim Queen (from Sprint) introduces the presales support, order management and retention management divisions a few people in her department including Dawn Robinson (from Verizon), Tammie Brown (from Nuvox/Windstream), Cyndie Briggs (from MCI/WorldCom, ICG, Phoenix Network & Qwest), Michelle Gerald (from Worldcom/MCI, Telegent, E-Spire/Expedius) and Lorrie Waszczak (from Sprint).
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Meet a few of MicroCorp's Channel Managers
Van Wender - Comes to MicroCorp with a background from Expanets & Avaya
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Jason Wile - Comes to MicroCorp with a background from Verizon & Qwest
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Jeff Fields - Comes to MicroCorp with a background from Verizon & Sprint
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Tour of Accounting & Commissions - MicroCorp's Controller, Paul Borer (from ADP), introduces the people behind the award winning Nautilus software who make sure agents get paid correctly and on time including Business Process Manager & Commissions Consultant Jim Prochot (from AT&T, Internap, Lucent, Alcatel), Commissions Analyst Vickie Zachry and Commissions Analyst Tifanie Nop (from ADP and Cbeyond)
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President's Summary - Brad Miehl recaps what makes MicroCorp the "oldest and safest" master agency for both new and experienced telecom agents, channel sales partners, equipment VARs ("value added resellers") and computer network systems integrators
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"Walkaround Tour" - Brad gives you a quick tour of part of MicroCorp's 8,000+ square feet of office space that supports their 1,000+ subagents.
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Meet more of the MicroCorp team at their LinkedIn page including Vice-President Karin Fields, Web Designer Nathan Bell, COO Jack Knocke (from GTE/Verizon, Direct Line & inPhonic)and Director of Sales Stacy Conrad (from Fusion, Intelliverse, Premier Global/PGi and Cable & Wireless).
To learn more about becoming a MicroCorp sales partner, visit their website at www.MicroCorp.com or call them during East Coast working hours at 770-649-1919.
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