FREQUENCY TELECOM

Gareth Limpenny, managing director

FREQUENCY TELECOM EXPLAINS ALL WITH GARETH LIMPENNY, MANAGING DIRECTOR

Where?

30 Barwell Business Park, Leatherhead Road, Chessington, Surrey KT9 2NY

What are the key areas your business concentrates on distributing?

SIM-free mobile handsets from leading manufacturers, high quality refurbished handsets, and leading brand mobile accessories.

You have described yourselves in the past as ‘boringly efficient’. Define what being boringly efficient means to you, and why it’s so important?

‘Boringly efficient’ is an old positioning that was used before we re-branded a couple of years ago. For those that knew Frequency at that time, this was a tongue in cheek description of one of our key strengths as we feel we’re anything but boring, yet very efficient! We feel that whilst this description could still stand today, there is more to Frequency now than there was then, so we now use ‘end the search’ as our current positioning as we feel we offer a

wider range of products and services and that our customers do not need to have two or three distributors when Frequency can service most of their needs.

What is your company’s USP?

Our USP is a combination of three things: High quality products; Competitive prices; Premier level customer service.

Where are you investing in or expanding your portfolio?

Areas of expansion for Frequency are in: Growth in the sale of data products, specifically BlackBerry and HTC devices; Mobile accessories; Direct online sales.

What is your view of the past year in distribution?

It has been a very challenging year in distribution. With consumer sales dropping and credit being hard to obtain, the demand for handsets and accessories has reduced and prices are being squeezed.

However, we have seen our sales volumes hold up well and we believe this is down to a combination of the development of good supplier relationships, astute purchasing and building and maintaining the contact with our customer base.

What are the hot trends going forward for distribution in your area?

Data products continue to be in demand and the stream of new, innovative handsets that are planned from all of the leading manufacturers will continue to drive the demand.

In addition, we are seeing increased demand for mobile accessories, specifically handset cases and car kits. We have positioned our sales and marketing to take advantage of this.

What are your top tips for dealers selling your products?

There’s probably no surprise in our view, which is to sell the benefits of the products rather than the features. We try to work hard to explain to our customers that if they demonstrate how the latest mobile phones and accessories can help them save time, make money or improve the quality of their lives, they will have a far greater chance of making a sale, and always try and add value to a handset sale by selling accessories.

Should dealers pay more attention to accessories, and why?

Well we’re definitely going to say ‘Yes’ aren’t we?! Realistically though, accessories provide incremental revenue and if a dealer has made a handset sale, how difficult is it to recommend a case or an in-car charger to go with it?

What are the hottest accessories out there at the moment, and why?

The Case-mate Fuel – no contest! This is a great product, developed to help solve the ‘I’ve run out of battery again’ problems for power-hungry smartphones.

The Case-mate Fuel is a smart holster with a belt clip and a built in battery that will recharge the handset as its being carried about. Currently available for the iPhone 3G and the BlackBerry Bold, it will shortly be available for the BlackBerry Storm and the Curve 8900. We are selling as many as we can get from the manufacturer!

What are you up to in the area of SIM-free, and how is this area shaping up for dealers?

Frequency is developing a bigger share of data product sales through the marketing and sale of BlackBerry and HTC devices. We are increasing awareness of our expertise in these areas and are seeing increased sales. We plan to continue to do this.

What are the hottest apps out the right now?

Whilst there is undoubted demand for apps that support social networking and helping media downloads, in our experience, those apps that can help businesses better manage and respond to their customers are very popular. Apps for instant messaging, CRM solutions and time management are up there on the best seller list.

Key personnel

John Willoughby, commercial manager, accessories, is responsible for the purchase and sale of the Frequency mobile accessories portfolio: “There is currently no better way to generate incremental revenue than through the sale of mobile accessories.”

Paul Slaven, sales manager, SIM-free, is responsible for the sale of SIM-free handsets: “The demand for refurbished handsets is currently high and the quality of product available is excellent. These are excellent handset alternatives in these financially challenging times.”

Airtime: T-Mobile

Handsets: BlackBerry – HTC – Nokia – Samsung - Sony Ericsson - LG

Accessories: Case-mate - Otterbox