“The Converged Partnership Programme rewards those Business Partners who have successfully moved out of their traditional, single-service comfort zone and into the converged services space. By doing this they have demonstrated that they share our passion for converged services. In return they will reap the benefits of being aligned with us as ‘Convergence Champions’ positioned at the forefront of our drive towards leading the convergence marketplace,” says Chris Tombs, Chief Executive of Timico Group.
Timico’s Converged Partnership Programme will have three levels of accreditation: Standard, Advanced and Converged. Four Timico Business Partners - Business Communications Solutions based in Kilmarnock, Mobile Business Communications and Ramesys, both in Nottingham, and Utility and Environmental Services in Cardiff – start the Programme with fully converged status giving them access to enhanced support including:
Their logo and contact details featured on Timico billing referring all sales and service enquiries back to the Business Partner as the first port of call, a local seminar staging service for VoIP and mobile data, free VoIP seat rentals for their business, staff sales incentives, membership of a channel quarterly steering group and an HTML email campaign management service.
Timico say these benefits are in addition to a whole raft of support measures available to Standard and Advanced level partners covering commission and revenue share benefits; accredited product and sales training; access to the Timico Business Partner portal with its reporting and information system, library of data sheets and co-branded marketing materials; help with marketing Timico non-mobile services to mobile customers; and much more.
The Converged Partnership programme is a refinement of Timico’s Business Partner programme which has been in place since January 2006. The new, three-level, approach reflects Timico’s desire to focus on developing its partners who have already moved their business operations into the convergence marketplace.
“Not every mobile or telecoms partner has woken up to the opportunity of selling more than a single service to their customers, however for those who have, The Converged Partnership programme takes an enormous step forward in cementing together Timico and those of its indirect partners who really ‘get’ convergence,” continues Chris Tombs. “This strengthening of relationships will deliver tangible rewards as our partners earn revenue streams from all of the services sold to the customers that they introduce to Timico.”
Mobile Business Communications in Nottingham has been a Timico Business Partner for twelve months and is delighted to be one of the advanced guard to start the new Converged Partnership programme with Converged status.
“There are definite benefits for customers who choose converged communications. We used to put our own package together using different service providers but it got very messy with lots of different bills and frustration over technical issues,” says Simon Leadley, Managing Director at Mobile Business Communications. “We wanted a partner that could provide a true converged solution and Timico has been an excellent fit. It’s a real win-win situation. Our customers benefit from the reliability and service consistency of having just the one connectivity provider and we benefit from having happy customers and a connectivity partner that really listens and responds to what we say. Our relationship with Timico has been more of a partnership than any other company we have worked with and I am looking forward to that developing further with the new Converged Partnership programme.”