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AT YOUR SERVICE: XaaS On a NEC BLUE ENGAGE partner webinar, the Easy IVR set-up was, in fact, easy, impressing the partners that attended. Now, just selling IVR isn’t selling cloud contact center, but it is a fundamental path to it. Taking this one function – IVR – and its easy set-up – means that the partner can show this to its customers and likely sell a few small businesses the IVR. This is how to get started in the land of CCaaS. Learn one function at a time. Study a use case for it. Talk to customers about adding it. It can be added to the UCaaS platform or be an overlay. This piecemeal approach to CCaaS is easier for a partner to absorb, especially partners who have never sold call center before. This fits tightly into selling outcomes instead of technology. A small business would like to have all the bells and whistles, but how do they not only procure the technology but also implement it? Partners are the answer here – even if they must lean heavily on their vendor for support. Use cases and functional outcomes make the software concrete in the eyes of the buyer, as well as the salesperson. Learn- ing how a florist or pizza joint lever- aged a CCaaS solution to improve orders or provide status to customers is something that can be taken and shown to a buyer. This granularity is needed if CCaaS is going to be adopted by more businesses. We are seeing more vendors in this space, from Twilio and Amazon to Intermedia and Intelepeer. Intele- peer and Twilio are CPaaS vendors that offer advanced functions for CX such as webchat, notifications and much more. The UCaaS platforms similar to Intelepeer’s and 8x8’s have acquired cloud contact center functions to provide the whole stack. More and more of the deals that these full stack providers are closing contain CCaaS licens- ing. Why? That functionality is needed in a marketplace competing against Amazon in which workers are anywhere. The best part about these full stacks – CPaaS to CCaaS – is that the best sales strategy is to “Land and Expand.” Sell to a department. Solve a business problem with the platform. Now solve another, and another. The key is to ask great questions and listen. Then show them the solution. o Peter Radizeski is president of RAD-INFO INC., a telecom strategy and marketing consulting agency. He is a sales trainer, writer, consultant and speaker. He is available to speak at your events on channel, marketing, strategy or sales. Source: Open Vault Where Deskless Workers Say Technology Could Benefit Source: Emergence.com OPERATIONS/ LOGISTICS COMMUNICATIONS PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT HR/BENEFITS CULTURE PRODUCTIVITY ONBOARDING/ TRAINING Gartner CCaaS Magic Quadrant What benefits are you seeking from a new contact center platform? 96% 93% 90% 91% 74% 88% 89% Genesys CHALLENGERS LEADERS NICHE PLAYERS Current Solution Lacks Funtionality Avoid Complex Day-to-Day Management Unify Multiple Technology Systems Disaster Recovery Plan VISIONARIES NICE CXone Five9 8x8 Vonage Odigo Takdesk Amazon Web Services Evolve IP Lifesize Worldline ABILITY TO EXCUTE COMPLETENESS OF VISION Content Guru 51% 46% 42% 39% Enable or Expand a Remote Agent Workforce Incorporate Self Service Solutions Seasonal Call Spikes Better Elasticity for Seasonal Call Spikes 32% 19% 14% 13% What benefits are you seeking from a new contact center platform? Source: Avant Research & Analytics 2021 end user survey International Internet Bandwidth Growth by Region Current Solution Lacks Funtionality Avoid Complex Day-to-Day Management Unify Multiple Technology Systems Disaster Recovery Plan Improved Analytics Agents at Home or Multiple Location COMPLETENESS OF VISION 51% 46% 42% 39% 34% 32% Enable or Expand a Remote Agent Workforce Incorporate Self Service Solutions Seasonal Call Spikes Better Elasticity for Seasonal Call Spikes Compliance Requirements Lack CAPEX Budget for Upgrades/Modifications 32% 19% 14% 13% 12% 11% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% Compound Annual Grown Rata 2017-2021 Africa Asian Europe Latin America Middle East Oceania U.S. & Canada 46 CHANNEL V ISION | Fall 2021