Right now I'd like to address the business owners and independent professionals. As telephone system installers or networking consultants, you no doubt interface with T1 lines or other WAN networks. Some key telephone systems and most PBX systems have digital phone line connections as channelized T1 or T1 PRI lines. Dedicated Internet lines are generally comprised of T1 lines or multiple T1 lines.
So what do you do when you've installed a LAN or phone system and your customer needs to hook up with the outside world? Do you simply tell them to call the phone company? Point to the yellow pages and let them find someone who specializes in T1 lines? Why not include this aspect of the system as part of the value added services you provide?
Oh, I know. You're not an expert in telecommunications lines. That's somebody else's territory. Well, what if you had some help? What if all you needed to do is find out what interface the customer needs and then work with a consultant who would take care of screening carriers and getting the paperwork squared away? Wouldn't that give you a competitive advantage over other networking or telecom suppliers who can only do part of the job? You bet it would. Customers don't want to be general contractors of their communication systems. They want somebody to take care of their needs end to end.
Instead of having to become an expert in T1 lines, PRI, DS3, MPLS, Metro Ethernet and all of the other flavors of digital WAN connections, you can be what's called a VAR or Valued Added Reseller. For your trouble, you'll earn a generous commission on your customer's monthly line service usage. Let's face it, your customers are going to order those lines through someone. It might as well be you. As an additional advantage, you'll also get equipment leads from interested parties in your area who need both equipment and lines.
Here's how it works. You'll sign up as a VAR with Shop For T1, arguably the most value adding telecom broker offering these services. There is no cost to do this. You simply register your business. You'll be provided with both a web site that you can direct potential customers to plus a "back office" where you can enter your customer's information yourself. Once you have entered a need into the system, a SFT1 technical consultant will take care of discussing options with you and/or your customer, generating competitive quotes and getting the contractual paperwork taken care of. Once the line is turned up and generating revenue, you'll get a monthly commission check.
Clearly, the more business you generate, the larger your commission checks will be. Contracts for digital lines run 1 to 3 years and most businesses have a continuing need for services. You can be getting commissions on monthly telecom usage years after you were paid off for the installation job.
Here are a couple of other things to consider. You can earn continuing income on all types of digital lines, including T1, bonded T1, T3, DS3, OC3, OC12, OC48, Ethernet WAN, Gigabit Ethernet, SONET, private lines and more. The larger the bandwidth, the higher the monthly charges and the more you make. Also, the size of your business is not important. You can be an independent consultant working out of a home office or a business telephone system supplier with a fleet of trucks. This VAR opportunity will work for you as long as you have contact with businesses that need digital telecommunication circuits.
You may even run into clients who don't need your hardware or networking consulting right now, but have a desire to save money on their T1 line or expand their bandwidth. Enter those leads into the system and you can receive a nice monthly check on business calls that would otherwise have been dead ends.
Does it sound like this is something that would complement your business? If so, learn more and sign up now as a Shop For T1 Value Added Reseller. It only takes a few minutes. At T1 Rex, we have been independent agents representing Shop For T1 for about 3 years and highly recommend this organization.
