Salespeople have a saying: “sell the sizzle, not the steak.” When selling IT, they often focus on the attractive features of a new technology. The problem is that that the “steak” or underlying technology may not be a good fit for your business.
We have seen quite a few companies that were sold on features and lower costs offered by a Voice over IP solution. It offers call following, soft dialing from your computer, voicemail to text and more. However, the call quality is less consistent than a fixed phone line due to many factors that often aren’t considered.
For example, an organization where people are out of the office frequently and do not make a high volume of calls can really benefit from VoIP. In contrast, a company that has a high volume of calls may suffer from the lower call quality. If they lost even one potential customer because of call quality, the loss would be more than the system saves them each month.
When you are looking at technology investments, such as a phone, CRM, or ERP systems, be sure you are getting the right underlying technology for your business needs. Once you are sure the technology is a good fit, then you can consider any features. The right underlying technology is a much better investment for your business than any specific feature.
