GUEST BLOG

Ted Schuman
Founder & CEO of PlanetOne

The first quarter of 2021 is practically in the rearview mirror. Now is the time to throttle your engines and show your customers what you can do for them. As a distinguished business leader, PlanetOne Founder & CEO Ted Schuman has spent the last 30 years building a successful telecom and IT services business, and during that time, he has learned that the key to driving revenue growth is being proactive. You can’t sit back and wait for customers to call. Here are 10 tips that Schuman loves to share with other businesses on what can be done today to start generating revenue:

#1. Everything Matters
Each team member within your organization needs to be pulling in the same direction. If you don’t bring that energy and passion to work every single day, find something else to do that really motivates you.

#2. Do common things uncommonly well.
Respond to emails timely, every time. Somebody’s counting on you for a response. The phone rings? Answer it. You make a commitment to get back to someone? Live by that commitment. It’s the little details in your execution of these areas that will truly separate you from your competition.

#3. Avoid being the jack of all trades, master of none.
You have strengths. You are an expert in your selected field. But the expansion of the IT industry is making it more difficult to be an expert in all topics. Do not try to boil the ocean, and don’t try to wing it in front of a client. They’re coming to you for expert advice. Earn their business and earn their respect.

#4. Know your message and look the part.
Is your messaging still relevant? Is your look fresh? Seek advice from the people around you to make sure that you’re getting a voice at the table on the topics you want to be consulted on.

#5. Overcommunication is the key.
Nobody’s ever been yelled at for overcommunicating. If you take a task out of your inbox and send it on to the next step, make sure you set expectations so the recipient knows when they’re going to hear from you next. Don’t make them wonder if you’ve forgotten to follow up.

#6. ID your ecosystem and align it with your brand.
Delivering an exceptional customer experience is an enormous undertaking. You have to align your resources and partnerships accordingly. If you don’t have the right partnerships and suppliers in your camp, you’re going to fail. Be sure you can deliver on what is an increasing demand for an extraordinary customer experience.

#7. Bring your A-Game every day.
There’s nothing earth shattering about this statement. So easy to say. So hard to do. You have to have a real passion, commitment and energy to deliver to your customers’ expectations, every single day. If you miss the mark, there’s a lot of people out there who are more than happy to jump in and do what you promised you’d do.

#8. There’s never a good time to sign a bad deal.
We spend so much time focused on product and marketing, when was the last time you did a health and safety check on the one instrument that preserves and protects all of our income – the contracts? You should go to extraordinary lengths to preserve and protect your income.

#9. Becoming a lifelong learner.
You truly have to go to school and never stop. Part of the value we all bring to our customers is being the subject matter expert they can count on. If you’re not staying up on the latest technologies and trends, someone else will come in and grab their mindshare.

#10. Something to think about.
Leaving you with one thought: The magic is in the execution. It’s got to happen every day and there is no room for error. Grab that passion, grab that energy and make it happen.

About PlanetOne
PlanetOne is the IT channel and telecom industry’s preferred business partner for identifying and delivering cloud-based and connectivity solutions to small and midsize businesses and enterprises. Headquartered in Scottsdale, Ariz., the industry pioneer is celebrated by Inc. Magazine as one of America’s Fastest Growing Private Companies and regarded as a top-performing partner for hundreds of telecom agents and channel partners nationwide. Under the leadership of Founder and CEO Ted Schuman, PlanetOne has grown into one of the most influential and respected go-to-market business partners in the telecom and IT industries. To learn more, visit www.planetone.net. Follow PlanetOne on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and YouTube.