HOT TELECOM CASE STUDY
The power of quoting and selling access in real-time
CASE STUDY
THE POWER OF SELLING AND QUOTING ACCESS IN REAL-TIME Type of operator: Regional African network provider Objective: Quoting and Selling process automation
Setting the scene
The whole industry is moving towards everything in real-time or near real-time and the automation of the connectivity quote to order process is at the core of this evolution. The work of the MEF in that space, via the creation of the Sonata process which is the journey to enable quote to order within 10 minutes via APIs, is a real-life example of this progression. For this to become a reality however, suppliers must be able to quote accurately to the correct building in near real-time, which is something that many still struggle to achieve. As recently as 15 years ago, almost the whole access cost process was still manual, as most operators would acquire access costs from their suppliers via e-mail. Account managers all over the world would then reply with a costing for each request, which would be followed by quarterly calls to discuss how many of these manually created quotes would turn into orders. This process could take days, if not weeks in some cases. To speed up the process and remove bottlenecks, the use of standardized rate cards and pricing portals was introduced, allowing customers to self-serve. Quoting and procurement teams would have to go through the time consuming process of looking at each of the suppliers’ portal and rate cards one by one to create the quote. This was still a very manual cumbersome process, prone to human error and the result of this evolution
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was that the bottleneck moved from the supplier side to the customer quoting teams. The next step of the evolution was then to create systems (such as the LMX Supplier solution) that could connect to supplier portals via an API to upload and process the supplier rate cards. However, suppliers providing the data via rate cards could not guarantee that the information that was uploaded in these systems were the most up to date or quoted accurately. It also did not give them visibility of the number of quotes that were generated using their price book. Hence, it was impossible for them to plan for upcoming potential orders and to have a view of their pipeline. This quoting solution was therefore not optimal by any stretch of the imagination. There was an urgent requirement for a pricing tool that would address both the need for speed of the sales team, while providing both visibility of the pipeline and control of the correctness of the pricing information, all in real-time. LMX’s Supplier solution does just that, as it allows suppliers to provide their customers with automated real-time quotes via an API to their pricing environments. It is a win-win solution for both parties. The case study you will find in the next few pages gives you a real-life example of a Tier1 supplier’s results after implementing such a solution to deliver real-time quotes to its rapidly growing global customer base.
Challenges 1
LENGTHY, LABOUR-INTENSIVE QUOTING PROCESS
For years, the supplier spent hours and weeks developing complex manual quotes for its customers on a request by request basis, resulting in an expensive, labour intensive and inefficient process. This limited the ability of this supplier to expand its customer reach and consequently the growth of new business it concluded. A significant quoting bottleneck existed.
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NEED FOR QUOTE VISIBILITY AND CONTROL
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MARKET TREND INFORMATION FOR PLANNING
The supplier had limited visibility of the quality of quotes created by its customers using the supplier’s standard pricing sheets. Additionally, these quotes often did not reflect the latest prices, as the standard rate sheets were updated on a quarterly basis and needed to be updated in each customer system.
The supplier had no visibility of the nature and quantity of quotes created by its customers that used the supplier’s standard pricing sheets. It was therefore impossible to identify the size, the nature (type of service and location) and the evolution of the pipeline through time. As a result, network expansion planning was a hit and miss affair.
No efficiency
No control
No visibility
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Solution
LMX Supplier - Automated local access quoting platform The LMX Supplier platform, implemented by the supplier in this case study, is an automated pricing tool that empowers connectivity suppliers globally to provide instant quotes that are accessible either via a web based interface or an easy to connect API.
It therefore gives visibility of its pipeline in real-time and this information, which can be segregated by customer, location, bandwidth or product, can in turn be used to plan future network expansion to destinations that are indemand.
The logic behind the LMX supplier pricing tool is that once the initial upload of the pricing information is done, with the help of LMX, the supplier is given ownership to be able to upload its data to the platform so that it is sure it is accurate and up-to-date at all time.
This is done in a secure environment which is seamlessly integrated with customers’ quoting systems and processes all over the world.
From there, its customers have a choice to either log into the web portal or connect via APIs to their pricing environment in order to access the supplier’s pricing information in real-time. This enables the supplier to integrate the quoting process upstream seamlessly with its customers’ systems. It also gives the supplier visibility of any interaction their customers have with the pricing tool in order to build their quotes.
One of the key benefits of such a system is that it uses a flexible business model that grows with the supplier’s business, based on the number of quote requests the system receives and the number of customers connected to the platform. In addition, once a seller is uploaded to the LMX Supplier platform, it can expand its reach to new customers in the LMX quoting ecosystem who may not have used this particular supplier’s solutions before. So it is a quick, painless and cost efficient way to extend customer reach.
LMX Supplier platform topology LMX platform with multiple supplier costs books and APIs to supplier portals Branded interface
Manual buyer portal engagement
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LMX
Engagement via APIs
Automated buyer engagement
Results The supplier in this case study managed to successfully interconnect with 10 global carriers within 12 weeks. This meant that the quoting process had moved from manual to automatic.. This enabled the supplier not only to create a significantly more efficient and reliable quoting process, but it also empowered it to gather a huge amount of information so it could define where the demand is growing in the African market. In the last 6 months alone, as we integrated this supplier with a growing number of customer APIs, it benefited from an increase of 200% in number of quoting requests received, which translates into 20,000 inquiries per month. This compared with hundreds before the implementation of our solution. The supplier also achieved around 1000% growth in the number of inquiries since the start of this project, with the same number of people in the quoting team, which translates into a considerable increase in efficiency.
200% increase in number of quotes in last 6 months 20,000 automated inquiries per month 1,000% growth in the number of inquiries Heightened visibility of trends by service, bandwidth & location
As well as the above quoting benefits, there has been a significant improvement of the visibility of the market trends and location demand giving the supplier a much better understanding of the split of the services and the trends in bandwidth demand by location. This translated into a heightened capability to forecast their network roll-out to meet changing geographic requirements.
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Success factors
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DIGITAL INTEGRATION WITH GLOBAL CARRIERS
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USER FRIENDLY PORTAL
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UP-TO-DATE INFORMATION
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FLEXIBILITY
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REPORTING
One of the keys to success is for suppliers to be able to rapidly digitally integrate their pricing with global carriers. Our solution does just that, as it gives them instant access to the LMX Buyer ecosystem, which is comprised of most of the largest Tier1 global carriers.
The solution must include a web portal option for carriers who do not have the capability to integrate APIs with their existing systems.
The quality of the quotes created by such a system is crucial. The simpler and easier the data maintenance is for the supplier the more likely it will keep it up to date and the better the quoting information will be. All contributing to increase the chance of a successful sale.
Every supplier has different requirements, processes and systems. It is key for the solution to be flexible so it can be tailored to each suppliers’ needs. For example, in the case study discussed, we are able to upload the pricing information to the platform for the supplier, while others prefer to do this themselves. This is not a one-size-fits-all type of environment, even if automation is at play.
Finally, the reporting is the cherry at the top, as it provides suppliers with real-time information they cannot find anywhere else. So a strong set of reports may be the winning factor for suppliers to get a true view of the current connectivity demand in their market of operation.
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the author For the past 18 years, Isabelle has been working with many of the world’s top international telecom service providers to help them define their transformation strategy. She has written multiple articles and regularly speaks at conferences on this topic. She is also passionate about encouraging the involvement of women in technology and science and continuously conducts panels and interviews with leading and inspiring C-Level telecom executives around the world. Isabelle holds a Bachelor degree in Engineering, an MBA in Finance and has over 28 years experience working globally.
Isabelle Paradis President HOT TELECOM
about LastMileXchange Access quoting is a crucial step in the quoteto-cash process for telecom operators. Whether you are a global carrier, looking to get fast and reliable access quotes from your suppliers or a local carrier looking to sell connectivity in the global market-place, fast and accurate quoting is the key to success.
We are trusted by the biggest names in the industry to digitalise their access quoting processes.
The LMX team has combined its deep domain knowledge and technical expertise to create a user-friendly, flexible and scalable platform to support the access quoting processes of carriers worldwide.
Contact us to find out we can help you win the real-time quote challenge: info@lastmilexchange.com
Find out more about LastMileExchange’s realtime quote solutions at www.lastmilexchange.com
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