Introducing a new service into your call center has traditionally been a painstaking task. It requires training, updated tools, licensing – tons of tedious responsibilities and financial investments.
But what if we told you introducing a new service didn’t have to be so painful? At least not if it’s deregulated electricity and natural gas.
If you have an informed strategy and the right partner, you can get your business selling energy in days instead of months.
Getting Competitive Suppliers
One of your first steps is building strong supplier relationships. You’ll want quality suppliers that give you a better pricing so you always have a competitive edge.
There are some big national names out there like Direct Energy, Constellation, Engie – and you might want some local names for prime target markets, too.
The problem is that you can’t just sign up with a supplier. They don’t just work with anyone, especially the big national suppliers. They take on certain risks when working with brokers and brokerages – who’s to say the broker won’t make bad deals or waste their time and resources?
You need a solid reputation to get in with suppliers. But if you’re new to the industry, you probably don’t have a reputation in the energy sector.
It’s a conundrum for many brokers: you need a reputation to get suppliers, but you need suppliers to get a reputation.
The best option: broker networks. A company like BOX gives companies like yours instant access to all the top suppliers in North America. And since we’ve got such a stellar reputation with suppliers, you’ll never have to worry about inflated pricing or lost supplier relationships.
Licensing Requirements
Getting energy sales licenses can be a time-consuming, expensive and downright frustrating task.
And to make it worse, every state has different requirements. Most require a truckload of paperwork. Many require expensive bonds. Several require testing. Almost all take weeks or months to achieve.
For call centers, it makes sense to acquire as many licenses as possible. But the investment is massive.
You can avoid this investment by partnering with a company who’s already licensed in all states. That way, you and your employees can piggyback off their licensing so you’re out selling in a fraction of the time.
A Word of Caution: Not All Partners Are Alike
We work with a variety of call centers and energy brokers throughout the U.S., and we’ve heard just about every horror story imaginable.
The stories that haunt us are the ones from so-called ‘partners’ whose interests don’t align with yours.
Some companies ‘pad’ your pricing to make a profit. This leaves you with uncompetitive rates, and—even worse—if you close a large deal at lower margins, you’ll suffer while your ‘partner’ wins big. It’s hard to call such an uneven relationship a partnership at all.
Other companies might also sell direct to customers as well. This means they’re not just your partner, they’re a potential competitor as well. Yikes.
There are countless ways a partnership can go sour. So, when you’re looking into partnerships, make sure you ask some important questions, like:
- Are they affiliated with a supplier or are they completely independent?
- Does your potential partner sell energy direct to consumers? That is, are they also a competitor?
- Are their motivations aligned with your company’s interests or are they completely independent from you?
A Partner that Call Centers Trust for Energy Sales
At Broker Online Exchange, our business is to help companies like yours grow their business. That’s why we offer our partners access to more suppliers, better payment plans, as well as our nationwide licensing.
Our entire business is built on transparency and efficiency. With our propriety software, you and your staff gain access to instant pricing, contract creation tools and world-class support so you can close deals simply and quickly.
Most importantly, we’re a true business partner for energy retailers. We’re not your competitor. We’re not owned by a supplier that has its own motives. And we don’t win when you lose.
We’re your partner, which means we only succeed when you do too.