Choose Your Strategic Partners Wisely

Karen Thatcher, CEO

I get a handful of calls every week from individuals looking to enter into strategic partnerships with our company.  I think strategic partnerships can be extremely advantageous for both parties, and I believe every company should always be on the lookout to partner with other organizations that can help serve clients better for the long term.

With that being said, I will also tell you that I do tend to err on the side of caution when dealing with any new strategic partner at the outset of a relationship.

For example, I recently took part in a conference call that included the President of a company looking to partner with TelCon Associates on a handful of telecom audits.  This company was primarily an “energy auditing” company, but had stumbled into telecom auditing at the request of a few clients.  (Basically, they were in over their heads and needed a solution – and fast.)

As we talked, I learned that this person was actually an agent for a telecom company that gathers bids for client services.  If a client of theirs chooses one of the bids, his company receives an initial commission  – and continued monthly payments for that decision made by the telecom company.

When I mentioned the fact that TelCon Associates does not enter into agent agreements with any telecom companies or carriers,  his reply was “why not?”

“TelCon Associates works for CLIENTS only – always have always will.  In other words, we have never recommended any telecom carrier or telecom service to receive a commission or kickback.    We would never want a client to think that we chose a service or equipment for them based on the commission we would make on the deal. ”

After my explanation, there was a short pause, then total agreement on his part.   At that moment, I realized that our long standing position of being unbiased on the recommendations of telecom products and services was the correct and honorable one.

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