Unison Communications, the specialist software company focusing on enterprise communications, has spent the past four years changing its distribution model from a reseller-focused model to one where it maintains direct contact with clients, a move that has seen its profits increase by more than 50%.
Craig Unison, the MD of Unison Communications - which was established 25 years ago - said the up-tick in profitability was seen almost immediately when the company started re-modelling its business model in order to deal directly with clients.
Unison Communications, a company that develops, implements and maintains world-class voice management applications and services, boasts more than 1 000 clients, including most blue chip South African banks and financial services companies.
Only one spoke in the overall wheel
“The reseller-focused distribution model favours many companies but we found that, by being at an arm's length from our customers with our products and services, we were just one spoke in the overall wheel. Other vendors naturally had their own agendas when selling to customers, and we, therefore, had very little control with regards to customer service and customer retention. Very often, other installation problems caused us grief - we would sometimes lose clients that we would probably have retained if we took the lead and provided the client with an overall picture and solution to their voice-based information needs.”
Young says the company has also introduced a fully-fledged consultancy arm, which adds significant value to its clients, allowing them to extract far more value from the company's service offerings, and leading to additional operational cost savings.
“Before embarking on the re-modelling of our business strategy we realised that we had, over the years, moved beyond selling just products. We had to start showing the client our full ambit of products and services, a move that would provide them with a far better return on investment and allow us to win - and retain - more clients.”
Young says when it comes to non-manufacturing companies, the cost of voice-based communications is one of the top three expenses. There is also a lot of employee abuse, which can cost companies an arm and a leg.
“Our job is to look at the problem areas when it comes to voice-based communications and advise clients where they can make savings. Savings can be significant enough to materially affect bottom-line profits.”
Young said that four years ago the company had a total of 20 resellers. “By dealing directly with our clients we are able to better understand their needs, thereby providing them with solutions that end up shaving far more off their communication-focused operational costs.”
The company boasts a client base that includes the top South African corporates, including the likes of South African Breweries, Wits University, Cape Town University, the South African Defence Force, Absa Bank, Hollard Insurance, Wesbank, and Auto & General.
The company recently opened offices in Namibia and in London, UK, as part of its plans to sell its products and services on a more global level.
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