AVANT’s Partner Support team is the best in the business! Yet with so many different stages and roles within the team, it can be difficult to keep track of exactly how they provide support and guidance for our Trusted Advisors. Hear from three different Partner Support team members as they detail how their day-to-day roles demonstrate outstanding service and guidance to AVANT partners!
How do you support AVANT Trusted Advisors in your day-to-day role?
Olivia Sech is a Pricing Analyst and is part of the pre-sales team. This team guides AVANT partners on proposal requests for their customers.
I work as a Pricing Analyst on the Partner Support team. In this role, I provide a large amount of pre-Sale support for partners. I often prepare Trusted Advisor-branded, customer-facing deliverables. The TA uses these during the portion of their opportunity in which the partner reviews and compares different providers to evaluate how their capabilities will work within their IT stack.
As an example of how my role is utilized on the day-to-day, I received a request today for pricing quotes from four different Connectivity providers that a Trusted Advisor’s customer was looking for. Together, the TA and ICM had narrowed down their choices. Then, they connected with my team to receive some additional support. I received this request and one hour later, I compiled and sent all four quotes back, branded with the Trusted Advisor’s logo. Our team’s average ‘time to take’ response for a task like this is about four hours. However, we are quickly bringing that window down to about two hours! After receiving it, the TA was able to turn it around and send it to the customer within 1 hour. This allowed their opportunity to continue moving quickly. It also created an efficient decision-making process for the customer. – Olivia Sech, Pricing Analyst
Chad Dickerson is a Provider Specialist and is part of the Big 6 team, which specifically focuses on orders or pricing requests for the Big 6 providers – ACC Business, AT&T, Comcast, Lumen, Spectrum, and Verizon.
I work on AVANT’s Big 6 Team as a Provider Specialist supporting the LEC and Cable CO Providers. My peers and I on this team are made up of tenured members averaging 22 years of industry experience. Our day is inclusive of quoting, contracting, and ordering services that will fit customers’ current and future needs. Yet, our support doesn’t stop there. We are also here to assist and educate our Trusted Advisors in understanding the intricacies and nuances of these carriers. Due to our knowledge and strong relationships with these providers, consider us the Trusted Advisors advocate for the Big 6!
Today, for example, I received an order from a TA for one of the Big 6 carriers. I quickly dug into the order, cross-referencing the needs of the end user with the provider’s available solutions to confirm that they aligned with the customer’s business goals. While doing so, I also provided the TA with valuable insights into the solution and its implementation process. With this extra insight, our TA had a more well-rounded understanding of the provider and how they work with customers. Though it’s an extra step in the process, we find that this extra layer of education ensures order accuracy, and the solution aligns with the customer’s unique needs, setting proper expectations ultimately resulting in satisfaction and hopefully, a return customer! – Chad Dickerson, Provider Specialist
Karen Carver is a Sr. Project Coordinator on the Project Coordination (PC) team. This team provides support for Trusted Advisors in the post-sale stage of their deals.
As a colleague within the PC team, our diverse responsibilities typically begin upon post-Sales contract signature. A portion of our undertakings include ensuring projects are implemented within the end user’s timeline, proactively elevating projects as needed, and capturing necessary documentation for our Commissions team to issue payments.
One thing I’ve worked on today is assisting with a project of Dedicated Internet Access (DIA) with managed routers for multiple sites at a major retailer’s building. Managed routers were being shipped to the receiving dock of multiple service addresses. However, the routers were lost. Replacement routers had to be resent, leaving the customer with the additional expense of the lost routers. Once I was engaged on this project, I suggested the routers be delivered to an associate’s home near the service location. Then they could be delivered to tech upon scheduled installation. Not only did this save the customer money, but the TA looked like a hero to their customer. I have since been requested to coordinate on several projects as my contribution proved that even the obvious can sometimes be an oversight! – Karen Carver, Project Coordinator
From pricing and contracting to implementation and future usage, our Partner Support team is at our Trusted Advisors’ sides! They can offer years of experience, deep knowledge, and a detail-oriented approach to power any opportunity forward. These are just three examples of the many ways they can support your deals. Now, it’s time to find out for yourself! Connect with us here or reach out to your Channel Manager and dedicated Support Team to learn more about how they can assist you with your current and upcoming projects!