What to expect in our newest Sales Engineering Braintrust:
- Win Wire: Check out our $11K UC/CC Win Wire (growing to $25k) and learn how AVANT SE support helped the customer achieve a forward-thinking solution with speed and efficiency
- Engineering Spotlight: Meet Brent Wilford, Sr. Director of CX & UC
- Pathfinder Updates: Keep the Special Forces training going by diving into SFS23 recordings and check out the latest Quick Hits in the Trusted Advisor Academy! New Pathfinder content includes:
- SFS23 Main Stage keynotes
- SFS23 breakout sessions
- Quick Hits on Disaster Recovery and the Cyber Defense Matrix
- AVANT Updates: Find our latest podcast episodes and new SE blog posts
Win Wire with Neil Farnsworth
Win Wire with Neil Farnsworth
The Breakdown
The Breakdown- Technology Category: UCaaS and CCaaS
- Customer Type: Mortgage and Protection Broker
- Industry: Financial
- Size and Scope: 150 CC seats, 100 UC seats
- MRC: $11K, moving to $25K on full deployment
- Winning provider: Zoom
- Competitors: RingCentral, AVAYA, Masergy, Mitel
The Details
What were the drivers for the client?
The client had a CCaaS solution, which overlaid an on-prem PBX. The PBX was end of life, and the customer was not happy with the level of support and service they were receiving, so they were looking for a solution with increased levels of both. They also utilized Teams. Therefore, an integration with Teams was an additional benefit, if applicable.
How did the Trusted Advisor close the deal?
The Trusted Advisor had a good relationship with the customer and was working with them very closely. The customer already had a number of vendors they wanted to look at, but was also open to any additional options the Trusted Advisor wanted to bring in. With the help of AVANT support, the TA was able to demonstrate that Cloud is the best route for the customer’s business, which helped launch and refine the vendor selection process.
How did AVANT support the win?
There were multiple customer meetings during which AVANT SEs demonstrated a good knowledge of the market and trends that would impact the customer. A full report was put together for all potential vendors, highlighting vendor differentiators and showing how they could each meet the demands of a rapidly expanding business. This made the process very smooth. All feedback and notes were passed to vendors and included in subsequent demos and SE meetings, saving time spent on recapping information for those just joining the opportunity. With the added help of Pathfinder tools*, the vendor selection process was streamlined significantly. Within one week, the customer narrowed their choices from eight to three – a task that was mentioned to take up to 3 months, previously. The customer has said they will run other projects in the same way from now on.
AVANT Sales Engineers can be a crucial resource for getting your deals across the finish line quickly and efficiently. Connect with them now to access invaluable technology and vendor insights, leverage next-generation Pathfinder tools, and provide a connected experience for your customers!
Engineering Spotlight
Engineering Spotlight
This month, we’re spotlighting Brent Wilford, Sr. Director of CX & UC
With more than 22 years of technical, customer-facing experience in the voice solutions space, Brent has a skilled and well-rounded view of how enterprises purchase software. In addition to 4+ years with AVANT, he draws on 17 years in the cellular industry and 4 years as one of Fuze’s contact center experts to bring a professional and agnostic approach to customers’ evaluations. In each opportunity, he works hard to spotlight the technology that will make the desired future state a reality.
Since joining AVANT in 2019, Brent has worked with every UCaaS vendor and Microsoft Direct Routing partner in our portfolio. He has also contributed to many AVANT resources, including the UCaaS TCO Calculator and various matrices (CCaaS, Microsoft Teams, Mobility, UCaaS) found in Pathfinder*. He is also a Senior Analyst on the AVANT Analytics team.
Outside of work, here’s a bit more about Brent, in his own words!
- Where are you located? Littleton, CO
- What is something on your bucket list? I’m a long-time fan of Shark Week, so cage diving with Great Whites is definitely on my list!
- What is the best vacation you’ve ever taken? Tell us why! My best vacation was a two–week trip through Europe. We visited Croatia, Budapest, Vienna, and finished at Oktoberfest – it was truly a trip to remember!
You can connect with Brent on LinkedIn here!
Pathfinder Updates
Pathfinder Updates- Dive back into SFS23 training and achieve limitless knowledge! Log into Pathfinder* to explore our full collection of recordings, which includes:
- SFS23 Main Stage keynotes with Ian Kieninger, Drew Lydecker, and our 2023 guest keynotes
- 50+ SFS23 breakout sessions, spanning different technology solutions and levels of expertise
- Just added – short, on-demand training opportunities in our Security and Cloud Engineering Quick Hits! Check out what’s now available in the Trusted Advisor Academy in Pathfinder*
- Ideal Posture Using the Cyber Defense Matrix, feat. Stephen Semmelroth
- Zerto Disaster Recovery, (a companion to Veeam Backup and Replication and AVANT Certification Course: BaaS & DRaaS) feat. Niko O’Hara
AVANT Updates
AVANT Updates- Open up the technology conversation with customers to discover new opportunities and help them better navigate their IT decision-making journey! Get started with our latest customer-facing podcast episodes:
- This year Gartner released the first Single-Vendor SASE Magic Quadrant and predicted that in the next two years there will be a significant increase in the number of vendors. Discover the key report takeaways and more with SE Sarah Arnstein’s most recent blog post, Get SASE with Sarah: Review & Summary of Gartner’s SASE Magic Quadrant
*You can check out all of these tools and resources in Pathfinder 2.0, via the Homepage Navigation. Fill out the form here to gain access if you haven’t already migrated over.