Our “Bicom Burger” analogy was such a hit I had to check back in with Account Manager Kevin Langford for more!
Who likes to garden? Me? I don’t have much of a green thumb. But imagine planting a tree. You plant the seed, water it and watch it grow from a sapling to a three feet high. Then six feet, then nine feet…The roots are firmly in the ground and you have invested time into watering and caring for this tree. The bigger it gets, the longer the roots will grow. As time goes on, the roots will get so large it will become almost impossible to move the tree. Often, if you do not carefully and correctly move the tree, it will not survive a move.
Now imagine the tree in this analogy is a Free PBX system and the roots are your customers. It is amazing to see your roots customer base expand, but eventually you’ll need to resume growing vertically. It also can be irritating to see your hard work paying off and your company growing, but your PBX system staying the same. It is extreme to say your customers will “die” if you move them, but you may lose them because they don’t want to change, or the transition is difficult.
Let’s be honest. Moving a customer from one PBX interface to another is annoying. You must consider call recordings, voicemails, IVRs, and probably the biggest annoyance, the settings. Ensuring an easy and smooth transition will require extra TLC that some companies aren’t capable of supplying. Announcing a change will give your customers a reason to look elsewhere.
Going back to the gardening example: the time you invested in watering and caring for your tree is paying off in its roots. However, the size of the tree is not growing and no new flowers (features) are blooming. Meaning you have a strong customer base, but nothing else to offer them.
Our advice? Do it right the first time. A “Free PBX” system can only go so far and do so much. When customers demand more, companies will find their backs against the wall because they have already offered them their “more”. Ultimately, to give your customers more, you will need to re-root (haha garden pun) them to another platform.
Also, Free PBX is not always ‘free’, especially when you add up the hours you waste dealing with it. Investing in a proper system will give you back the time you would have lost using a free PBX. Remember, just because something is free doesn’t mean it is better, especially if you want your company to get bigger.
Bicom Systems PBXware is 100% scalable and flexible to meet the needs of your company. You have the ability to grow up (or down) as easy as the click of a button! For your tree to get bigger and grow (not just your roots), you need to invest.
Contact our sales team today at sales@bicomsystems.com to get more gardening tips…er I mean more information on PBXware!