E Channel: Master Agency Selects Simplexity Wireless Solutions

Posted: 11/2001

E Channel

Master Agency Selects Simplexity Wireless Solutions
By Josh Long

U.S. Telebrokers Inc., a national master agency, has signed an agreement with Simplexity Inc. to use its web-based online comparison and ordering engine to facilitate the sales of wireless products and services.

A joint statement by US Telebrokers and Simplexity says US Telebrokers chose Simplexity’s Xact Solution, which will allow agents to offer their customers about 4,000 different wireless products and services. Agents also will be able to view side-by-side comparisons of wireless phones, accessories, calling plans and information on promotions.

Under the agreement US Telebrokers, a subsidiary of Scottsdale, Ariz.-based PlanetOne Communications, and Simplexity will share commissions. Simplexity is charging US Telebrokers, not its agents, fees associated with offering a private-label web site, says Ted Schuman, CEO of PlanetOne Communications.

Nearly 100 agents who responded to a brief survey said they were interested in providing a cellular solution to their clients, according to Schuman.

The agreement with Simplexity allows agents to offer customers wireless services without having to perform the tasks that normally require lots of time and cash, he says.

US Telebrokers, through its network of agents, does not want to directly fulfill orders, program and deliver phones and provide customer service — all burdens Schuman says crippled his company’s successful relationship with Motorola in the early ’90s. US Telebrokers broke off the relationship — whereby agents represented Motorola’s wireless products and services in a traditional direct sales model — with the wireless vendor after about a year, Schuman says.

In contrast, under this new agreement wireless carriers directly provide customer service and other types of support to customers after orders are fulfilled through Simplexity’s online solution. Schuman says agents can compare services and products offered by 31 nationwide carriers.

He says nearly a handful of companies offered some or all of the wireless solutions US Telebrokers was seeking, but Simplexity had the connections in place to close the deal.

Simplexity president and CEO Mike Ferzacca was part of the sales management team at Cable & Wireless, where he negotiated long distance business with US Telebrokers for several years.

Other senior executives at Simplexity also are former Cable & Wireless employees. The previous relationships based on success and trust gave Simplexity a leg up over competitors in the negotiation process, says Schuman.