Telarus Aids Agent Collaboration

By Khali Henderson

Master agency Telarus Inc. is releasing collaboration software for its agents. Using this Subject Matter Expertise (SME) software, Telarus agents can find other agents with skills and/or experience that will be helpful in closing a sale, negotiate a fair commission split and share access to the customer record housed in Telarus’ CRM system.

The SME program is embedded within the Telarus back office CRM system where agents run quotes for clients, generate proposals, set tasks, monitor commissions, view fiber maps, and queue up renewal reminders for future delivery. To add one or more agents to the customer record, an agent has to click on the “SME” link and find the agents from the SME roster. Once the roles and responsibilities between the two agents have been established and a commission split agreed upon, the SME system locks in the commission splits and adjusts the customer access permission so that the new agent can see and modify that record in concert with the original agent. Once payments is received on the account, the Telarus accounting system splits up the commissions according to the agreed-upon amounts.

The SME program is complementary to Telarus’ existing large deal assistance program in which agents can solicit help from a member of the Solution Request Team for no reduction in commission.

Lance Akins, Telarus vice president of sales, said the SME system enables larger, seasoned agents to market themselves to less-experienced ones, allowing them to work on deals that they would have never been exposed to otherwise. On the flip side, our less-experienced group is finding that, by sacrificing some commission on a few deals, they can gain a wealth of knowledge and confidence after working as a team on a large deal that closes, he said.

Telarus President Adam Edwards said the SME system has the potential to dramatically change the way agents run their businesses by allowing them to work together rather than compete for sales. Already, he said, the company has seen results from the new system.

Telarus agent Jeff Ott, president of Total Carrier Solutions Inc., said he already has had success using the system to help other Telarus agents work on and close large, multinational networks while sending them smaller opportunities that he doesnt have the bandwidth to pursue. It’s great working as a team. I’ll never go to another Telarus event and see other agents as my competition ever again, he said. These guys are letting me help them make money, gain valuable experience and on-the-job training, and best of all, we don’t have to worry about trying to remember who to pay what the Telarus SME system takes care of it all.”