Which BT Business Reseller products should you sell?

One of the primary challenges that new authorised BT resellers face is determining which product to sell to maximise their commissions. While prioritising selling the right products to your customers is crucial, selling the best possible solution will also result in improved commissions.

To assist you in identifying the appropriate products and expanding your business by earning higher commissions, we have created a step-by-step guide. This guide will take you through the process.

Step 1: Check Broadband Availability

There are several options available, but we recommend using the BT Wholesale checker, which is accessible here.

When you enter your phone number, you should look for the following details:

Is FTTC available (Fibre to the Cabinet)? If so, can the customer get SOGEA? The initial installation of FTTC services (and standard ADSL) involved installing broadband over the customer's traditional telephone line, known as PSTN lines. Openreach is now actively converting these lines into digital lines, known as SOGEA (Single Order Generic Ethernet Access), to support the switch-off of traditional telephone lines by 2025.

SOGEA check is available-1

Selling SOGEA lines to support FTTC is recommended for two reasons:

a) A new BT channel rule requires all Partners and Resellers to sell SOGEA lines. b) BT offers Cloud Voice Express, which allows customers to port their existing phone number to a new digital service.

The check will show if your customer can receive a new SOGEA line and upgrade to Cloud Voice Express. If not, you can still provide a traditional phone line and FTTC with an upgrade to Cloud Voice Express.

Step 2: Is FTTP (Fibre to the Premises) available?

FTTP provides speeds of up to 900Mbps using end-to-end delivered fibre, so there is no need for a phone line (SOGEA or otherwise). The wholesale checker will show if FTTP is available.

Step 3: Would your customer benefit from a BTnet leased line?

BTnet leased lines are a more robust version of Broadband that offer better uptime and dedicated per customer bandwidth. Reasons to sell BTnet include:

a) The customer will receive symmetrical bandwidth (same up and down). b) The customer will receive a 100% uptime SLA (Service Level Agreement). c) Bandwidth is dedicated per customer. d) Optional resilient second circuit. e) Optional Cisco Meraki security.

Note that BTnet leased lines are priced based on the distance to the BT local PoP (Point of Presence).

Step 4: Submit a Pre-check into Netify Support

Once you have established the right connectivity product for your customer, submit a pre-check into Netify. We will tell you if the customer is with BT or a competitor, what products they are currently using, and what their current contract state is. Customers with less than 180 days left on their contract are eligible for an upgrade to Cloud Voice Express.

Step 5: Add BT Cloud Express or Cloud Voice

BT Cloud Voice Express is a single-user product designed to replace standard phone lines. The Express service can be added to FTTC+SOGEA or FTTP Broadband, and the customer will retain their phone number. BT will supply a digital handset and an app to configure call diversion when required and retrieve voicemail.

For three users or more, sell the full Cloud Voice product, which offers a feature license, call package, and hardware. The Cloud Voice product is more technical compared to Express and will require you to understand the available options.

Step 6: Can you sell 5 year contracts?

BT permits the sale of five-year contracts exclusively for stand-alone products, not for bundled offerings. For instance, Cloud Voice Express is solely available with a 24-month term. To gain more insight into selling five-year contracts, please refer to our article here.

In summary, when selling Broadband or BTnet leased lines as individual products, you have the option to provide a five-year contract, enabling your business to generate impressive commissions.