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Emma Fisher, Sales Support Manager[/caption] Emma is our Sales Operations Manager and has recently started to contribute to our blog discussing developments in our popular EQT (Ethernet Quoting Tool) and discussing the importance of customer retention. Here’s your chance to get to know her a little better…. How long have you worked at Entanet? I have been at Entanet for 3 years and during that time so much has changed and progressed - it’s flown by! What are your key responsibilities within the business and what are your areas of expertise? My role as Sales Operations Manager is very varied which means no two days are the same. My responsibilities include ensuring the efficient processing of Ethernet quotes and orders through the team, managing ongoing development work to improve and enhance our popular Ethernet Quoting Tool (EQT), managing the in-life services team which look after all of our existing customers’ needs such as upgrades, renewals and migrations, overseeing the onboarding of all of our new channel partners and analysing sales performance data to identify ways to make our team and our processes more efficient. With regards to opinion, which topics do you usually cover and why? We understand that it’s critically important for our customers to be able to get the information they need from us as quickly and easily as possible, wherever they are. That’s why I think it’s important to make sure our partners are aware of all the tools and resources we have to offer in supporting them to win business and make it as easy as possible to do business with us. Over the last 2 years since the launch of our Ethernet Quoting Tool, it has gone from strength to strength and we have made a number of significant enhancements. Having a simple and user friendly portal our partners can use to obtain what they need at any time of day or night is important for a number of reasons. Firstly, it enables our sales team to focus on building stronger relationships. If partners can use our portal for their day to day transactional business then our more detailed sales conversations can be more valuable to both parties rather than being taken up by operational or transactional enquiries. Secondly, it allows our partners to have full visibility of the choice of products and services we offer all in one place and provides them with immediate access to valuable real-time information at the touch of a button, at anytime and from anywhere. That’s why my most recent articles have been related to the EQT. I have also written an eBook about best practices in customer retention and why maintaining customer relationships can be as important as winning new business.

Related article: EQT – Opening up Ethernet opportunities at the click of a button
Related article: Retention – it’s a balancing act!

Do you have any specific industry areas of interest that you would like to discuss on opinion or that you particularly follow? I like to follow what is happening nationwide with the UK’s full fibre roll out. It‘s outrageous that the UK is so far behind other countries in terms of access to full fibre connectivity. As part of the CityFibre group it’s exciting to be right at the heart of changing this for the better and interesting to see what other infrastructure providers are planning - with some focusing on the more rural areas of the country and some competing for the fibre footprint in major cities. It’s great to see that the government is behind this now - it’s an exciting time in the industry and I’m genuinely interested to see how it all pans out over the next few years. In your latest article for Opinion you discuss the recent enhancements to the EQT - do you think automated systems will ever completely replace the human approach or will their always be a requirement for both? We’re in an industry where automation is part of everyday life. We actually provide our customers with the connectivity to help support their own automation, so it definitely plays a big part in today's world. That said, I still think there is a place for having a person to talk to about your requirements or service requests. Whilst we promote the automation of transactional tasks like getting a standard quotation or paying an invoice, I think that having a consultative sales approach for things like complex networking solutions is still very much necessary to ensure that we get the customer’s requirements correct and this gives us the opportunity to ask the right questions from the start. I think having the best of both is still the the right approach for the customer as it also gives them a choice of how they want to interact with us. You’ve also previously discussed retention strategies on Opinion - why do you think it’s so important to be proactive when it comes to retention? Proactive retention could be seen as risky as it could encourage customers to shop around. However, if you’re confident enough in your products and services (like we are here at Entanet) then there is no need to fear approaching customers who are nearing the end of a contract. We have the flexibility to be able to meet our customers needs no matter how much they may have changed. Keeping existing customers business is just as important as bringing on new business in my opinion. Plus, being proactive gives you the head start in engaging with your customers before they even consider shopping around. It allows you to build on existing relationships and gives you an opportunity to re-engage with customers you may not have spoken to for a little while. We actively encourage feedback and interaction from our readers, what would you like to hear about from them? I’m always keen to know whether we are meeting our customers needs. Therefore, as one of my primary focuses is currently our EQT, any feedback on what customers would like to see added to the tool would be great. For example, What is the most important thing our partners require in a quoting tool? What do they think of Entanet’s current EQT? How can we improve it further? We make enhancements based on customer feedback - having your say could influence what comes next. Getting to know Emma What are your interests/hobbies outside of the office? I love walking with my two Golden Retrievers, hiking up hills and mountains and I love finding new places to explore and generally being active. I love music too and have quite broad tastes. I couldn't go without my Spotify Premium for too long - there’s something for every mood! I’m also a sucker for a good Netflix TV series. If you could have a superpower what would it be and why? I would love the ability to stop time. There are not enough hours in the day sometimes to do all the things you want to, so being able to stop time for a while would mean I was always one step ahead of the game and would still have loads of time to do all the fun stuff I love :) Who would you like to meet dead or alive and why? David Attenborough - I could listen to him tell stories about his experiences and the places he has been all day. What are your three favourite things in life? My dogs Jaxon & Jesse, music & chicken! What is your pet hate? People who lie to make themselves look better & drivers that don't know the rules on a mini roundabout!