Sometimes, telcos choose cloud PBX platforms that don’t allow for scaling. For instance, they launch the service with open-source toolkits like Asterisk to mitigate risks in an unfamiliar market and avoid substantial licensing costs. As usual, the system operates flawlessly at the initial stage, but issues begin to emerge as the subscriber base grows. Common problems include noise and echo during calls and delays in audio transmission. If you use open-source toolkits, consider migration to carrier-grade voice platforms first.

Having trained salespeople is also essential for scaling the service. It’s crucial to monitor whether they achieve their individual selling goals. If, for some reason, sales reps avoid selling a cloud PBX but only focus on familiar primary services such as telephony and the Internet, you should solve this problem first. Another issue that might arise is generating more leads than your sales reps can handle; here, you have two main options: hiring and training new specialists or decreasing the lead generation.

Sales team aside, trained engineers are equally important. They ensure that the technical infrastructure is reliable. Sometimes, installing necessary equipment such as desk phones is a must, so having enough technical staff is obligatory. As the subscriber base grows, the complexity of managing a cloud PBX service increases, making it vital to have engineers who can address technical challenges swiftly.

Experience shows that telecom operators achieve excellent results with online advertising, connecting hundreds or even thousands of subscribers per month. The cost of acquiring a new customer is roughly equivalent to one month's subscription fee, making it a highly effective way to boost revenue. Additionally, online advertising is a controllable channel: lead generation directly correlates with available investments, and you can pause your marketing efforts or increase funding as needed.

For instance, you can observe the ads Google displays with the search query "cloud PBX" in your country. If there is little or no advertising in the search results, promotion will likely be inexpensive and effective. If Google shows many competing companies, that's also a positive sign, as it indicates demand for the service in your market.

Ads displayed in Germany

Besides, contextual and targeted advertising is highly effective, and campaign results are easy to measure. Retargeting can be helpful, too. In this model, ads are displayed for people who have already visited your website. Popular ad platforms like Google and Facebook have retargeting features that help you boost cloud PBX promotion.

Don’t forget about social media advertising. For example, LinkedIn Ads are business-focused, and attracting qualified leads there can be relatively easy. Make sure that you have a solid social media strategy so that your company profiles are complete with different types of content and engaging for target customers.

Good results are also achieved through the following channels:

While measuring conversion to sales for offline events can be challenging, these activities are crucial for keeping your customers and partners well-informed about your cloud PBX offering.

It’s always easier to sell something to your existing subscriber base than to prospects. For example, you can create bundles for telecom services; your business customers will pay for corporate telephony and get a cloud PBX subscription for a 25% discount if purchased together. It’s about cross-selling. In this case, one of the most effective strategies is to train sales reps to offer a cloud PBX service to each new business client.

For upselling, you can offer your existing cloud PBX subscribers additional in-demand features such as call tracking, setting callback widgets, advanced analytics, and others. After some time using the service, your customers may find that the basic package isn’t enough, so here’s your chance to increase ARPU. For instance, nearly 50% of telcos’ subscribers need call recording features, so don’t hesitate to offer such functionality to as many customers as possible.

However, it’s essential not to be annoying: discreetly offer a cloud PBX only in addition to relevant services. If a business customer doesn’t tend to hear about your service, don’t bombard them with offers.

You can’t scale your cloud PBX service without customer satisfaction; otherwise, you'll face a high churn rate even if your sales reps work well.

It’s better to start with metrics: regularly collect feedback from your subscribers. For example, if you test new features, you can ask your subscribers to grade their satisfaction on a scale from 0 to 10; such a form can be displayed as a pop-up banner.

Example of a feedback form for a new feature

To measure customer satisfaction, use the following formula:

CSAT = (number of satisfied customers : total number of responses) x 100

For instance, if you received 30 total responses and 25 of them were positive (rates from 7 to 10), your CSAT score would be approximately 83%. This result indicates that most subscribers are satisfied with your offering, but you have room for improvement anyway.

To enhance customer satisfaction, having all the necessary documentation is crucial. For example, you can create and maintain a knowledge base explaining how to configure different features of your cloud PBX service.

Technical support specialists should always be online to help subscribers solve complicated use cases. Moreover, don’t forget about the omnichannel customer experience that will allow your subscribers to contact your support team via email, live chats, website forms, etc.
Besides, you can create loyalty programs to reward subscribers for their ongoing support of your cloud PBX service. These programs can include discounts on future subscription periods, free tests of advanced features, etc.

Sometimes, scaling a cloud PBX service can be challenging due to an ineffective pricing strategy. Some telecom operators create a single package because they don’t want to spend much time developing a more comprehensive plan. Such an approach has problems with scaling because many companies have different needs. If one package includes as many features as possible, a large part of them can be useless because small companies just don’t need this functionality.

Another hard-scalable pricing strategy is selling each cloud PBX feature separately. This approach requires expert salespeople who know the service well, can explain different use cases, and are highly motivated to sell these separate features. As usual, telecom operators have only sales reps who are used to selling main telecom services and aren’t motivated to dive deep into additional services’ specifics.

Tiered pricing is the best strategy for attracting different types of business customers and scaling the business. Though creating buyer personas and offering valuable options for various companies requires time and effort, the results will compensate for the preparations. Therefore, your subscribers can create a unique package with the number of users and other parameters selected for their specific needs.

Nextiva targets different buyer personas and offers corresponding packages

Let’s repeat all the tips in the article to help you remember everything well: