Michelle James
Platinum Wireless understands wireless retailing. Their overall wireless industry experience expands more than two and a half decades. Being a premier Sprint wireless retailer for more than a decade, real grassroots know-how runs deep. They understand the mindset and requirements facing every wireless retailer in good times and bad. Platinum has lived every economic cycle, and while not immune to the ups and downs, their experience enables smart decision-making and guidance during any one part of any cycle. The Platinum team brings their hands-on experience to the table for every dealer, in every step of the process showing dealers how to remain creative even in tough economic times.
Platinum has made their fair share of mistakes in the past. They have labored over the years perfecting their relationships with Nextel and Sprint, adding Boost Mobile in 2005 to create a fully branded product offering for every wireless consumer demand category. Their dealer partners are spared the intrinsic difficulties working directly with fortune 100 global companies. The Platinum executive team sees it as their job to effectively interface with suppliers making it easier for their dealer and retail partners to gain access to best in class products and services allowing them greater opportunity for success at retail. With so many years of experience, Platinum has performed every aspect of the wireless business from distribution to manufacturing to brick and mortar retail, to online retail, telesales, B2B sales and support.
According to Jeff Javidzad, president of Platinum Wireless they pride themselves on the fact that, “we have done it all ourselves, we have operated retail stores, sourced and manufactured product. We do not ask retailers to sell a quota or move 2,000 boxes for example, just because we believe that is the best thing for our dealers. We go to the market to see what is right for that retailer’s individual market and then guide that retailer how to achieve what is best for them. ” The team offers each dealer realistic expectations, action-oriented goals, and a greater understanding of what each location truly needs to satisfy their individual customer markets.
No channel is left unturned at Platinum. They support highly developed channels including retail, B2B, consumer, government and corporate accounts - all with a grassroots approach. Profitability is the key ingredient and main focus to their continued commitment throughout all channels. With the wireless industry reaching multiple levels of consolidation nationally, regionally and at the door level, the total number of dealers is shrinking - yet more profitable dealers remain. Possible reasons pointing to the increasing success of some dealers - retail rent is cheaper in some markets, great talent is less expensive than in previous years and carriers are motivated now more than ever to support the dealer channel. A handful of carriers seem more willing now to be the face and the real representative of the product for the dealers today. Sprint, with their relationship with Platinum seems to be in this camp. The Platinum team believes that becoming a wireless retailer, owning one store or multiple stores, is once again a promising business opportunity.
The Platinum product offering can fully satisfy consumers in all three major categories with Sprint branded products: Sprint branded postpaid, Boost Mobile prepaid and Nextel B2B products. With this product offering, the dealer can easily say YES to every consumer need.
The Profitability Platform
The profitability philosophy at Platinum Wireless revolves around the concept that to be successful you must always be ‘relevant’ to the customers you are serving. In an effort to empower dealers so that they have the freedom to be relevant with their customer, the Platinum team helps to pave a growth path with each dealer. They aim to give their dealers control of their business including more control of their cash flow. Platinum believes that if they work their own plan internally and live it every day, so will their dealers. They say, when you live it, it becomes something greater than just something you do in the waking hours: it becomes a passion. Where there is passion there is profitability in the Platinum model, controlled passion with great potential to peak profits inside an already entrepreneurial-minded wireless dealer.
The Platinum Standard Begins with a Strategy
Platinum captures their strategic intentions in a best practices document; they foster the same process with their dealer partners. In their view, a strategic plan is a living and extremely organic document. Just reading it does not make a dealer strategic. Most dealers are inundated with information - most if it is irrelevant and un-consumable. Georges Elias, the Chief Strategic Officer at Platinum, likens the amount of information a dealer is exposed to like drinking from a fire hose! Georges comments, “That is what today’s business person feels like especially during today’s economy. ” What Platinum wants to do is to make sure - by knowing the major issues, since we have already lived them - we understand how to weed through what they need most in order to be successful. Georges explains, “We know people feel insecure. They feel like they don’t have control over their destiny. Like a fire department only reacting to the most pressing; what scares them or costs them the most money. Money is the biggest pain point for most entrepreneurs today: start up money, managing inventory, overall cash flow. Most don’t know how to find the right balance. ” For Platinum, it is no longer a guessing game for them. They have taken many variables into consideration over the years and can share that knowledge in a meaningful way with their dealers.
Platinum attempts to give dealers a successful business model they can rely on. It begins by drawing and scaling what ‘balance’ looks like for each dealer. This is a specialized consultative approach to each individual retail location. The result identifies core competencies for that location enhanced by what each storeowner enjoys most inside a solid infrastructure and business plan for executing profits at retail. Georges Elias explains, “If we feel, for example, a combined strategy between online, brick and mortar retail, plus a B2B on-the-street approach is required for one of our dealers but they do not have resources to match it - as the case with some one-person operations - then, we put together a phased approach to keep them from feeling overwhelmed by the perceived opportunity. ”
The Approach
Creating strategy is a multi-step approach. Here is how it works at Platinum:
The Platinum approach begins on the ground. The Platinum field team is in constant contact with communities. Their job is to understand “community” and lend a hand to those dealers interested in partnering up with Platinum. Field reps have a hyper-focus on the ground to understand individual “communities. ” For example, no one lives on the Web. The Web is an extension. Humans are social animals - we all need to see people, hear ourselves talk, engage with others, and store owners and dealers are the same. Platinum creates a detailed roadmap for dealers to navigate precise networking opportunities that lead to profits. By identifying churches, schools, police stations, and other opportunities within a 5 - minute drive of any one storefront a consumable plan begins to present itself, this is what they call ‘bite-size planning. ’ Years ago, it was more common to open a new store in a neighborhood with a sign stating, “authorized dealer, ” with not much more behind it than the sign. Platinum Wireless did not coin the expression, “think globally; act locally” but they certainly live it. They believe it is important to bring the philosophy to the street, door by door. Ultimately their doors recognize they are serving a human being unique and individual needs and they are not a utility.
The Plan
First level in creating a Platinum strategic plan is assessing the assets - what resources are at the dealer’s disposal. During the second level of assessment the Platinum field team inquires the following:
Tell me what you love to do?
Do you like to see customers?
Do you prefer talking on the phone?
Then, the strategic plan takes shape when Platinum can match the dealer’s answers with their revenue goals. The hardest exercise is to begin with financial goals, obviously every dealer would answer they want the greatest profits possible. Greater success, however, comes from knowing what a dealer loves first, then showing them how to turn that passion into profitability. Common sense and a lot of experience play a huge role in the approach to building the plan.
The approach can be categorized in three steps, 1) understanding and building community, 2) consulting with the dealer to match resources with goals, and then 3) establishing a supporting process. It is then, a 30-, 60-, and 90-day plan is born.
Consistently, this process works time and time again whether applied for a new dealer, currently successful dealer or one barely afloat. Platinum has a long list of dealers who have transformed their business using this approach to create a plan that works - even those who may have been resistant initially or were so overwhelmed with staying above water they had trouble verbalizing what they really loved about their business.
Platinum spends a lot of money educating their own team, and educating their dealer partners in areas of product education, service education, cutting-edge and bleeding-edge sales and marketing training. The Platinum experience becomes a huge exercise in transferring that knowledge. According to George, “During the knowledge transfer period, the dealers who do embrace the comprehensive approach tend to be more successful - more aware of themselves in the process. ”
Expansion Plans Underway
Platinum is growing by fostering profit growth among its core dealer partners. In addition, Platinum is increasing its own branded retail store presence. In speaking with Jeff Javidzad, this is being made possible with the Sprint strategy of decreasing its number of distribution points while making more tools available to third party partners, master agents and sub dealers. This is creating new opportunity to open new doors under master agent models. As part of their culture of walking the talk, Platinum retail expansion is underway. By being a retailer as well, this continues to help them build successful dealers. With the Sprint rationalization plans, national and geographic protection plans, eventually consumers will only see one Sprint store in a 3-5 mile radius. This is the biggest difference from where the marketplace was just five years ago, where saturation of the same name stores in close proximity could have the effect of diluting profits at the door level. Jeff explains, “We will not sell or roll anything out to our dealer channels that we do not deem good enough for ourselves. ” If Platinum creates a new marketing program, implements a new software tool, or secures a mass buy of accessories, they recommend these products to their entire dealer base.
Upon recent merger news, there are 26 carrier branded retail locations, and many more in development. Platinum has always adopted an exclusivity approach to retail believing that this approach offers the best consumer experience. One reason for this may be the fact it is easier to create a cohesive look and feel on the retail floor when the store is dedicated to one brand or branded family of products.
In addition to store expansion, prepaid continues to be a source of growth for the Platinum Wireless future. According to Jim Radack, Senior Vice President of Sales, the Boost Mobile product is the fastest growing national product. The dealers can make great margin on the initial activation plus 10% residual on the top-up payment, similar to what you see in the postpaid world. Jim adds, “Many dealers exceed $5,000 per month in reoccurring revenue from residuals and top up payments. ” Between the postpaid Sprint products, Nextel products and with continued focus on the Boost Mobile prepaid products - Platinum Wireless appears to have a full product tier strategy at hand.
Going the Distance
While change may be the constant in the wireless retail community, Platinum has and will remain constant in their commitment to the success of wireless retailers, inside and out. Platinum is constantly asking how they can remain relevant in the entire value chain.
So what does the Platinum team love most about what they do? Georges Elias admits, ” There is nothing better than to see the strategy in action or the look in a dealers face when we suggest exactly who to network within their own community, then see that conversation create business. We enjoy participating in developing the plan with each dealer. Then, see them succeed and how excited they are that the plan actually works. It is a transforming moment for the dealer and the ultimate moment of success for Platinum. Change is extremely difficult, but when it is experienced - the real satisfaction is in the long-term effects of embracing the change. Anyone can hype up a dealer for a small amount of time, Platinum is proving a ‘system’ to sustain the excitement among their dealer channels for the long run - not just one-time wonders. ” They are walking their own talk at Platinum Wireless.