What does a TSD do on a deal?

Say you’ve won a cabling job and the customer is still shopping for internet. Your team already knows the address and when the site needs to open. Ask if the customer wants help comparing providers, then take those requirements to your distributor.

  • Your team leads the customer conversation and handles the work you already sell. You confirm what the customer needs and agree on who will update them.
  • The TSD can help check which suppliers serve the site, bring in an engineer, get quotes, and help register the opportunity or escalate a delayed order.
  • The provider typically contracts with and bills the customer in an agency sale. Confirm who installs and supports the service and who takes the customer’s first call if it goes down.

On an eligible order, the provider typically pays a commission through the TSD, which pays your business under the agreement. What your customer pays each month and what you earn each month are two different numbers. Confirm eligibility, payment timing, and how to check the statement before you count on the income. See how telecom residual commissions work.

Where the model came from

Telecom master agents held agreements with multiple carriers and gave independent agents a way to sell through those relationships. Intelisys says it has used that two-tier model in the U.S. since 1994. By 2016, ScanSource’s acquisition of Intelisys showed how equipment resellers could get access to recurring telecom and cloud services through the same model. Intelisys on its early model · CRN on the ScanSource acquisition

In 2021, Telarus announced it would call itself a technology solutions brokerage to reflect the broader services and support it offered. You’ll still hear “master agent” in telecom. Today, TSD offerings can include connectivity, cloud, cybersecurity, and contact center services. Telarus’s 2021 announcement · Omdia’s TSD market analysis

How we use a TSD to grow the business you already have

Start with a job your team already knows how to sell. What else does the customer need, and can your team help them get it?

  • Cabling contractor. Use the site walk to ask who’s ordering the internet and when it needs to be live. See how it fits into a cabling job.
  • Equipment reseller. When a customer buys network gear for a new branch, ask if they’ve arranged the primary and backup connections.
  • Managed service provider. Bring a carrier renewal or a repeat outage into an account review you already have on the calendar. Get three questions for your next account review.

We’ll help you pick a customer and work the first deal with your team. We’ll check what support your distributor offers and negotiate an agreement if you need one. When another customer needs the same service, your reps will know what to ask and who to call.