By Jamie Epstein, TMCnet Web Editor

Patrick Oborn along with Adam Edwards are cofounders of master agent Telarus (News - Alert). Originally coming together because they “wanted to do something different” with their lives after learning about residual income for distributing telecom services for Cognigen Networks, the twosome quickly realized the perfect niche for them would be to leverage the principles of SEO, price automation and streamlined sales and bring it directly to commercial telecom.

Currently, the agency works with the biggest telecommunications companies in the space, helping them leverage robust technology that will get rid of the exorbitant costs seen from manual labor processes that once were necessary within the sales process. The company not only has created its own GeoQuote software that generates a quick price quote for clients, it remains at the cutting edge of technology by continuing to add new capabilities to its offering.

Recently, Oborn sat down to discuss the two types of agents that exist. While one segment receives inbound orders and dolls out a commission to resellers, “the other type of master is one who will invest in you, give you a dedicated support resource, write software you can use to instantly qualify/price opportunities, assist you with your lead-generation plan, help you spend your marketing dollars wisely, introduce you to VARs in your area, and even request carrier MDF funds for you to use, not to mention project-managing your larger deals and ensuring you are paid correctly. If this type of a master has the audacity to require a minimum level of commitment from its partners who think these things really do add value, then this is the type of master you want. It's all about helping you WIN (and find) more deals. If you can do this without any help, then you don't need this ‘full service’ master agent,” he said in the piece.

And the latter type of master agent is exactly the kind of company Telarus is. It has an extended history of working alongside partners to help them see success, offering a high level of support and listening to the individual needs of businesses it joins hands with. It is a primary objective of the master agent to ensure each and every one of its suppliers has the training needed to continuously open the door to new opportunities that will ultimately drive profits.

It also has worked tirelessly to develop GeoSign, a paperwork generation platform, ideal for independent agents looking for cable availability as well as a way to create a personalized service package and paperwork when and where they need it. GeoScan, a carrier-grade availability look up tool, is also extremely popular due to its capabilities related to enabling agents to increase visibility into nearly every carrier service available at any U.S. address.

Rounding out its portfolio are the master agent’s back office CRM platform and VAR network. While the customer relationship management product was developed with the specific needs of its agents in mind, it seamlessly integrates all of their “customer information, previous quotes, proposals, tasks, notes, commission history, e-mail correspondences, orders, paperwork, etc. on one page.”

Oborn concluded, “Each partner is different. Each has varying support needs. Just like not all consumers buy in the same way (Wal-Mart vs. Nordstrom), each agent has to decide what type of support they'll need. With a greater support requirement comes a greater expectation of production from said partner (to support the greater cost). Sometimes that comes in the form of a quota, other times its in the form of a handshake agreement. Either way, commitment should not be looked down upon if true value is flowing in both directions.”

Edited by Brooke Neuman