Hello,
As I write, I reflect on my first day at Southern Telephones, 30 years ago today, 14th December. It was the start of a fantastic new career after my few years as a young Royal Marine. It was obviously a very good foundation for me because I have enjoyed quite a bit of success along my journey in the telecoms world. That said, like most people’s careers, there have been times when it’s like being on some kind of incredible roller-coaster with twists and challenging climbs.
It just happens to have happened that I’ve always been reasonably happy at work, which has meant that I’ve had some quite unusual continuity which gave me steady progression as a sales guy, company director and now as a business owner. What I hadn’t appreciated when I entered the early telecoms industry back in ’87 was just how fast changing this sector would be. I occasionally speak to business groups about some of the transformations we have experienced, and I take along my props; old phones, early mobiles and pocket computers as well as providing examples of how expensive everything was. Today everything has enormous potential to improve business efficiency and drive costs down. That was also the main angle all those years ago.
The first phone system I sold was a Plessey Masterline PKS2, a wonderful analogue phone system and my first deal was to an accountancy firm in Trowbridge whose 8 extensions cost them about £6,000. Prices are a fraction these days, a current M12 deal for a school with 100 phones is about £22,000 – you do the maths! This includes call recording and many other useful attributes we could only dream of 30 years ago. I remember my first mobile phone, a £1200 transportable, the Panasonic C80. It was the size and weight of a brick. I did feel so sophisticated. The new iPhone X, for a lower cost, in comparison, really is like the stuff of science fiction.
I entered the telecommunications industry and I also entered the sales profession. I quickly learned that when you are regularly over target, you are largely in control of your own destiny and that when you have the right package you can operate like a business inside a business. My then MD, Roger, introduced a scheme where we were paid on profit. I quickly worked out what my earnings might be if I went significantly over target. I uncovered some emerging major accounts and started to have some incredible sales success which led to the next stage of my business education when Roger sold out to 2 ex IBMers, Jim and Dave. Richard and I went along with their plans (and we changed our name to SOTEL). We were minor shareholders and we negotiated ‘over performance’ share options and 5 years later they came in. The business education I got in this time and being able to do the IoD Diploma course helped me to operate well in my next chapter at Convergent Systems. One year, 2001, I smashed my targets and secured more new business as a sales guy (£4.2M) than we have managed as a business after I started M12 in 2003 – yes we did sell higher value Avaya systems!
Azzurri bought Convergent in 2003 and I was able to spin my team out and operate as an Azzurri agency with an ability to build my own portfolio. The 3 of us became 5 and M12 started to operate ‘my way’. It’s great that Sylvia and Kev who joined me all those years ago are still key people in M12 and it’s great to have Steve and Jade now in the business who were also at Convergent. That said, we do have some great continuity here, when I announced our sabbatical policy back in ’04 I didn’t appreciate that so many would reach 7 years to secure their ‘paid extra holiday’ to do something special.
Andrew’s 30 years in Telecoms
Growing your own business is both exciting and rewarding although you have many enormous responsibilities. That’s to everyone; your family, your people, your customers and your suppliers and third parties who back you. Then just to add a multiplier, if what you do is pretty mission critical to organisations who all have their own responsibilities, then you absolutely must always do the right thing. To me, if your culture is such that staff feel valued, that you do great things for customers and operate in a pleasing environment and allow your people to develop you are well on your way to being able to do everything else right. We have a wonderful M12 team here who genuinely care about providing great customer service and keeping our business right at the forefront. I’m sure you know this!
One of our biggest achievements was the creation and development of Wessex Internet where we helped make our district at home in Dorset to ‘probably’ be the best internet connected rural area in the country. With over 2000 families and businesses connected to Superfast, who mostly had meagre speeds before. I think we have done an amazing job. It has been my sons, Matthew and Luke, who have been the architects of its success for M12 and we are well set to ramp up our next internet development with our new Giganet brand for ‘the best national internet’.
The future has many uncertainties and we’re well set to maintain our steady momentum. What I do know is, that I won’t be doing a blog like this in 30 years’ time! We live in incredible times and being the supplier of choice to so many important customers has been, and will continue to be, my main driver.
All the best in business.
Andrew
