Building a customer base is hard work. After we landed our first contract for a Revenue Assurance and Fraud Management (RAFM) Bypass Control solution in 2008, we had our first customer. In subsequent pre-sales meetings where we sought to earn a second customer, I always dreaded the inevitable question … “So, what customer references do you have?” I felt like we exhausted all the possible, least awkward ways to respond … “Just one.”
More than ten years later, we invited nearly 140 customers to our RAFM User Conference. In our RAFM vertical within telecommunications services, User Conferences are a popular occurrence. Companies such as ours, supplying solutions to telecom operators, sponsor multi-day events, inviting current and prospective customer to attend. The goal for the customers is to learn about current industry trends and the vendor’s latest solution releases. Some would call this a thinly veiled sales pitch … and I would agree! But a well-run event with thoughtful effort toward content benefits attendees beyond bolstering your sales pipeline.
Along with our keynote speaker, Eric Priezkalns who is the CEO of the Risk Assurance Group (RAG) and publisher of the popular RAFM website, www.commsrisk.com, we had the opportunity to explain our work with the RAG Wangiri Block Chain Consortium. LATRO’s latest Versalytics RAFM software release features pro-active analysis of zero-duration voice traffic such as fraudulent Wangiri calls and other exploits against network interconnects.
More than forty people attended our event last month in Dubai including customers and business partners. It was a proud moment for me personally as I watched our team pull off a professional event with quality presentations and meaningful participant discussions. On more than one occasion, I walked by impromptu meetings and round tables where our teammates were sitting down with partners and clients laying out plans for additional business and expanded collaboration.
Our world class partners such as HAUD, Mobius Wireless Solutions, and Gamma Analytics discussed their value add to the RAFM ecosystem for Zero-Day Revenue Assurance, SMS Bypass, and OTT Hijacking. At LATRO, we strongly believe that RAFM strategy implementation involves a blend of expertise. We are not ashamed to deliver value to the market by partnering with specialized solution providers. And we are fearless in our approach to collaboration and open knowledge sharing across our ecosystem and customer base.
LATRO has moved far beyond those early, awkward client reference questions. Our existing and prospective customers want to hear what we have to say. They attended our User Conference, seeking advice on their own implementation strategies, and pursuing our insights into fraud and technology trends within the industry.
It was a shining moment for our LATRO team. Our marketing team put on a world class affair. Our solutions experts presented clear and relevant industry information to an attentive audience, and our operations gurus demonstrated the compelling value of LATRO to the business of our clients.
I am very proud of the RAFM customer base that our team has built together for more than ten years. Our User Conference was a natural showcase of all the hard work, persistence, and commitment to delivering excellence in many of the world’s most competitive market sectors and most challenging global regions.
What did I learn at our LATRO User Conference?
I learned that hosting an event for customers can be a great way to showcase your latest and unique value propositions to the market. I learned that building a brand takes meaningful interaction within your business ecosystem and taking fearless leadership in contributing to open knowledge sharing. But most importantly, I learned that a User Conference is a powerful opportunity to reflect on the years of tireless, tenacious day-to-day energy and effort enthusiastically put forth by a world class team.
Way to go team!
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