Jim's journey from mowing to mobile

When the famous Jim’s conglomerate decided to set up a mobile phone business, it sought out Inabox as its wholesale partner, first to roll out the service to its own franchisees and then to resell the service itself. CRN’s Tony Yoo spoke to Inabox account manager Peter McCarthy and Jim’s Mobiles owner Neil Welsh to find out about a multi-layered partnership.

Neil, how did Jim’s Mobile Phones come about?

Neil Welsh: Prior to taking on Jim’s Mobile Phones, I was a partner and chief operating officer in the Jim’s Group. We had an internal mobile phone business, in that we’d sell mobile services to our franchisees. We’d go to the market, negotiate a deal with a carrier and then sell that to our franchisees.

Jim and I were partners. I needed to exit that business. Part of that exit strategy was to be able to take Jim’s Mobile Phones.

Now if I just leave with Jim’s Mobile Phones with the internal customer base that we have, I’m probably not going to be real happy. To maximise that brand, I have to take it to the external market. I need that Inabox expertise, the wholesale opportunities, the operational plan that was built; I need that.

The intent was to always maximise this brand. The way I look at it, and I don’t know if I want to say this, but the way I look at is this: Everybody needs telecommunications. It’s part of our world now. Everybody hates their current provider. I don’t know anyone who’s happy with their provider.

Jim’s brand is very well-respected in the marketplace, and we want to maximise that brand, but we also understand that if we want to maximise that brand, we need to deliver that [superior] customer experience.

So Inabox then came in to supply the carrier relationships to you?

Neil: In our business, we do things properly. We get the experts in. We’re not little boys playing in the big pool anymore. We’ve got the experts to sit at the table for us and bring the knowledge that you need to live in that world.

At Jim’s Mobiles, we have a team that runs the operational side of the business, so we also needed somebody to provide the billing systems and those other things that Inabox do. Inabox came highly recommended through our other partners. It’s been great.

Jim's Group founder Jim Penman in the foreground

Peter, could you please describe what you did for Jim’s Mobiles?

Peter McCarthy: Jim’s guys came to us saying “We want to get into the market”, and they wanted to do it at speed.

They wanted a turnkey solution: For us, it was to be able to provide them all the products and services that a normal telco would require. We have the speed-to-market by having all the existing relationships set up, and all the existing products and expertise for them, including market knowledge.

In regards to what we provided; it was streamlined processes through a single billing platform for the customers; and a lot less manual work in providing the customers what they needed.

Do you describe Jim’s Mobiles as a reseller of Inabox’s services, or do you not look at it that way?

Peter: The way we look at it is this: Jim’s Mobiles is a wholesale customer of ours. They are not a reseller; they own the customers. A reseller would sell our services and we would own the customer. In this case, they own the customers and their customers are their own responsibility.

How long ago did this engagement start between the two of you?

Neil: We started talking in October of last year.

Has the project finished, or is it all live now?

Peter: It’s ongoing. This is a never-ending project. Any [telco deals are] never-ending. We start them on a project and then we start on another one. It might an internal campaign for existing Jim’s franchisees, and then we might go to market with an external product for the public.

Who are the vendors you’re using?

Peter: For the communication side, we use all the carriers. I don’t know if I can mention them. We use all the traditional carriers that most telecommunications providers would use.

Next: from internal mobile rollout to public offering

Initially, did you roll out the new system to the Jim’s franchisees internally?

Neil: We inherited these customers from the Jim’s group. We transferred them into Inabox’s system. There’s been a little mucking around there to make that happen. In terms of Inabox, what they provided was the expertise. There were some issues on our end, but the expertise and knowledge that Inabox provided was absolutely fantastic and worth the money every time.

Peter: We’re able to provide them more product and variety in the long run, due to all the different products that we have available.

Neil: I think one of the key things now is that the customer has choice, whereas in the past there was a number of plans from a single carrier. Now the customer has some choice.

The reality is that [different] carriers have different coverage. You can imagine the frustration of the franchisees across Australia, across all points of Australia. Not every carrier is going to have coverage in that specific area, so the other franchisee has the option of saying: “Well, there is somebody like you who has got coverage. I would like to use that person instead.” We [now] have an option for them.

Now the internal rollout has completed, what’s next?

Peter: The next phase is to push an external offering out to the general public. That requires a lot of work, a lot of thought, and a lot of marketing and planning to push that out. The way that will be done is still in the workings, but we’ve got one shot at it for our client Jim’s to make sure that it is a success.

Ultimately, we need to make sure that we’ve got everything planned. We’ve got the right market segmentations; that we’re pushing the product out to the right geographical areas, and the right product offering.

Neil, what sort of product will be out there from Jim’s Mobiles? Are the external customers going to have the same choice of carrier and such features?

Neil: Absolutely. There’ll be a choice of carriers, tons of choice for plans, and choice of services.

Bundling is a big thing for us – I try to bundle as many services into it as possible. I think that the customer service experience might get really easy for them, providing this local expertise – calling a call centre that is located in Australia works well for our business.

They have a knowledgeable staff there that can provide the solutions that they’re looking for.

Neil Welsh and Peter McCarthy

It sounds like Jim’s will be providing the support for their customers, whereas Inabox is involved in the technology support. Where’s the line drawn?

Peter: There is a line that we do draw, however, we do go over that boundary sometimes in service to our customers. Essentially, you just can’t draw a line in the sand and say this is what we do, this what they do; otherwise we won’t be aligned.

To truly be aligned in the market, what we’re offering is: We need to work with the Jim’s guys and trial and test what we’re going to go out to the market with, and how we’re going to support them. It’s a continual project.

Neil: Jim’s Mobile Phones coming into the market will also have had some experience internally with the Jim’s group over the journey. We are mindful of the fact that we are not telco people, so we do partner with the appropriate organisations.

If you look at people who provide this service in Australia, if you had to pick somebody, you’d pick these guys. Their expertise and professionalism is second-to-none in the industry.

That’s the quality of partners we have in our business. We have Inabox to bring the same expertise and credibility to market in terms of what they provide us, but we have these other experts provide the operational side of our business that Inabox doesn’t provide.

While Jim’s Mobile Phones is a new business, we certainly have significant experience and knowledge of the market.

Despite the ‘mobile’ name, will broadband also be offered?

Peter: There’s ADSL; traditional telephone service; ISDN technologies; wireless; hosted voice, IP voice... Anything that the carriers usually provide, we can provide.

When’s go-live?

Neil: I’d like to say in this quarter, mate. I’m desperate to get it out there. I was desperate to get it out in January. That hasn’t changed. I need it out there. We’ll be trying a regional area, making sure our systems are bedded down for our external clients, and then going live from there.

BRIEF

THE CUSTOMER

Jim’s Group

Established 1989

Industry Franchising

Chief executive Jim Penman

Brands
Jim’s Mowing, Jim’s Antennas, Jim’s Plumbing, Jim’s Insurance, Jim’s Mobile

THE SUPPLIER

Inabox

Established 2003

Headcount 180

Managing director
Damian Kay