How to become an Authorised Reseller for BT

In this article, we explain how to open a new revenue stream from selling BT Business products and services as an Authorised Reseller.

Working with BT, one of the UK’s leading providers of connectivity solutions, brings companies access to a wide range of BT products, from business broadband to BT Cloud Voice.

The steps to becoming an Authorised Reseller for BT are:

• Research potential BT partners or distributors
• Understand expertise in product training, administration, and reporting for BT products
• Apply to your chosen BT partner or distributor, and complete a BT application form
• Attend an initial Microsoft Teams or Zoom call to discuss capabilities.
• Get onboarding and gain an understanding of processes, access, and procedures.
• Earn commission from making BT Business Broadband, Cloud Voice, and BT leased line sales.

Let’s look at each step to help your business understand the best options for becoming a BT Reseller within the BT Partner Programme.

Research potential BT partners or distributors

Your business will work with an assigned BT Partner Manager, BT Cloud Voice Specialist, and BT Data Specialist, along with admin resources provided by the partner or distributor. BT partners have expertise across BT connectivity services, making them the channel an good choice for business communication needs.

When researching your potential BT partners or distributors, an important step in becoming a BT reseller, we recommend considering the following:

• Product knowledge – your business and salespeople will need to develop an understanding of BT products, which includes unified communications and security services, to provide the right solution
• Compliance and Guidelines – you should expect to receive guidance and direction across the BT brand, anti-bribery, and corruption when working with BT
• Order placement – how your business places orders, sales order handling, and lead times is a fundamental part of the day-to-day operation with BT and other providers
• Order management and reporting – one critical aspect is understanding order status, including internet connectivity services
• Commissions – getting paid for your work should entail clear commission statements at the end of each month

Choosing a potential BT Reseller or Distributor should be based on experience but also demonstrable processes to help you sell products and services within the BT Business portfolio.

Understand expertise in product training, administration, and reporting

The BT Business portfolio of products is changing on a regular basis due to constant innovation, typically at least every quarter of the financial year. Recent enhancements include the addition of the Broadband Pro package, which offers EE Business 4G failover, WiFi signal strength increases, and quicker fix times via the BT Prompt Care service. BT is what we refer to as a value-add product, which means that the price is often not the lowest, but there is significant value added to the customer’s service.

Broadband services can also be bundled with Cloud Voice Express, a replacement for a single phone line and basic features. As requirements increase in size, the full Cloud Voice product supports three users or more and can be paired with Broadband or BTnet leased lines, which offer up to 10Gbps bandwidth with resilient services from Openreach. Lastly, network cybersecurity and SD-WAN services are also available as required; it is worth noting that Netify offers significant experience in network security, managed WAN, and UK/global connectivity.

Product training is one of the most critical areas to consider as reseller businesses often do not progress well as an Authorised Reseller. It is, therefore, important to analyse and consider what training is available from your partnership, how you learn about current products, where you learn about product updates, and how training is conducted over time. Training is essential to working with BT and getting familiar with the full range of connectivity and business communication solutions BT provides.

The Netify Norwich office is about to launch our BT Business Reseller training facility, where you can send agents and staff to gain a full understanding of the products and services within BT’s portfolio. Here, we focus on business communication, mobile solutions, and BT’s connectivity services.

Apply to your chosen BT partner or distributor and complete a BT application form

After deciding to become a BT reseller, the next step is to complete an application to register your interest. There are two phases to the application process:

1. Register your interest with the partner, ensuring the process is stopped if there is not a good fit from either side: the partner or the prospective reseller.
2. Submit an official application to the assigned Partner Manager, which is then sent to the BT compliance team.
3. Sign any documentation relating to compliance surrounding anti-bribery and corruption.
4. Receive your acceptance and Authorised BT Reseller ID (known as the ORCA code).

Attend an initial Microsoft Teams or Zoom call to discuss capabilities

If there is a good fit between BT and your business, you will be invited to an onboarding call covering the ordering process and product training. While there are no specific criteria or costs to join the BT Partner Programme, your business is expected to commit to training and learning across the BT Business portfolio. We mentioned product knowledge earlier; understanding processes is essential for success in the BT Reseller Programme, which is ideal for companies looking for simplified access to BT’s range of solutions.

The initial Microsoft Teams or Zoom call is a chance to explain more about your business and to learn how your partner can add value across the areas discussed within this article. After this, an investigation call will provide more information about the opportunity and assess your business needs. The partner will guide you through BT products and guidelines to help your company succeed together with the commission rate card and how each product generates commissions based on whether the sale is a new order, winback, resign, or upgrade.

Get onboarding and gain an understanding of processes and procedures

The onboarding of resellers will typically cover the following areas:

• Order placement – what you and your staff need to be aware of when placing orders
• Order process – how to check product availability, fastest speeds, and your customer contract (if the customer is with BT)
• Order reporting – how to manage your orders and ensure they progress through the system to completion
• Product training – understand how the BT portfolio can solve your customer’s pain points and add value
• Commissions process – understanding how to make the most of commissions by selling services at the right time
• Working with the brand – how to represent your business and how to use the BT brand on your website and marketing material

Completing initial onboarding should provide a strong enough grounding to begin selling BT services. The intent is to continue training as new product features are released, working with your team on an ongoing basis to keep moving your BT knowledge forward.

Earn commission from making BT Business Broadband, Cloud Voice, and BT leased line sales

The BT Reseller Programme is commission-based, allowing resellers to earn revenue from selling BT services on an agency basis. Customer support, billing, and contracts are handled by BT, and commission is paid based on the sales order value (SOV). Commissions are paid at the end of each month once customer service is live. Orders delivered and closed before the end of any current calendar month will be paid in the next month’s commission statement, allowing for revenue faster than with other providers.

What is the difference between becoming a BT partner and a BT reseller?

We would never discourage any applicants from pursuing the route of becoming an Authorised BT Partner. However, your company must demonstrate experience, a solid market approach, and healthy turnover. All BT Partners are given an annual target across all products, and failure to meet these targets could result in termination of the partnership. Applying to become a reseller is less onerous, and you’ll benefit from the partner experience and processes, which allows you to concentrate on your core value. Resellers do not carry a target and are not subject to the same criteria as becoming a full BT Partner.

Ready to apply to become a BT reseller?

Consider joining Netify: see our application form here to start the process of becoming a BT reseller.