What I Wish Someone Told Me 20 Years Ago in Telecoms

I’ve spent 20+ years walking telecom stores all over the world.

Some brilliant. Most average. A few absolutely painful.

And the truth is this…

No one ever really teaches people how to get better in this industry.

We train products.
We train systems.

But we don’t train thinking.

So here are a few things I wish someone had told me much earlier;

1. People are the same - but culture is everything

I’ve visited 79 countries, I’ll hit 80 this year and my life goal is 100 so do wish me luck! Throughout all of these work and family trips, one thing is very clear to me on a human level - people are the same.

We all want to connect, we all have a desire to love and be loved, and that does not change regardless of which part of the world you are in. How we buy, sell and consume things does not really change either - people want the best they can afford, they want to be educated, they want to do things well, and, certainly from a retail perspective, they want spaces that pique their curiosity, and allow them to get things done efficiently.

The kicker? Culture.

Culture is the nuance of the human. The HOW they do things. The steps they have to go through before they will engage. Some cultures will test you (looking at you Russia) - some cultures will be wary until you can prove you are just like them (that’s you LATAM) - some cultures will judge you on every micro piece of your behaviour and language (thanks North America!).

I’ve had multiple countries all tell me they can’t do XYZ to display products in a retail store as their country has the best thieves on the planet. (Spoiler: No they don’t).

I’ve had people refuse to even entertain me until they found out I know someone that they also know and trust, and even then they want to meet me, slowly, have dinner, drinks, and really inspect me before they will do business. Still happens.

So my #1 top tip - know the culture of the environment you are working with. That can even boil down to micro things like dress code (suit or sweater?) at the office, or who should pay for dinner even if it is to talk about business. Culture is strong, yes it’s nuanced, but it’s strong - and you have to work with it.

2. Global trends are 20 years apart

Twenty years ago I asked why telecom devices were behind a glass cabinet - even in a modern and forward thinking city like Baku in Azerbaijan. They’d just always done things that way.

Today I’m asking why there are cashiers behind glass windows in the Caribbean and in parts of Africa. Same story.

As an advisor to multiple telecoms businesses, it’s vital that I understand the reality of the world the client lives in, and that of their customers. Simply forcing the latest tech into a market is doomed to failure.

Take queuing. In most Western markets this is now almost invisible, tablet driven, SMS and app notification based - and customers have the freedom and the fluidity to come and go from a retail store as they please. In some other markets they don’t even have manual queue tickets with numbers on like the deli counter of old in the supermarket.

Simply moving from one reality to the latest, most advanced way of working is madness, so I constantly remind myself of the steps that certain clients need to take in order to go from A to B - which is their 20 year journey.

3. Relationships Matter more than anything

“People buy from people they like”. I don’t know who said this - but it is 100% TRUE.
In a global role you have to be curious, you have to be kind, and you have to build relationships that last. There are cultures around the world who are so professional they are almost stoic (yes, that’s you the USA!) and this approach can often fail in other parts of the world. There is a time for the professionalism, and in crossing the T’s and dotting the I’s as we say here in the UK. But first, life.

Know your audience, know your client, and act accordingly.

4. Trends are cyclical - stay ahead of the curve

I mentioned earlier that things can vary WILDLY from one part of the world to another, and some nations can be 20 years from one another in market terms.

That doesn’t mean you can afford to forget what made you a consultant in the first place.

Subject Matter Expertise trumps EVERYTHING. So if there is something new - learn it. Seek it out. Witness it first hand. I’ve taken time out of holidays with friends and family to go and experience new things in our industry. To stay ahead. To be at the forefront.

‘Staying Ahead of the Curve’ is literally what are you are paid to do/be as an executive, whether you are an operator, in IT, a consultant, a vendor - it doesn’t matter.

Take AI - everyone claims to be an AI expert nowadays, and for most, it means they’ve used chatGPT a few times. But are you using Claude CoWork to get things done? Are you building your own local agents that are trained in every single article, presentation and document you’ve ever done in the last 25 years? Agents that can make a real difference to your clients? Or your field teams? Or your franchise partners?

Always be learning. What did you learn this week? Last month?

5. If everyone is zigging - ZAG!

Learn the trends, be ahead of the curve, but STAND OUT. Zag when everyone is zigging. It doesn’t mean being purposely contrary, or peddling niche solutions that no-one else has cottoned onto yet - but it means genuinely standing out.

Daring to be different. Saying what you really mean, being authentic, and calling it like it is.

I once told a potential telecoms client they had the worst retail stores I’d ever seen. They hired me to fixed them.

When literally every consultant out there was rejecting claims by lots of operators that they wanted to close stores - I told them that they should! I also detailed the reasons why, and what they should do with the premium leases they retained.

When everyone was running headlong into a franchise model I cautioned against going too far - now at least 3 global operators have recalled all of their stores from franchisees and are operating them again.

25 years is a long time to be in this industry, and I’m nowhere near done yet.

In fact, I’m just getting exponential momentum.

Practice these five top tips, and watch this space.

Always here if you’d like a chat. Like/sub/follow/share if you appreciate my guidance.