Expanding a business rapidly and building an interconnected network of operations across multiple locations shouldn’t mean sacrificing the level of care and attention you get from your suppliers. While many telecom suppliers may boast high-spec solutions and connectivity services, it’s often reliability and customer service that set providers apart as invaluable business partners.
And yet, despite living in an era where connectivity is foundational – not only to business growth but also to survival – having the right partner in place to ensure that everything just ‘works’ can sometimes be overlooked.
Neterra, based in the Bulgarian capital of Sofia, started out in the late-1990s as a direct supplier to telcos. British Telecom was its very first customer – a partnership that is ongoing to this day.
While still working with nine out of 10 of the largest telecom operators in the world, Neterra now also offers managed services to a host of businesses of all sizes, operating in 74 countries worldwide. The company provides everything from internet connectivity and secure data transfer for in-house applications, to colocation, cloud and dedicated servers, backup solutions and cybersecurity protection – something that is particularly essential as companies continue their transition to the cloud.
But what sets Neterra apart is its commitment to, and obsession with, customer experience. And with a Net Promoter Score of 71% – which puts it in the top 1% of internet service providers worldwide – it’s not hard to see why.
“We don’t sell technology, we sell peace of mind,” says chief executive and founder Neven Dilkov. “Nowadays, internet connectivity is a commodity just like electricity and tap water – nobody should need to think about it. Our job is to make sure you don’t.”
Dilkov recalls an incident earlier in the year when a small business customer called and needed help at an office location in Sao Paulo. “We flew an engineer there to resolve the issue,” says Dilkov. “We found out who the suppliers of the redundant line were, negotiated separately with them to recover the service and identified a third supplier to ensure that if those two failed we would have another option. The new services were ready within a week with no additional cost to the customer.”
Dilkov continues: “There are two types of solutions: an urgent one and a permanent one. We did both. The service was restored, but we also made sure that there was a long-term solution. That’s how we work.”
Being a smaller, more agile service provider means you have the luxury of being more flexible than bigger competitors and can get to know your customers’ needs intimately – something that Neterra prides itself on.
“The communications landscape is becoming increasingly complex,” says George Szlosarek, non-executive director at Neterra. “Enterprises require constant uptime and security across fixed fibre, mobile and satellite technologies.”
At a time when traditional telcos are consolidating or retrenching to invest in their core, regional markets, and are unable to provide the services needed to meet the rapidly evolving needs of multinational businesses, a one-size-fits-all approach is no longer adequate.
“Few companies remain with the expertise to handle global requests, deliver solutions and proactively address operational issues. This is where Neterra excels,” Szlosarek says. The expanding, multifaceted and interconnected nature of operating a multinational business today means that enterprises need reliability. And with ever-evolving cybersecurity threats, while organisations continue to rapidly adopt new technologies and ways of working, businesses need that peace of mind like never before.
“It’s all about the customer experience. Today we live such complex, busy lives, and no one wants to be bothered about why a failure happened. They just want to be up and running, knowing they have a partner on whom they can rely in multiple markets,” Szlosarek says. “It’s a mindset. It’s a customer-centric approach. And it’s what we always preach internally.”
To find out more about peace of mind connectivity visit: http://neterra.net/
