The biggest lie in UCaaS? That the market sets the price at $13-15 per seat. That’s the number floating around from the big national players. But here’s the catch: it doesn’t include the bells and whistles—no AI, no advanced features, and certainly no customer support worth a damn. Yet, plenty of companies charge 4-5x that price per seat. How? Because businesses don’t pay premiums for commodities. They pay for value.
The Two Groups Winning This Game
Two types of sellers have cracked the code: regional UC providers and PBX dealers (a.k.a. Inter-Connects). They’re not playing the volume game— they’re playing the value game.
1. The Regional UC Provider: Playing the “Local” Card
Two magic words separate a regional UC provider from the big guys: White. Glove. These companies aren’t just selling software; they’re selling trust and real human support—on-site training, on-site install, and actual customer care. Not an outsourced support line where you spend 30 minutes convincing a chatbot you exist.
Local providers don’t just claim to have great service— they have Google reviews and reputation to back it up. Reputation means pricing power. If customers trust you, they’ll pay accordingly.
2. The PBX Dealer: The Ghost of Telecom Past
Becomes the Future PBX dealers once dominated business telecom. They sold, installed, trained, and maintained systems. When UCaaS emerged, many assumed they were obsolete. Wrong. Turns out, the skill set didn’t die—it evolved. Businesses still want hands-on implementation, training, MACD, and Tier 1 support. The PBX dealers who realized this pivoted and are now charging multiples over the $13-per-seat nonsense.
Proof Matters More Than Features
Businesses aren’t switching UCaaS providers for better features. They’re switching because the last provider dropped the ball—missed deadlines, botched installs, lousy support.
That means the best sellers aren’t just selling software— they’re selling confidence. High ARPU (average revenue per user) means fewer, more loyal customers—and that’s just smart business.
The Myth of Hyper-Efficiency
Commodity providers believe the key to winning is scale and efficiency. But here’s the problem: the biggest players in the space still haven’t figured out how to be efficient at both sales and implementation.
UCaaS isn’t plug-and[1]play. There are multiple moving parts, and getting them to work seamlessly requires humans. That’s not inefficiency—that’s reality. Sales 101: Ask Smarter Questions, Close Bigger Deals.
There are two types of salespeople:
1. The ones who sell on price.
2. The ones who sell on value.
Guess who wins in the long run?
I once worked on a deal where the customer had seven vendors bidding for their UCaaS business. The winner? The company that nailed the pre-demo meeting by asking the right questions and actually listening. That meeting translated into a pitch that addressed the customer’s real pain points. And boom—deal closed.
Most salespeople skip this step. They rush to close. They push for signatures before understanding actual needs. That’s how they end up discounting their price into oblivion.
The Mindset Shift: Sell Solutions, Not Seats
The best sellers don’t sell products—they sell outcomes. They position themselves as strategic partners, not just vendors.
UCaaS might look like a commodity, but the best sales teams frame it differently: “Yes, we offer UCaaS, just like hundreds of others. But the way we implement, support, and integrate it into your business is what makes us different. Our goal isn’t just to sell you software— it’s to make your business better.”
That’s the game. That’s how you charge 4-5x the market rate while competitors race to the bottom.
Bottom Line: Price is What You Pay, Value is What You Get
There will always be customers chasing the lowest price. Let them. They were never your best customers anyway.
The real money is in customers who want quality. The ones who get that a rock-solid UCaaS implementation is worth paying for.
Commodity pricing is a sucker’s game. Build value. Sell confidence. Charge accordingly. Warren Buffett said it best: “Price is what you pay. Value is what you get.”
Which one are you selling?
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Peter Radizeski Biography
Peter Radizeski is a veteran of the US Telecoms Channel based in the Sunshine State of Florida. He has assisted numerous prominent service providers across the United States in growing their businesses by offering guidance on sales training, marketing, channel development, and business strategy. He is a reliable source of knowledge about the telecom industry. His candid and straightforward Channel Playbook Blog is essential reading for industry insiders, and he is a sought-after speaker and moderator at industry events.