Maplewave's Grant Carstensen explains why a customer experience layer approach can solve critical telco pain points - without the cost and risk of a full digital transformation program.
If you’ve missed NLP totally - it is the study of how people think, communicate, and make decisions. In business, it helps salespeople build rapport, ask better questions, and influence outcomes. By understanding behaviour and language patterns, NLP enables more effective conversations, stronger trust, and higher conversion in complex, customer-led sales environments.
AI expert, Damien Clothier, reveals how AI can move the needle in telecoms, and gives a practical guide on how to implement it, select vendors, and prove its ROI.
I love making predictions. As a telco consultant, it’s important I know where the industry is going, and how to keep my clients at the fore. One year ago, I released my annual predictions for the future of our industry in 10 Big Ideas That Will Shape the Telco Industry in 2025. Now twelve months later, it’s time to evaluate if I can retain my moniker of ‘The Great ‘Will-dini’. In this edition of Telco Talk, I score my predictions – what came true, what didn’t, and what this all means for 2026 going forward. Let’s dive in!
In this edition of Telco Talk, we break down the most common inventory challenges facing telco retailers in 2025 and highlight practical ways to regain control, maximize sales, and keep customers coming back.
EE’s new experience stores show what happens when retail stops chasing transactions and starts designing for emotion, dwell time, and loyalty.
In this edition of Telco Talk, we’ll look at some lessons from other industries, and how they can help telcos finally close the sales experience gap.
In this edition of Telco Talk, we’ve outlined 10 priorities you should consider for next year. We’ve broken these into three buckets: Revenue Accelerators, Margin Protectors, and Strategic Bets. Think of it as a framework to balance your short-term wins with your long-term positioning. Let’s dive in!
In this edition of Telco Talk, we’ll explore how generative AI is supercharging selling and customer support and examine which carriers are successfully using these strategies today.
In this edition of Telco Talk, we’re diving into how poor customer experience contributes to 80% of MVNOs failing, and what you can do about it.
Telecom operators are rapidly shifting how they use dealer networks. Whether it’s franchise-heavy Italy, the corporate-dominated UK, or mixed-model markets like the U.S., getting your dealer channel right is critical. Screw this up, and you’ll hemorrhage customers, cash, and credibility. Get it right, and you're laughing all the way to the bank.
In this edition of Telco Talk, we explore how Etisalat and Verizon are reimagining the telco store with bold, AI-first innovations that are truly transforming the customer experience.
Every year, telcos leave millions in untapped revenue on the table. The reason? They’re overlooking one of their most powerful sales tools: direct sales.
Every day, retailers are leaving wads of cash on the table, and the culprit might be hiding in plain sight: undertrained employees. Think of it like a slow leak in your profit pipeline. You might not see it immediately, but over time, it’s draining your revenue and eroding your brand’s reputation.
In this newsletter, I’ll share a few of my musings on how AI could change telco in 3, 5 or 10-years’ time. Things are moving FAST! This could be next year!
You may have gathered from the title that this time, I’m actually keeping my evaluation close to home – The United Kingdom! I was a big part of the telco industry in the UK some time ago. It feels like it’s been a lifetime, but I certainly have walked the walk in this market. In this edition of Telco Talk, I evaluate how EE, Vodafone, O2 and Three stack up, and where I think they have improvements to make.
In this edition of Telco Talk, I’ll explore how high-value retail businesses can benefit from such investments and provide examples from various industries that have successfully adopted this strategy.
In this article, Will Gibson reflects on how the indirect channel has evolved beyond its manual roots in favour of a fully digital sales and channel management process.
Telcos are under enormous pressure to remain competitive while being cost-efficient, innovative, and sustainable. Digital contract management is smart, customer-friendly, fast, and secure - and we can't recommend it enough. In this article, we will explore four key digital contract trends in the telco industry that you must leverage in 2024 and what they mean for your business.
Digital is now meshed tightly into our lives, but the landscape is constantly shifting. Businesses in every industry are vying for innovative ways to captivate their audience, enhance customer loyalty, and drive sales.
Can you believe 2023 is almost over? If you’re someone who’s in a hurry, here is a quick summary of our Telco Talk editions from the past year.
The reseller network is an invaluable asset in the telecom industry, particularly in markets dominated by prepaid services. Resellers play a pivotal role by distributing SIM cards, top-ups, and more, effectively extending the reach of telecom companies to thousands of additional touchpoints.
Telcos have long feared becoming a “dumb pipe” utility provider. After attending Telecoms World Middle East, Will Gibson discovered that telcos are starting to embrace this status and invest in new avenues to drive growth instead. In this blog, we explore 5 tactics that can bring the “techno” strategy within reach.
After years of inaction, it finally feels like the sustainability movement is gaining some momentum. While scientists have been leading conversations about climate change and resource depletion for decades, it’s only in the last few years that sustainability has started breaking into business conversations and influencing strategies.
Often, the hardest part of sustainability is knowing where to start. This is especially true when it comes to supply chains. Maplewave’s Logistics expert, Bradley Lapin, shares some strategies that will help you deliver environmental benefits in this edition of Telco Talk.
Once 3G arrived, telcos started to get more complex in their offerings, with texts, picture messages and all sorts of other “science fiction” possibilities. In response, store designs portrayed everything as “the future”, with sleek attributes resembling spaceships and featuring stark white surfaces.
From personalized add-ons to freebies that enhance your everyday life, we've got you covered. Let us know if our list inspired you to take your telco VAS game to the next level!
Don't settle for a one-size-fits-all software solution! Discover four reasons why a configurable telco platform is the way to go in our latest newsletter.
eSIM is a game-changer for the telco industry, and those changes are coming fast. So it's time to get ready! Check out our latest newsletter to learn more about the nine hidden impacts of eSIMs.
We sat down with Maplewave’s thought leaders, Adam Baggs, Will Gibson, Grant Carstensen, and Bradley Lapin to get their thoughts on how the telco industry fared in 2022 and what’s in store for 2023.
Planning your budget for next year? When you're looking to cut costs, be careful of flashy long-term projects and invest in those that will give you a high ROI within months!
What’s the future of telco retail? Ask the food delivery companies. With their new customer-first strategy that blurs the line between the digital and physical, telcos have a lot to learn from their success. Maplewave’s VP of Sales & Marketing, Will Gibson, shares his thoughts in this edition of Telco Talk.
In this blog, Will Gibson recounts how his brand idol, Vodafone, lost their ‘hero’ status after his recent bad experience at a UK franchise store.
In this blog, Lavindra Gurie explains how he used a multi-level marketing strategy to empower women and boost indirect sales for Vodafone Zambia.
Self-service channels have become a huge opportunity for telecoms amid the pandemic! Here’s our list of do’s and don’ts for including these solutions in your channel strategy.
The telco industry is rife with complex infrastructure and poor customer experiences. In his latest blog, Will Gibson explores the 8 benefits of digital platforms and how they solve telcos’ pain points.
In Part 2, we’ve posed 4 more questions regarding supply chain resilience, the impact of COVID-19, and what the future looks like to Brad Lapin, SVP of Global Business Development at Maplewave.
Unlock the barriers holding back your salespeople from reaching their full potential by ensuring they can accomplish these 6 things.
From picking the right channels, to using the right technology, and providing the right training, channel strategies can get complicated - but the return on investment is worth it. It’s time for telcos to optimise and develop channel strategies that drive results and boost the customer experience.
We shop with successful franchises across the globe and across industries .So, why does franchising seem inconceivable for telcos?
Few people would be successful in their jobs if they didn’t have the tools they needed to perform. And the telco retail environment is no exception.
For the telco salesperson, the stakes have never been higher. The quality of their performance impacts how customers feel about the business, how much money they spend, and whether they will return in the future. And one false move can send the customer running to the competition.And yet, many telcos fail to prepare their salespeople for their roles. To be successful, telcos need to invest in staff training to ensure peak performance and profitability.
The store environment plays a key role in customer experiences, but even the best-designed stores are a wasted investment if telcos neglect to train their staff on how to use the environment to its full potential.
The world is moving to a seamless, channel agnostic future. Telcos – you need a new retail approach.
In a dream telco world, we can interact and complete transactions with telco providers anytime, anywhere, and via any medium.
In an age where everything can be ordered online, how do telco retailers stay relevant? And is traditional retail really dead? How networks can come out on top in the digital age?
Forward-thinking retailers are already using cutting edge technologies to delight and retain loyal customers across highly competitive markets.
We love talking tech, telco, retail, digital transformation and people! Here’s some of our favorite reads this week.
The old ways of doing business just don’t cut it anymore. To be competitive in today’s market, telco retailers need to focus on their customer experience.
Brands across the globe are using digital retail experiences to rise above their competition. But it’s not too late for you to implement these experiences, the first step is knowing what you’re up against.
As Gen Z and Alpha enter the market, they are revolutionizing everything. This is especially apparent when it comes to their desire for personalization.
Opportunity awaits! It's time to retire your hard-sell and take a new approach, a consultative approach. Read this blog and learn the ins and outs of a consultative approach.
