The call you get too late
A customer rings on a Monday. They are moving office in five weeks, and could you sort the phones? The new building has no fibre yet. A leased line needs a survey and possibly civil works, with a lead time well past their move date. The broadband at the old office is on a term that runs another eight months. Their numbers need their recorded addresses updating. The handsets need moving, and they want a new meeting room phone.
Everyone scrambles. A temporary 4G router covers the gap, the leased line arrives weeks after the move, and the old broadband is forgotten and keeps billing. The customer remembers the gap, not the effort.
The same customer told their landlord about the move months ago. They just did not think of the phones as part of it.
Multi-site customers make it harder. A move might mean closing one office, merging teams into another and opening a small satellite, with numbers moving in three directions and a different connectivity product at each end.
Why moves are so hard for resellers
- Connectivity lead times, especially for leased lines, are much longer than customers expect.
- Customers tell you late because they think of phones as something that moves with the furniture.
- A move touches ordering, porting or number updates, engineers, ceases and billing, each owned by a different person.
- The old site's services have their own terms, which may not end when the lease does.
- There is no standard move process, so each one is organised from scratch.
What a messy move costs
| Missed step | Result |
|---|---|
| Connectivity ordered late | Customer without proper service on day one |
| Number addresses not updated | Records wrong at the new site |
| Old site services not ceased | Billing and supplier cost continue |
| Handsets not planned | Engineer visits twice |
| Customer not kept informed | They blame you for delays outside your control |
A move is also a moment of risk for the account. The customer is spending money, reviewing suppliers and talking to competitors about the new building. A smooth move keeps them. A bad one gives them a reason to leave.
The office move tracker we build
- A move template holds every task a move needs, with lead times: availability check and order at the new site, survey, install, temporary cover if needed, number and address updates, handset move, testing, and ceases at the old site.
- When a move is logged, the tracker works backwards from the move date and shows which tasks are already late and which are due this week. If connectivity cannot arrive in time, that is visible on day one, so temporary cover is planned rather than improvised.
- Tasks are assigned to the right people (sales, provisioning, engineers, finance), and each sees only their part.
- Old site services are listed with their terms, so the cost of ceasing early or carrying them is known before decisions are made.
- The customer gets a short move plan with dates and what they need to do, and updates at each stage.
- Once the move is done, the tracker checks that every old site service has a cease or a reason to stay.
We also add a simple prompt to your account review routine, asking customers about office plans, so you hear about moves earlier.
What moves look like afterwards
Every move runs from the same plan. The awkward conversation about lead times happens on the first call, with a clear plan for covering the gap. Engineers visit once. The customer receives a plan and updates, which makes them feel looked after during a stressful time. And the old office stops costing money on the day it should.
Does this sound familiar?
- Customers tell you about office moves a few weeks before.
- Each move is organised from scratch.
- Old site services have kept billing after a move.
- Temporary connectivity is arranged in a rush.
- Nobody owns the move from start to finish.