Making the Case for TEM: How to Get Upper Management on Board with Telecom Expense Management Solutions

For any business, managing telecom expenses—across wireless devices, voice, data, and cloud services—can be a highly complex and resource-intensive process. Telecom Expense Management (TEM) solutions are designed to streamline and optimize this, providing both cost savings and enhanced operational efficiency. Yet, securing buy-in from upper management often requires a clear, data-backed presentation that outlines the tangible benefits of a TEM investment. Here are some strategic tips to strengthen your proposal and help leadership understand the full value of partnering with a TEM provider like Valicom.

1. Emphasize Significant Cost Savings Potential

One of the most compelling arguments for TEM is the reduction of telecom costs through proactive expense management. Studies show that 10-35% of telecom invoices contain errors, and an astonishing 85% of these errors favor the carrier. By leveraging a TEM solution, you can capture savings from billing inaccuracies that often go unnoticed without automated audits and dispute management.

Consider an example from one of Valicom’s clients who saved over 15% within the first year simply by identifying double-billing and unused services across multiple locations. TEM vendors can recover these unnecessary costs by meticulously auditing invoices, reconciling inventory, and ensuring billing accuracy. With a TEM, you’re not just saving in the short term but setting the stage for long-term telecom spend control.

2. Demonstrate Time and Resource Efficiency

Managing telecom expenses manually can be incredibly time-consuming. For companies with a significant telecom footprint, finance and IT teams often spend countless hours on tasks like invoice reviews, coding, reconciliation, and managing disputes with carriers. By working with a TEM provider, your team can outsource these labor-intensive processes, freeing up hundreds of hours each year to refocus on strategic initiatives.

Valicom’s automated systems streamline telecom expense processes, including invoice validation, inventory management, and cost allocation. This automation allows for faster processing with fewer errors and reduces reliance on internal staff. If your organization has complex telecom environments with multiple vendors and a large workforce, a TEM can seamlessly manage these complexities and help your team avoid being bogged down by administrative tasks.

3. Highlight Enhanced Financial Visibility and Control

Financial visibility is a critical component of good business management, particularly in telecom where budgets can easily spiral without proper oversight. A robust TEM solution provides centralized visibility into your entire telecom landscape, offering real-time access to data on usage, billing trends, and inventory. With this insight, your company can make more informed decisions, optimize budgeting, and better allocate resources based on actual telecom usage and spend.

Valicom’s Clearview platform offers comprehensive dashboards and customized reporting features that enable upper management to track spend by department, project, or location. This kind of granular data is invaluable for senior leaders when it comes to budget forecasting and variance analysis, giving them a clear picture of where the money is going and how expenses align with strategic goals. Organizations that adopt TEM solutions often experience fewer budget overruns, as their teams can quickly identify any deviations and take corrective action.

4. Present Quantifiable ROI and Long-Term Benefits

Quantifying ROI is essential when pitching to upper management. While cost savings is one component, a TEM solution also enhances productivity, risk management, and overall accountability. In fact, many organizations see a 150-200% return on investment within the first two years after implementing a TEM solution, with ongoing benefits that scale as the company grows.

For example, one Valicom client recouped several million dollars in savings over five years by systematically identifying and correcting invoice errors, conducting contract reviews, and disconnecting inactive lines. Additionally, by establishing long-term tracking and auditing systems, they were able to prevent similar overcharges and inefficiencies from creeping back in, creating a sustainable expense management process.

5. Showcase Scalability and Adaptability for Future Growth

As your organization expands, telecom and IT demands are likely to grow as well. A TEM provider like Valicom can scale alongside you, adapting to changes in service needs, vendor contracts, and compliance requirements. This scalability is a major advantage for companies planning for growth or undergoing digital transformation, as TEM helps ensure that telecom costs don’t balloon uncontrollably.

One of Valicom’s clients—an organization with thousands of locations globally—benefited greatly from a TEM partnership as they migrated to a new telecom infrastructure. Without accurate inventory management, they initially faced excess costs from legacy circuits left active even after migration. Valicom built their telecom inventory from scratch, identifying hundreds of circuits that could be disconnected, resulting in millions of dollars in savings. This proactive management helped streamline the entire migration and provided ongoing inventory oversight as the client continued to expand globally.

6. Reinforce the Importance of Strategic Partnership and Expertise

A TEM solution brings more than just software to the table—it provides the expertise of telecom specialists who understand the intricacies of billing structures, contract terms, and compliance standards. Working with a TEM provider like Valicom means gaining access to professionals who can handle everything from dispute resolution with vendors to complex audits and rate negotiations.

Valicom regularly assists its clients with detailed audits, rate reviews, and even GL coding resolutions, often spotting opportunities for additional savings or contract improvements. Their hands-on approach, coupled with continuous access to customer support, ensures that clients have a strategic partner they can rely on, not just a software tool.

Bottom Line

Investing in a TEM solution is an investment in cost control, operational efficiency, and financial transparency. By presenting these clear, data-driven benefits, you can show upper management how a TEM solution from a trusted partner like Valicom can deliver sustainable savings, efficiency gains, and scalability. The sooner you bring TEM onboard, the sooner your organization can start reaping these benefits and ensuring that telecom expenses are a well-managed asset rather than an unpredictable cost. Take the first step toward telecom cost control and operational excellence—contact Valicom today to explore how our TEM solutions can transform your telecom management and deliver measurable results!