Get to Know The ACS Team
Philip Klein
Partner Solutions Director
Philip (PJ) Klein has been with ACS for almost 12 years. He is a go-getter and quickly earned his keep as one of the top-selling Channel Managers in the company. PJ creates long-lasting relationships that he continually follows up on to ensure satisfaction and a constant revenue stream for partners.
With his extensive background in Telecom sales and the desire for success, PJ is a driving force and an inspiration to the ACS team.
What do you think makes working for ACS Cloud Partners unique?
When I first moved to LA, I worked for an outside Telecom sales company. I was drawn to ACS due to the niche market it acquired taking on a consultative role instead of a salesman one. All the internal support ACS provides to our partners’ clients is completely free. We take a consultative approach while never losing out on price and providing ongoing end-to-end support. Read More about our Dedicated Support Team.
We have direct agreements with almost every major internet, voice, and cloud provider nationwide and are guaranteed the best pricing with every provider we work with. The only contract signed and bills received will come directly from the carrier.
What is something people don't know about you, Philip?
I was born and raised in Upper St. Clair, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Pittsburgh. After college at the Indiana University of Bloomington, I headed west to Los Angeles, to start my corporate career. I found my passion in telecom sales, met my wife, and lived the California dream.
After about ten years of living in L.A., I returned to my roots in Upper St Clair, purchased a house, married, and started a family. My family includes my beautiful wife and fantastic partner, Joelle, and two beautiful little girls. Leila is almost four years old and Callie recently had her first birthday. I can’t forget about my fur-baby, Ziggy, who is a mini-Aussie and schnauzer mix and great with the kids.
Where did you work before ACS?
In 2009, I was hired by C-BEYOND as an outside sales executive selling voice and internet communications to small businesses around Los Angeles counties. This company really got my feet wet and created my passion for telecom which led me to ACS.
At the time, there were two companies coworking at the same office location in Torrance CA; Telcom Insight and ACS. I made my way into the late Doug McMillan’s office, President at Telcom Insight, and tried to sell an integrated T1 for their voice and internet needs. That was when Doug introduced me to the Channel/Indirect sales alliance for the first time and provided me with a high-level overview.
About a year after my conversation with Doug, I received a call from Eric Asquino, President at ACS who wanted to interview me for a potential channel manager position, and as they say, the rest is history!
What is your favorite meal to cook?
I am a grill man at the heart. Whether it’s sunny, snowy, or rainy, you can catch me outside on the deck with a beer manning the fire and ensuring a perfectly cooked dinner.
My favorite things to cook are nice pieces of porterhouse, filet, chicken breasts, lamb chops, salmon, lobster, vegetables, and anything in season.
What motivates you?
I’m motivated to provide my two girls with the best possible education. Both girls attend daycare throughout the week with an emphasis on early childhood education and development. They interact with other kids their age, gain confidence, and learn responsibilities, and classroom structure that we can’t do at home or by ourselves.
I’m also motivated to live a relaxing retirement. To accomplish these goals, I’m committed to continuing to work hard to provide for our future. I fully believe that if you do what you love, you’ll never work a day in your life. I’m also motivated by kindness and preach compassion to my little girls so they can grow up to be nice to others and gain leadership abilities.
Do you have any hidden talents or hobbies?
My grandfather passed down to my father who then passed down to me the love of collecting U.S. and World coins, gold and silver bullion as well as bills/notes. I am also a semi-early cryptocurrency investor.
I am also an avid “sneakerhead” and have shoes in boxes stacked to the ceiling. In my free time, and when Pittsburgh isn’t snowing or raining, I thoroughly enjoy golfing with friends.
What changes have you seen throughout the years in the telecom industry?
Firstly, I’ve witnessed a ton of mergers and acquisitions. For example, TWC, Charter, and BrightHouse into Spectrum, and Verizon sold CA, TX, and FL assets to Frontier.
Secondly, Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) is booming. Equipment moving from onsite phone system PBXs to cloud-based unified communications.
Lastly, in the past, COAX, POTS, EoC, and Copper T1s were predominantly sold over Fiber for internet connectivity due to a lack of network buildouts. Which correlated with higher MRC. Some clients didn’t require the higher bandwidth throughput to justify Fiber internet spending.
In 2010, the US FCC got involved making a federal mandate to eliminate the requirement to provide copper and POTS lines to be replaced with an alternate solution. During this time, we saw ISPs massively build out their fiber infrastructure networks while often utilizing marketing development funds to help make MRCs more palatable for clients.
