in-house support

[cpios]

Is it important to have in-house support on a reseller plan?

 

[SenseiSteve]

I don't know that it matters whether it's in-house as long as your clients perceive they're getting the support they're paying for.

 

[HostColor]

It is always important to have a skillful and well trained support team inside the company. the outsourced support might work for some companies, but I do not like the idea.

 

[Zachary McClung]

I don't know that it matters whether it's in-house as long as your clients perceive they're getting the support they're paying for.

Steve has another excellent point. If customers are happy that it shouldn't matter where the support is from. Either way you should watch the support and monitor tickets because at the end of the day the support is going to be what makes the difference between you and the other guys.

 

[astroWP]

You should start offering support yourself and getting a few friends who need a little side-job to do support for you as well. When you get more servers than you can handle, that's when you know to start recruiting team members. You'll most likely know when the time has come.

 

[mountspot]

I think support outsourcing is cost less and better than in-house support.

 

[Mediumcube]

I think support outsourcing is cost less and better than in-house support.

In what way it's better I wonder?

 

[DedicatedNow]

I don't know that it matters whether it's in-house as long as your clients perceive they're getting the support they're paying for.

Spot on!!! :thumbup:

 

[bermuda]

If you study forums posts published online, the ones which deal with issues like some people praising the hosting companies they have been with for a while or the threads and feedback posts that reveal customers resentments with the packages they have tried out, you will come tho this conclusion that offering reliable support to customers should be the number one rule all the time.

No matter how big or small your company is, whether or not you are the only person moderating your business, from your house or a commercial office, how many investments you have online through taking part in traffic building methods, if your customers or potential clients feel that you are always more than happy to answer their emails swiftly and help them troubleshooting their hosting related issues, you would be walking on winning path.

It is not just the matter of saying admins of big companies are able to breeze through marketing tactics, but they have noticed that support tickets should get answered ASAP and their customers do not like waiting for ages before receiving their welcoming email messages, containing their hosting details and features. Some select firms even offer advanced-level technical support via chat.

Have you thought what impressions will be made on clients in such cases? Happy clients will be talking about vendors they have bought products from, no wonder some successful businesspeople promote their websites even when they are sleeping because they know their websites or e-commerce portals have established a kind of global impact online, outpacing competitors through great customer support.

 

[XHIServices]

If you factor in the cost and time needed for extra staff to support your end users as well as yourself. Make sure your packages are price appropriately to reflect this.

 

[webhostingcs]

Hello,

If you have a lot of clients already, you can get your own support team. Let's say you have 1000+ clients..

But if you're just starting out, maybe you can be your own support team while your company grows. Expand based on the needs.

Thanks!

 

[CloudSolutions]

That's always good idea to have in-house support since those in-house employees would be the once to care at most for your clients. However if you are looking to save money at the start up period. Outsourced may be your choice. However it won't be same as in-house.

 

[kusai]

If you can afford a $3500 per month system admin on a $25 reseller plan great. Wait hold on why dont you get a dedicated server then ?

 

[MisterZim]

In house support is great but it all depends on your budget. Theoretically, no one can provide the kind of customer service that you as the owner can. But since web hosting is technical, it also depends on your level of knowledge about the individual issues that may arise.

Also, just for clarification, are you the one offering the reseller plan or are you offering shared hosting on a reseller plan?

 

[handsonhosting]

As a hosting company owner, and having been in the industry for the past 15 years, there's nothing like having your own employees, but even then, there are limits.

Having someone punch the clock for 8 hours a day and get paid only goes so far. Much like a store clerk (in most cases) doesn't care what you buy, or whether you buy from them again in the future, the same can often be said of Live Help and Tickets at Hosting companies. As long as the work is done, even if it's half assed, it's done.

Any self respecting company should definitely be concerned with Half-Assed work being done by employees or contractors. There's nothing wrong with hiring contractors.

What I've found over the years is that if you pay your employees a decent wage, and offer incentives and possibly even a profit share, they can be extremely loyal employees and their work shows it.

I can't say that I have employees that are more dedicated than me to the business, but I have 3 particular staff members that go well above the call of duty on everything they do. While only being paid for an 8 hour shift, it's not uncommon for them to be around for 8 hours, leave, then come back for a few more hours. It's not because there's lots of work that needs to be done, or not enough staff to do it, it's because they love their job and they love their pay & rewards. I've never had such a dedicated team working for me like the time I have had over the past 2 years.

 

[CloudSolutions]

Some companies holding small in-house team and taking outsourced as backup/help group. So that's also something you may consider as an start up.

 

[DunamisHosting]

In my opinion, the fact that they are getting the service is good enough, however customers should have the right to know whether its in-house or not.

 

[shockym]

In my opinion, the fact that they are getting the service is good enough, however customers should have the right to know whether its in-house or not.

That seems kind of like a so-so answer, like your customers should be happy they are getting any support at all. Sorry but I disagree and that is not the stance I take. All clients no matter if you in house staff or outsource should always be provided a quality level of support, not just "good enough" support.

 

[easyhostmedia]

we used to use outsourced support, but when we did client feedbacks it was clear clients were not happy as they were treat like numbers and not paying clients, so noy all support is in house.
we have a stance that if client A is paying a £1 a month and client B is paying £30 a month then why should the support they receive be different, they are both paying clients at the end of the day

 

[woody]

Any little edge you can offer helps build a solid customer base. Having an in-house support staff, in my mind is far preferable to outsourcing this important day to day link with customers.