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The role and importance of the Internet in the world goes through a fundamental element, which is the hosting of all existing content and equally important in this universe, are hosting resellers.
As old as the Internet itself, this service delivery model has proven to be a great gateway to digital entrepreneurship, but like any business – physical or virtual – it is necessary to pay attention to some basic principles to succeed in the endeavor and that’s what we’re going to talk about today!
The evolution of resellers
As we mentioned, the evolution and growth of the Internet partly depended on this model known as reseller hosting.
When we go back in time, more precisely around the 2000s, the Internet was already a worldwide phenomenon and Brazil was no different.
People and companies soon realized that they needed to take advantage of the real fever that took hold of internet users and also have their websites. But what was needed to be done? As? And where to host?
At the time there were few hosting options, proportionately very expensive compared to the present day and with several problems, such as poor and poor support. They were mostly foreign companies and they were trying to take advantage of the boom that was also happening here, but without knowledge of the national market, its shortcomings and needs.
But these same companies offered what was common abroad and especially in the US, which were reseller plans and which were nothing more than plans in which the customer could have a larger “slice” of shared server resources and manage this across different sites.
It was then that Brazilian hosting companies began to proliferate, which did not need all the technical knowledge and investment of having one or more servers in a data center. All you had to do was know how to use the resources and tools provided and “slice” it among your customers.
Even many of today’s leading national hosting companies started back then as reseller hosting.
Much time has passed since then, but this model is still vital to the ecosystem, since despite some particularities and differences resulting from changes and evolution over time, resellers are still a service provider that manages to be closer to the final consumer, or if you prefer, one that needs to host a website.
In the same way – but for different reasons – as it was in the 2000s, even today the dealer manages to be closer, to know his customer better and, therefore, to provide a more personalized service.
In most businesses, the customer often has the opportunity to speak directly to the dealer, express their expectations, report their difficulties and even chat, if they so wish. A level of relationship that simply doesn’t exist in the big companies in the industry, when they can just be numbers in reports and statistics.
As long as there is this lack of one-on-one service, there will be a demand for hosting resellers.
7 Success Principles for Reseller Hosting
It was important to start this approach with the evolution of resellers in Brazil, because a striking feature present in this story is the first tip – relationship…
1. Invest in relationship
The main factor that has always characterized reseller hosting is also the main reason for their survival.
It is not just about applying Relationship Marketing concepts. It is almost intrinsic to small businesses to provide truly personalized service.
Anyone who owns a business knows the value of a contact where you are addressed by name, not because it appears in a CRM, but because whoever is on the other side knows your reality, your business, your needs and desires. Relationships that are built on that basis are relationships for a lifetime.
Impossible to find this – at least at the same level and depth – in the vast majority of the largest companies in the sector.
2. Technical support
Another fundamental pillar, which has always been a differentiator for resellers, is technical support.
Partly as a result of the previous item, the greater and closer relationship favors the reseller who can provide faster, more targeted, more detailed and attentive technical support and who knows how far it is necessary to go.
It is not uncommon for him to assume responsibility for procedures that are not done in large companies and that, at most, are guided through a tutorial, which in turn is either not clear, or does not speak the language of laypeople and analogue natives.
3. Service channels
Technological evolution, added to the ever-increasing number of customers, has pushed the largest companies in the segment towards an increasingly automated and distant service. Either by introducing an intelligent virtual assistant, or with answering robots (chatbots), or by reserving telephone assistance only for certain accounts and “special customers”.
Here again lies the differentiation, when the reseller manages to offer an immediate service channel, without having to wait in service queues and in which there is a voice and an attentive ear on the other side, or even an online service chat and in that there is interaction in real time and with someone of flesh, blood and empathy and for whom every customer is special!
The urgency and distress that produce a website that is down often do not match a response that seems to take too long to come from a help desk or an email.
Therefore, offering as many service channels as possible goes against the grain of what large hosting companies can do.
4. Transparency
Enabling everything we’ve dealt with so far involves acting transparently with our customers, which in turn presupposes respect, honesty and ethics towards them.
One of the great advantages of resellers compared to the largest in the sector is not having to look like what they are not. They do not need to appeal to the glamorization on the Internet and social networks, which has been observed in companies of all segments and sizes.
You have to remember that if your customers wanted the biggest companies in the industry, they wouldn’t stand a chance. In fact, it is because they are not like the big ones that they have them as customers.
5. Infrastructure
When we talk about infrastructure, we are not just referring to the set of hardware and technologies that will be shared and offered to its customers.
Infrastructure should be seen here as the totality of resources it will offer and which includes the servers, the systems installed and available on them, but also its own institutional website, the help desk and other service channels (telephone, chat, e-mail). mail, etc), technical support, administrative systems, etc.
Think of an infrastructure that is accessible, easy to use, comprehensive and that allows its users to make the most of its service provision.
6. Update
Keeping up-to-date both in terms of technical knowledge related to and necessary for the activity, as well as in relation to infrastructure, is another basic tip.
Knowing as much as possible or at least the most common about the most used CMS, security aspects, programming, server administration, operating systems, will be essential to resolve issues that are within your power to deal with and avoid dependence on the hosting in which you have the reseller plan.
But it also helps from a commercial and marketing point of view, by creating a broader portfolio of services in line with the demands of its customers and the market, such as being able to offer a website maintenance service or offering plans cloud-based solutions.
7. Hire resellers with a hosting partner
The meaning and use of the term partnership has been trivialized in such a way that it is often used as a way to describe any commercial relationship, however superficial it may be.
To deliver everything that the most typical and successful resellers offer their customers, they need a similar relationship with the hosting they have their plans on.
In other words, they are only able to provide fast technical support if they are also as fast on issues that go beyond their remit or level of access. They only relate very closely if they also have the same proximity to the other end, in such a way that they know how far they can go. They only serve very well, because they are also served very well – and everything that implies – every time they need it.
The hosting chosen cannot represent a bottleneck in the pretensions of what the reseller wants to deliver to its customers.
In the same way that resale is characterized by differentials for its customers, hosting should also be chosen for its…
How to choose a hosting to resell?
It must have been understood by our last tip that an important part of success depends on the hosting that will serve as the service provider. Most are concerned with issues that are always remembered and that everyone is concerned with praising. More than that, in legitimate partnership relationships, those involved need to have identification in points and principles.
With that in mind, consider exactly what you should prioritize with your customers:
- Relationship – hosting companies that also value relationships are essential for a true partnership;
- Technical support – that offer extensive and preventive technical support, in such a way that the agility and resolution of eventual difficulties of a technical nature are wide;
- Transparency – companies that have security in the services they deliver, offer trial periods or refund of the contracted plan if something is not as promised, as well as have no clauses in contracts or service provision terms trying to “bind” you ” to her;
- Service – have several service channels and on a 24×7 basis;
- Infrastructure – the environment and resources are complete and aligned with the most common demands of the market;
- Updating – look for the most up-to-date in terms of the environment, such as servers with SSD and redundancy, including backup, which in times of cyber-attacks and the profusion of malware is essential.
But in addition to all this, it is convenient to observe other equally relevant aspects.
Price
Price is often a deciding factor.
Not that it isn’t important, but let’s assume a possible difference of R$ 20.00 between similar plans from two companies. If, by hypothesis, it is possible to accommodate accounts for 20 clients, is R$ 1.00 for each one a significant monetary value?
Consider instead the value delivered and not just the price.
Control Panel
The hosting control panel is fundamental, not only because it is the means by which users use the available resources, but in other situations, such as in the case of migrations.
The most popular panels greatly favor site migration and the chances of eventual incompatibilities, which is a crucial aspect in acquiring new customers.
Security
Web security is another point that cannot be overlooked. On the contrary.
Give preference to companies that not only offer technologies that reinforce the security of the hosting environment, but also have preventive and control policies and procedures, focusing on intrusions, vulnerabilities, dissemination of SPAM, etc.
Conclusion
Successfully undertaking reseller hosting depends on a set of well-defined attitudes towards your customers and on the partnership made with hosting.
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