I was wondering if i where to start a sales support service for webmasters how many people would be interested? I would set up new clients Via the phone and yes im an american with very good english speaking skills.

I would be paid on a per signup basis plus $1.50 per sales phone support call. No calls you dont pay.

I can set up new clients via webhost control panel.

Would you prefer a monthly fee for sales support or a per new signup commision?

I'd definatelly say on comission ... as you would probably get a LOT more calls then sales ... even if you sold on every 10th call ... you'd still cost me U$15 ... but if you worked on comission then I wouldn't mind giving you even the 1st month income as I knew that you were working harder and not just charging me for every tom dick and harry that called just because they felt lonely ...

WebWobbler: Agreed.
Would definately consider it if it were on a commission-basis.

One thing you'd have to consider is how you would represent yourself to the host's potential customers ... it's a bit easier to by anonymous with email/ticket/livechat .. but with phone calls it's really live and every ... 'humm' .. 'ummm' ... 'errrr' will be scrutinized

You could call the 800 number to audit the service at anytime.

Im thinking 50 cents per phone inquiry and a commission would be fare. The 800 number service would not be free for the person providing the service so i think charging per call would be fare regardless of call length.

How about a monthly fee of $39.95 wich would include unlimited call inquires plus pay a commission per sale?

ok so are you saying U$40 p/m plus 50cents per phone call ...

Assuming we would have a sure fire way of verifying the number of calls made ...

I know that you have to cover your costs and make some sort of profit ... but I'm not sure if the amount of actual sales generated by an outsourced number would cover the cost to a host ...

Just looking at pre-sales support tickets and emails ... not too many of them end up in a sale ...

Also what kind of service would this be exactly ... do you just confirm the figures on the website or do you provide technical info?

I'm not sure if Isee the bebefit of this, other then having a toll free number in the US ... please correct me if I'm wrong ...

Im trying to say have it $39.95 flat fee for the service with no per call fee just a monthly fee that would cover unlimited inquires. In addition to the flat fee a commission would be given per sale the sales agent makes. There would be no per call fees.

ok .. what % or amount commision are you looking at ?

100% of the first months fee. Example if plan is $9.95 a month then you would pay us a commission of $9.95

Ok .. I guess that's not too bad ... you might just want to gives some 'value added' services a thought ...

So you might tell people .. I do 'THIS' and that's why you should use me and nobody else ...

Regarding your commission..

What if Ioffer a 7 day trial? When do you get paid, at signup or after trial?
What if they cancel within the first month, is the commision withheld? What if I offer a 30, 60 o r90 day money back guarantee? How does that factor into your service pricing/commission structure?

Not sure yet mandrew i still thinking abot how its all going to work. See i wouldn't want to wait several days weeks or months to get a commission so some kind of agreement would have to be made as to when the comission is paid.

Charging such a low fee for unlimited calls sets up both the hosting company and the support provider for failure. The customers wouldn't be very happy either. This model does not allow you to prepare for a high call load. You've only taken 40 dollars a month from them. Sales and a subsequent commision won't cover the cost of operating. If you became busy you couldn't hire additional staff at that price model. This is what tripod support did and it was a failure on several levels. This is just gross overselling of your time. Proper call center software and equipment isn't cheap. Do you have an on hold cue? What type of voicemail does the customer reach if you are on the line with another caller? It takes quite an investment of time to learn the product offering of a company. How can you predict and prepare for a certain call load when you've promised an infinite level of service? I think you should sit down with a calculator and rethink your model.

Zoren .. you touched up on a few good points there ... I was thinking if he is a one man show .. he could limit the number of customers and only grow once he's ready ...

I do agree that a good call cue/ voicemail service would be a must in a one-man-show ... hey even microsoft have hold music :)

It would work better if you got 100% of the 3rd months fees.

That way you're not getting fly by day customers.

Commission.

lets say i get 100% of the 3rd months fees what would i do in the meantime financialy? doesn't seem worth the time to do something for free in hopes of possibly getting a commission 3 months later.

That would mean for $39.95 a month you would get toll free sales support 24hrs a day 7 days a week wow. There would have to be something more in it or it would be like working for nothing :) I would probably offer weekend support so webhost owners can take the weekends off and let me do the work or run a night shift where i handle the sales requests from like 9pm till 7am

Zoren what would be a good figure. I'm just in the brain storm phases right now.

Originally posted by a1nerd
lets say i get 100% of the 3rd months fees what would i do in the meantime financialy? doesn't seem worth the time to do something for free in hopes of possibly getting a commission 3 months later.

That would mean for $39.95 a month you would get toll free sales support 24hrs a day 7 days a week wow. There would have to be something more in it or it would be like working for nothing :) I would probably offer weekend support so webhost owners can take the weekends off and let me do the work or run a night shift where i handle the sales requests from like 9pm till 7am

It's called startup capital. If you don't have the finances to run the company for at least 6 months (year would be better) with no profit, you're going to have trouble.

You need have enough startup capital to cover your expenses while you grow the business.

As for your charging model, well, I think you got some good advice here. You might give thought to a teir type model based on load.

You need two types of payment:

- Per Call (reasonable, .25-.50)
- Per Sale (I think either 3rd month or 50% of 1st month and 50% of 3rd month would be ok).

A monthly fee with unlimited is not a good idea as stated above, you lock yourself in and if you get loaded down you're losing money.

something I just wanted to add .. whatever you think of .. just have an out of body experience ;) and put yourself in the hosts place and see if you would want to buy/use/pay for your service... it's all great planning for a business but if you can't sell it ... well ...

It's a very common problem with new hosts ... they buy an account .. buy a template ... open a site, advertise on WHT once amonth and then wonder why nobody is comming bashing down their doors for hosting ...

Any other suggestions?

I would be very interested in a service such as this, costing a small monthly fee with commission on top, say;

$9.99 Month
$1.50 per sign up

I don't think that is unreasable, you would get a constant base of cash flow with the monthly fee and loads of money depending on how goos a sales person you are (no offense meant by this).

you would need a VOIP system or world free charge number, this would be your main problem, e.g. for me you would be taking calls from UK USA and a few others (all English speaking) so VOIP would probably be better,