Hi,

I'm a newbie to the idea of reselling, I understand the concepts and I'm capable of handling the admin and software but I have a full time job and can't be available 24-7 for support

Whta do you guys in similar circumstances do? Is there a reseller that handles tech support for you and its invisible to the end user?

I asked hostgator.com this in live chat and got a one sentence we handle tech support answer.

Answers that simple scare me, there is always a catch

Please give me you input on this

Site5.com
hostingzoom.com
varhosting.net

They provide support for you clients. I've no idea about the quality of support though.

have not used them, but u2mike and beachcomber list end-user support options

There are some resellers that do provde end user support. Most come at additional cost. Another to add to your list:
jodohost.com
And end user support seems very cheap for the level of service. only $0.50 per active user / month.

Some times having a host do your support for you is a good idea but can also be a bad idea. We find it's a bit better to use our direct customers ( resellers ) as a filter for the hard questions they can fix or know then they pass them along to us. But this does not work well for some one pressed for time or to busy to mange there customers. But then again if your way to busy to manage your customers why become a reseller AKA hosting come. Hmmm..

Well, I think if your host offers end-user support, its a very good benefit both to the reseller and his or her customers.

Letting your host directly answer your customers reduces support times, ensures 24x7 support and ensure that answers are always technically correct and have up-to-date information. Most hosts will allow resellers to also simultaneously answer their customers so its not that resellers would be completely cut-off from customer support. They'd be able to answer themselves, read and learn.

Most resellers would not have hosting as their main source of income and would not be available to answer their clients 24x7. Why would it be a bad idea for them to take up such an option?

Offering support for the clients of a reseller should not be too much of a hassle but that is also a cost for your host itself.

Don't be surprised if your host charges you some money for either each ticket or maybe a little extra $$$ per month for the extra that you require.

Anyway, I've actually seen a few hosts out there doing that already. Just a small question to you guyz (in the same regards), is it actually a good idea to do such a thing? I've never thought about it but lately, I've gotten a few emails asking me this and I'm just wondering if it's actually a good idea to offer such support.

I'm sure nobody has a problem (on our side) with helping more people out but the thing is, How do you calculate the costs? Do you calculate on per ticket basis or per customer or per month?

Anyone out there wanna advice on such a thing?

Well, we did of course study this very carefully. All I'd say is that the rise in support costs we calculated wasn't very significant at all.

A large %age of tickets were anway being forwarded by resellers to us.

Hahaha... guess offering it as an extra free service would be a better thing to do huh?

Guess we should actually think of it as well. It could be a value added service to our clients. But here's the catch, what email should we use? Our regular support email or should we get a different email from our resellers? Or what would be the BEST solution to this?

Originally posted by aodat2
But here's the catch, what email should we use? Our regular support email or should we get a different email from our resellers? Or what would be the BEST solution to this?
It seems a little pointless to offer end user support if you're just going to keep the email branded.

End user support should be set up entirely under the resellers domain and branding, or else it just looks tacky. This is of course only my personal opinion.

Simon

Having support for your clients might get a little tough, but it would be very convenient for them!