Hi,

I'm totaly new to this forum, but I subscribe because I'm seriously concidering becoming a resseler in Belgium. At this moment I'm trying to make a cost/profit analysis, and of course ... try to follow the intersting discussions you all have in this cosy forum.

My question (I hope I post it in the right forum) :
As a reseller ... what are the most common questions customers ask ? How often do people contact you ?

It seems that once you customers site has been set up and activated, most of the work is over. Or are there a lot of difficulties to expect ???????

Thanks in advance for your help, and hope to learn a ot from you guys !

Sixten

In the mean while I found an intersting topic, giving me an idea about the answers to my question), but this still leaves me with the question : what amount of time does a reseller put into customer support ????

I can hardly imagine that when you host 20 or 40 sites you get support-asking mails from them everyday, or do you ????

Another question that pops up is : how much time does a reseller have to put into things ?

Greetz,
Sixten

support will make or break your company. Sometimes you'll have that great customer, and sometimes, you won't.

I'm from Romania and I have some clients on Alan's Splashhost. Generally speaking your clients will ask if they cannot do something (email, scripts ...). If you'll get simple clients (html + mail) you're OK when the main need mysql, php, perl ... things are going to grow fast.

But if you intagrate also webdesign and marketing tools you'll get considerable correspondence.

Keep up ! :cool:

hi I'm also from Belgium :)

Well about the support it depends... if you have only (big) companies then you'll not have much work, but if you go also for the private persons (with small accounts) then prepare to spent allot of time to support them... don't forget that everyone now in Belgium that knows how to use a pc wants also to make a website.. so prepare to answer questions like: "how can i make a mail form" "what's a cgi script" "I can't send e-mails can you tell me how to configure my mail client" etc..

And then off course the people how want to use databases but don't know anything about.

I think you understand what I mean ;)

But there is not only support... don't forget that you will spend allot of time to find manners to get new customers (not a big problem if you can spend allot of money ;) ), how to grow etc..

groetjes!

Nice to see some members from Belgium here. I too live in Belgium and will be
starting to resell soon. About your questions on support. I have for the past two
years set up and helped many with free sites, and believe me you will get questions
everyday. Even though I did it for free and loved it, the questions never ended.
Hosting is not just about offering web space but mainly I think the support you give.
As mentioned it depends on what you offer. There is a tread here about how many
support tickets web hosts receive, I think this will give you a better idea.
But I do think there is still a market in Belgium. What I have seen so far is either very
expensive or below any standards. Have you seen some of the web hosts in
Belgium?
.
veel geluk!
rinnando


about how much time you will spend? Well that is a hard one depends on how many accounts you have.
I myself wake up to my computer and spend 12-14 hours a day on it.
Email, research, setting up new sites, going through forums like this, more research and then every now and then I eat as well. .....

Hellooow to the Belgian fellow-hosters !! :D

I'm from Wijnegem, near Antwerp (off topic, but hey; I don't see a thread full of people from your own country often, now do you?:D)

Just wanted to let you know that if any of you Belgian hosters have any questions about starting off as a hosting company, you're free to contact me ANYTIME !

You see, we went dedicated since the end of February, so we do have a bit experience in this biz... ;)


Kind regards,


Thomas.

Stomme belgen :P

You will find out that most questions are asked in the first weeks of signing up.

Thereafter, some people understand the way it works, and sometimes ask a questions. Other wouldn't learn it, and keep asking for simple things.

hi,

I would suggest you to write out a comprehensive FAQ system which covers the basic questions like how do I upload a file, What is CGI, How do I send/receive mails. This will save you a lot of support work. And for those who never care to look up the FAQ before asking you questions, my suggestion would be having a page stating that you have a comprehensive faq on your website before letting them have access to your support form. Let them know what they want to ask might probably be answered.
Remember to include a link to your support form when the customer is convinced that he can't find the answer. Refer to Ebay and Amazon on how they do this. If the customers send you the same question (which could be found in the faq), just go to the faq, copy and paste the answer.

In the future, you could setup a forum to foster a self-helping community, but you need to make sure you have enough customers to do this.

Hope this helps.
Joe