Hi..
1st let me say thank you for the help you provided in my previous post. My question is: how can a small reseller just starting out in the biz offer quality support? I'd like to start but this is holding me back. I'm just one person who has a full time regular job and I can't figure out how I can offer perspective clients good support. I know I can list a FAQ, offer email support, but what about a live contact person? That would be difficult for me seeing it's just me.Has anyone faced this problem as they were starting out, and how did they overcome it? Thank you very much.

..Bob Renzi

Robb,

I have the exact same situation. It has not been an issue thus far. I would suggest an 800 voice mail system that will allow you to do a call back service. That way you can do the voice to voice when necessary.

Marty

Those neato little email pagers? They look like tiny laptops, heh. Just a thought...

Hello Robbr, I`ve just started out and I`m on my own on this. I`m just working 10 hours a week so I have more time for this than you though. But I realy think you should go for it, there is nothing really to loose being a reseller (except time). I`ve had a fair share of problems when my first customers came in yeasterday, but everything eventually gets solved, and the whole thing is very exciting. One gets really inspired and you get the grip of it through great books and experience which I`m sure is teaching me more in less time than a certified course.

And I`m doing realtime help through ICQ, which work really well.

[Edited by Haakon on 02-15-2001 at 02:48 PM]

If you want a hint from me, read on.

The first thing you would need to do is to make a commitment, reselling is not a money maker so don't depend on it as a living.

For support issues, I would get a seperate phone line and make a little office in your house. You should really make sure the company you resell for have good phone support as well.

For guality support, the following things are somewhat required:

1. Reachable Phone Number
2. Fax Number
3. Account Automation
4. ICQ support is a plus

IMHO

If you have good support documents online, a control panel so your customers don't need to call you for every little thing, and a very reliable server, your customers won't need to contact you too frequently. If you can check your email and phone messages while you're at work, you can make sure nothing too disastrous is going on.

You can state on your site when support is available, so customers know what to expect. If you want to offer 24/7 support, you can look for another reseller in your position, preferably in another time zone, and share tech support. Or, you might want to choose a host that offers unbranded tech support to their resellers' customers. I believe OLM and AFHosting are two companies that offer this service; you can check recellar.com for others.

Good luck!

Do folks just starting out ever share a dedicated? Take turns running customer support for all? Maybe 3 or 4 in the coop. Nice if one or more worked a night job.

However, 2 people can cooperate well, maybe not 4.

Just a thought.
Gary

Sorry Carol. Your comment is better. I missed it before posting mine. I was interrupted to help administer my son's night meds.

Gary

Gary, your comments are good. I don't see why three or four people couldn't cooperate on a short-term venture that enabled them to build up to independence, as long as the ground rules were clear.

What to do about support is a good question for every small company.

I have full time day job as well, beside running my company but I have access to my support e-mail account all day so that if anything comes up I can get back in touch with the customers quickly.

Also I'm thinking of getting a cell phone just for the company side of it and having that on me all day at work for any major support issues.

The best way to keep customers happy is to respond quickly to their issues, even if at first you don't understand the problem, get in touch with them as quick as possible to learn more about the problem.

Plus you should have a phone number on file for each client, so there is always the option of calling them after you get a support e-mail sent to you from them.

Just some thoughts.
-Jeremy

I have become encouraged by the sharing idea. My friend and I have both had problems with inappropriate billing and poor administration and support. We have decided to move the risk to just one of us. We are going to form a cooperative. I have talked to two businesses that are also interested.

I will become a reseller just to satisfy our needs (and give me experience for later). My handicapped son (who works at home anyway) will likely administer. I first asked if any of the other 3 coop members had a college-age child that would want to learn the business and provide the administration/support. None did. My son and I will do it together. We will add $5 per account per month for the administrator. Just local accounts will be invited. They will have someone they can see, touch, and trust with their money.

I think the coop can avoid many the non-technical problems I read about in the discussions. We will register domain names only were we have complete control (mostly).

I am still working out the details but after the above discussion I registered the names hostingcoop.com and hostcoop.com in reference to the cooperative idea.

Gary

Originally posted by projo
Just local accounts will be invited. They will have someone they can see, touch, and trust with their money.


Gary,

Good luck! I see no reason why that wouldn't work. A lot of people are tired of trying to deal with big faceless ISP's and webhosting providers, and getting no response from them (or being refered to as ticket number 123456 etc). If there's a need for good hosting in your local area, you'll only need a few accounts to get the ball rolling. After that friends will mention to friends and you'll grow.

Greg Moore