I am about to host a client and they are interested in knowing what company I use. I don't want to lie and say yeah i purchased a server, because they would just ask from WHAT company again. I don't want to say resellerzoom because he will just be pissed I am charging him more lol, any suggestions? Thanks

"Sorry sir but that information is commercially sensitive and cannot be released."

"Sorry sir but that information is commercially sensitive and cannot be released."

Gogo hit the nail on the head.

Instead, you could give them details regarding the data center your host uses. State that your with a provider who has a contract with that data center, and that should cover you. :)

Whether you tell him or not he can find out for himself, and since he's bothering to ask you he probably will. Perhaps he knows already and is just asking to see what lies you'll tell :dgrin:

Personally I'd just tell him who you're using. Perhaps he'll appreciate your honesty and the added value you're bringing to the resold hosting...

You should probably just tell them the truth. After all, your company is offering something that resellerzoom does not offer (I assume), and they are paying the difference in cost.

It is very very easy to figure out what company owns the server, regardless of if you tell them.

I agree with foobic and SyndicateTech - why lie? You (hopefully) provide better support or more services than ResellerZoom provides, so there's nothing you really need to hide.

You can also as stated tell them the datacenter your host deals out of. Lets say its out of The Planet for instance. Just let them know that you have a few providers from the Planet data Center. You use these providers to keep costs low without having to buy directly from The Planet.

I don't see it as necessary to divulge this type of info, though details about the network etc may be necessary to your potential customer and should be provided.

Anyone asking this kind of question should realize that some things don't make sense to be shared. Feel free to ask Coca-Cola details about their recipe. :)

Right. You don't need to feel obligated to send them to your competitor.

When I was a reseller, I'd answer the question. Of course, I'd expand on why they're better off staying with me. But I didn't feel obligated to answer.

thanks for the replys, I will keep your suggestions in mind if he questions anything further.

what i know is that reseller zoom is realtime white label service provider .. even the ip is not branded ..

you can go to www.whois.sc (http://www.whois.sc) type your domain name which is hosted on resellerzoom server .. you will get the full detail of network and the brand of IP even ... under the section Server Data

So instead of telling to your potential client that you have a reseller package from reseller zoom .. you can say that you have a server hosted in this data center.

I hope this help

I think he might want to find out whether you are a reseller or not, MAYBE BECAUSE HE DOESNT WANT TO HIRE A RESELLER

maybe he is not a *real* client maybe he is just another reseller trying to check on competitors like you!!!!!!!

what i know is that reseller zoom is realtime white label service provider .. even the ip is not branded ..

you can go to www.whois.sc (http://www.whois.sc) type your domain name which is hosted on resellerzoom server .. you will get the full detail of network and the brand of IP even ... under the section Server Data

So instead of telling to your potential client that you have a reseller package from reseller zoom .. you can say that you have a server hosted in this data center.

I hope this help

Anyone can easily find out the server-name, which would clearly prove he is a reseller. Honesty is the only way you can go here.

just tell him who you resell for. No problem with that

Anyone can easily find out the server-name, which would clearly prove he is a reseller. Honesty is the only way you can go here.

In several cases you can't tell your client from where you are getting your hosting .. i.e if OP tell his client that he is getting hosting from resller zoom .. then why client didn't logged in to the site and he/she can easily check hosting zoom a sister company provides shared hosting in much cheaper price ..

In this way OP most probably will loose the business ..

And for my own knowledge how a person can find out Server-name and check ip status other then domainstool/whois.sc

In several cases you can't tell your client from where you are getting your hosting .. i.e if OP tell his client that he is getting hosting from resller zoom .. then why client didn't logged in to the site and he/she can easily check hosting zoom a sister company provides shared hosting in much cheaper price ..

In this way OP most probably will loose the business ..

And for my own knowledge how a person can find out Server-name and check ip status other then domainstool/whois.sc
It really depends on your comfort level, with regards to your own business and the respective services. If you're comfortable with and confident in your ability to provide solid services, then I don't see any reason why not to divulge who your technology partners and vendors are. More often than not, resellers provide a different level of service than your average top-level provider. That alone should give you an edge, throw in some exclusive services or a unique way of operating and you should be comfortable enough to operate with an open book policy.


Simon

I think he might want to find out whether you are a reseller or not, MAYBE BECAUSE HE DOESNT WANT TO HIRE A RESELLER

maybe he is not a *real* client maybe he is just another reseller trying to check on competitors like you!!!!!!!

nope you are incorrect, its just a weary client who I have had a relationship with through another company a while ago. He is getting away from that company because of poor service and always liked my level of support I gave him while at the other company. I even designed his site and offered him technical support while there so he feels comfortable using me.

He is very detail oriented, wants a website proposal for a simple site migration, wants to know every single solitary detail about everything. He wants to make sure that him leaving his current provider (unix shell ran by some moron) isn't going to be a bad move. Its understandable.

I even designed his site and offered him technical support while there so he feels comfortable using me.
Excellent. Tell him the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. He will respect you for it and understand why it's worth paying more to buy through you than direct from your supplier.

And for my own knowledge how a person can find out Server-name and check ip status other then domainstool/whois.sc

We use it in our software for HostSentry.net.

Open up notepad. Copy and paste:


#!/usr/bin/perl
print "Content-type: text/html\n\n";
use Net::Domain qw (hostname hostfqdn hostdomain);
print "Your Server Name is:" . hostfqdn();
Save the file and use either .cgi or .pl as the extension. Run it on a machine that has perl installed (basically any web server).

Edit: The permissions need to be 755 and you will need to upload in ASCII if you are using a web server.

It is also very easy to find out the server name with PHP. %info will display the server name and a whole lot of information.

Drew

I would be honest with the client and tell them. If they really want to do their homework they can probably figure it out or get close. Like some of the others said, just explain what they can get from you that they cannot get directly from your upstream provider. Most clients will respect your honesty.

If he likes your support and used you in the past even when he was with another provider I doubt he would move.

Errr, a simpler way would be..

coolwhois.com/lookup/domain.com

This is my fav lookup tool !!

Or, even better is dnsstuff.com

i would not suggest you to blurt out a lie...
but at the same time...saying the truth could harm you.
just give him the details of the datacenter saying:

"you will be hosted on servers @ xyz datacenter situated at abc place and with features like..."
hope my advice helps;-)

In several cases you can't tell your client from where you are getting your hosting .. i.e if OP tell his client that he is getting hosting from resller zoom .. then why client didn't logged in to the site and he/she can easily check hosting zoom a sister company provides shared hosting in much cheaper price ..


Which is why I do not particularly care for reseller providers (or any wholesale provider of anything) that competes against their own customers for retail sales.

True wholesale-only reseller hosting providers, ones that do not compete against their own reseller customers (either visibly or via another site/domain/branding) for retail web hosting customers, are few and far between.