We're looking into 24x7 staff shortly and a move to faster quality servers. I was wondering what other WHT had to say about this. Should I hire 24x7 tech support and move to faster more expensive servers and raise prices?? Surely, it would be better for the client. But it seems there are so many people who want cheap, cheap, cheap, that not as many people care about quality. Can anyone give out a percentage of people looking for a web host who are looking for quality instead of quantity(and cheap prices)? Thanks for anyone's opinions.:)

- Mike

I think it should be driven by the types of customers you are targeting.

Surely, it would be better for the client. But... But nothing imho... If you're goal is to do what's best for them, those that care about what they are doing will notice it and appreciate it. Anyone can get "just anything" anywhere and that's what makes the competition so stiff in those areas..... It's much harder to find "something good" somewhere and that's where you'll stand out and shine...

I think you should provide the best service you can, in respect to both hardware, as well as support. Find out how much that will cost you, then build a pricing plan according to that. Stick to your guns and do a good job, and it'll all work out.

Bottom feeders aren't even a small moniority anymore so they're all squabbling over customers as much as anyone else - they just make a lot less money per customer, and have less funds to dedicate to support, services, and emergencies.

Having never leased a 'cheap' server I can't say this with any authority, but I would imagine the poor network performance, broken down hardware, and badly configureds servers I see here on a daily basis would drive up support requirements, thereby costing the host more in time. You might be suprised how much you can save by spending more. :)

Greg Moore

Go for it, it will benifit you in the long run

Cheers

Originally posted by akashik
Having never leased a 'cheap' server I can't say this with any authority, but I would imagine the poor network performance, broken down hardware, and badly configureds servers I see here on a daily basis would drive up support requirements, thereby costing the host more in time. You might be suprised how much you can save by spending more.

Excellent point, greg.

Mike,

The guys above do make good points, but remember this... The clients you have today, are clients that were willing to sign up with you with the services you were offering yesterday. If they wanted 24x7 support and faster servers, then they would have gone with a firm that provides those services at higher prices. They chose you for a reason. =)

:cool:
George

Originally posted by mas3000
Can anyone give out a percentage of people looking for a web host who are looking for quality instead of quantity(and cheap prices)?
Don't know if that kind of information is available. Maybe someone has done some kind of research on a small section of the hosting community etc.

The bottom line from the customer's standpoint is, is that they want a good product at a good price. They want value for their hard earned money. Just think of your mindset when you go shopping for products and services that you use. How do you think? What is your mindset? Do you always choose the cheapest? Examine your habits and this might give you an insight into other folk's habits...

I'd also be wary of making drastic changes like you've mentioned. Consider the impact of these changes on your immediate cashflow, rather than on your long term outlook etc. By bringing in 24*7 support and more expensive servers, you'll impact heavily on your profitability and this might force you to raise prices, which could lead to losing clients and thus losing revenue. That's a dangerous track to head down unless you have a large cashflow reserve that can buffer yourself through this time of change.

From a customer's perspective, it is difficult to judge the quality of the host prior to sign up. What we have to go by is probably what is mentioned on the web site (since most do not visit WHT or others related sites to gather opinion). So the one which offers the best value would usually win the customer. Of course, in terms of repeat sales, that would be a different situation altogether.

Besides, expensive in itself does not really signifies better quality. There are still several hosts pricing their services at 1990 prices but provide inferior quality services compared to the lower cost counterparts which keep up with the times.

I do not deny the fact that an increase in price (if drastic) would definitely turn off some customers and that could work against you.

You may want to consider offering two price ranges, the current lower price with current hardwares and another higher end one with the higher priced/quality hardwares. You may see some migrating upwards to the higher quality servers but not start losing any clients if they decide not to move.

I would approach it this way;

Make a chart with all the current plans and clients listed. Then raise the price of each plan by a small amount, maybe a dollar or two.

Track it for a month or 2 and see what happens. You'll quickly see if you start losing clients. If you don't, bump it up again, just a small amount.

Keep doing this until you start losing clients.

Well, if you do raise prices on a monthly or bi-monthly basis, it would definitely scare most customers away because if they sense there would be a price increase trend, it may be way too costly to host.

The best thing would be to do a price freeze for existing clients and apply the new higher prices to new potential clients after the announcement and for those who want to upgrade to the newer faster machine.

hmm that sounds good.

Maybe make a compromise less cost but less support. More cost but more support and better server.

Possibly edit some of your packages.

Thank you for everyone's opinions. Sorry I did not mention this, but I was not planning on changing the pricing of any current customers. Any current clients up-to-date have a price freeze and will not be affected.

You may want to consider offering two price ranges, the current lower price with current hardwares and another higher end one with the higher priced/quality hardwares. You may see some migrating upwards to the higher quality servers but not start losing any clients if they decide not to move.
That sounds like a good idea. I guess I could target both audiences. What are others opinions on this logic? Do you think two sections would be successful?

One or both may suffer.

Originally posted by kwiklink
One or both may suffer.

How would it suffer ? The customers have a wider choice to choose from and could sign up based on their needs.

eddy2099,
Yeah, why would it suffer?:confused:

I really got no idea too. Maybe too much choices may confused the customer and thus turn them away ? haa haa. :D

I run a software development business and 4 editions to our flagship program while progressively adding features up the edition ladder. Of course these at different price factor. There is always an upgrade path open to the customers. This has been running for the last two years and its works perfectly for us. The lowest price is about 1/3 that of the higher-end edition. With that, we got a good range of clients from the hobbyist to Multi-nationals. They have varying needs and we aim to cater to them as much as we can.

So I am sure that if you provide an upgrade path and a wide range of plans to meet different needs, I don't see how it can be bad for you. Might be bad for others but that is beyond the scope of this discussion. ;)

I don't do web hosting so it does not affect me. I am just a customer.

Anymore comments??:D

Originally posted by mas3000
Do you think two sections would be successful?
No.

Aussie Bob,
Why?:confused:

Originally posted by mas3000
Do you think two sections would be successful?
No, from my experience I don't believe this would work. The number of people choosing the higher plan simply because of 'better quality hardware' would be minimal. Secondly, this may put people off altogether by the thought if they choose the 'lower hardware' plan they will be getting put on a server with extremely poor components and they feel as if they are being "forced" to upgrade, people don't like being put under pressure in this way. Thirdly, having two sets of plans like this would just be completely confusing. Finally, if you had a hardware failure on the high end machine and not on the lower one (just out of chance) some people may feel ripped off.

What you may want to consider is having it as an optional add-on service or as a "premium upgrade" instead of marketing it as two separate packages. If you were going to do this, I personally think this would sell better. At the end of the day it's the same thing, just a different way of marketing it.

But all in all, I doubt the idea would work to a great extent.

Originally posted by mas3000
Aussie Bob,
Why?:confused:
What rochen said. :)

Originally posted by Aussie Bob

What rochen said. :)
:)
Assie Bob do you have AIM?

Originally posted by mas3000

:)
Aussie Bob do you have AIM?
Sorry. I only use chat for communicating with my techs.

I'm good with email though. ;)

Originally posted by Aussie Bob

Sorry. I only use chat for communicating with my techs.
Yeah, you can get him on irc.httpme.com #robstechs ;) :D

Do you have ICQ or MSN at least?? If not could you go to www.mas3000.com and go to the live chat. I'm not it right now, and I'd like to talk to you about your services.

- Mike

Actually, I wouldn't consider the current plans that you are offering as 'inferior' or anything in that nature. With the new and faster hardware, you should be able to offer higher end plans probably with more features whatever it might be.

Of course, there is no need to advertise that the lower plans are inferior hardware and the higher ones are on superior hardware.
There is of course nothing wrong is having more than a single server to host your plans. It is inevitable that given time any hardware would break down because of some reasons if not for wear and tear.

There wouldn't be two sections in matter of speaking. Just an extension of what you are currently offering. I understand that you have 4 plans right now, perhaps with the new servers you could add two more plans with more features at a higher price.
That would thus give you 6 plans to select from.

Originally posted by mas3000
Do you have ICQ or MSN at least?? If not could you go to www.mas3000.com and go to the live chat. I'm not it right now, and I'd like to talk to you about your services.
If I do chat now, then folks expect support via chat etc, and that's not what we offer. Sorry about that. :)

if you increase your level support, increasing the price a little is expected. espically if you provide 24/7 support