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  1. Reseller Hosting Benefits

    I have been searching around the net quite a bit and one thing I am struggling to find is any real key benefits that a reseller would get from choosing any specific hosting provider for reseller hosting. Has anyone got any good ideas on what potential resellers should look for when it comes to making a decision like this?

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Apr 2007
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    The most important things would be uptime, support and reputation.

    If you are starting your own hosting company with a reseller plan, you need it to be reliable for starters.
    If your server is constantly down or experiencing issues, your business will soon get negative reviews and it will be harder to keep clients long term.

    Same goes for support. If a client of yours finds a problem and you need help from your provider, would you rather receive a resolution in minutes or days?

    Going for the cheapest option isn't always the best, you always get what you pay for and to be successful you need to invest in a good host.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Dec 2002
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    Potential resellers should look for a company with outstanding customer support, fast response times and fast resolution times when there are problems.

    Imagine this:
    Your hosting 10 people on your reseller account, the server goes down. Your customers are emailing and calling you, to find out what's going on.

    You put in a support ticket, and 8 hours later, no one has even looked at it yet.... The server is still down.

    OR

    You put in a support ticket, get a response in 5 minutes that technicians are working on the problem. You get a response 10 minutes after that, that the problem is resolved.

    Which support team would you rather have?

    There may not be much difference in terms of account features from host to host, but great customer support is something that sets companies apart.
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  4. #4
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    Oct 2008
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    Dallas, Texas
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    Things like reliability, customer support and marketing material are all important. A great addition to any partner program is if they provide a portal that provides custom access to content specifically optimized for partners. Another thing to look for is a hosting company that sponsors partner conventions. Allowing partners to meet each other and foster a community amongst themselves shows a level of confidence a provider has in their solution.

  5. #5
    Join Date
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    The most important things would be uptime, support and reputation.
    The last one would most likely be a reflection of the first two. As uptime and support cannot really be known a priori, it's really the hosts reputation that can help (real, actual customers reviews, not some bogus awards).

    Then there are features that resellers look for, some of the more commonly requested and offered being free billing software, free account transfer (from the previous host, if any), the ability to oversell (a potentially double edged sword), and end user support (not so many providers offering this I think). If you rely on your host to support your customers, it makes the choice of host doubly important.

  6. ok so as long as the company meets the requirements of what you want and have good genuine customer reviews then it is going to be a safe bet.

    Does anyone here believe that going to a datacenter and establishing a dedicated box and turning it in to a reseller service is a smart move?

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
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    Dallas, Texas
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    Post Pure Play Days Are Gone

    Finding a datacenter and buying a box is no longer a solid business plan. Resellers need to differentiate themselves and must go deeper into their customer's business model.

    Bottom line - Resellers need to have a value-added solution that differentiates themselves. Reseller must sell more than just their "solution" to retain customers for the long haul. Resellers need to sell other applications (i.e. Exchange) to their customers to get deeper vertically with their clients.

  8. #8
    Go with reseller account. That is always easy start. Dedicated server requires more time and money to look after.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
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    Dallas, Texas
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    Pure dedicated does take a lot of time and effort. Look into managed dedicated servers to help ensure patches and other time consuming processes are handled for you...

  10. #10
    Quote Originally Posted by jciampaglio View Post
    Finding a datacenter and buying a box is no longer a solid business plan. Resellers need to differentiate themselves and must go deeper into their customer's business model.
    Very well said indeed.
    Successful resellers are the one who know about their customers and provide what the customers need.
    End user support is great addon for dealing with server technical issue but resellers relying on that as customer support will not succeed.
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  11. #11
    Join Date
    Oct 2002
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    EU - east side
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    Does anyone here believe that going to a datacenter and establishing a dedicated box and turning it in to a reseller service is a smart move?
    If you know what you're doing, are prepared financially (it may take time to fill your first server), have a specific target market and a way to advertise cost effectively, I don't see why it can't be reasonably successful.

    End user support is great addon for dealing with server technical issue but resellers relying on that as customer support will not succeed.
    I'm not sure I follow. How can it be proved that they will not succeed?

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Location
    Dallas, Texas
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    Agreed - if you want to manage your own box and go into a DC environment you must know what you are doing. But my guidance is thay you will spend more time in running your business than growing it. It is common for resellers in this industry to love the technology more than effort on growing revenue. Be honest with yourself - how much time do you have and where do you want to spend it? If this is a business-first plan, managing a server will pull from that...

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