| Posted by amazingwebresults, 01-19-2005, 06:12 PM | | HI,
I'm a new web designer operating out of my home. I'm a one man shop and I joined this forum to get help with tough questions. For example,
I want to host a web site for my first customer. I am reselling hosting using Viaverio. My concern is that my customer's website or email may go down and I won't be available to help him immdiately. Even with a cell phone, I still have to think about things like vacations or trips.
Viaverio says they will not take direct calls from my customer unless I give the customer total access to the account. I'm not wild about that. How does everyone here handle this?
Thanks,
Adam
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| Posted by Companyideas, 01-19-2005, 06:22 PM | | Not to highjack your thread, but I would also be interested in how people handle the customer signup side as well ( a weeks vacation seam like a long time to make people wait to be accepted for hosting), that is if you do vet all your client prior to sign up.
Again sorry to highjack your thread amazingwebresults but I guess you would also be interested in the answer
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| Posted by IvialisJonathan, 01-19-2005, 07:00 PM | | You can always hire someone to do it while you are gone or just give support to your customers while you are on vacation also. It would limit you to pick locations that you would have at least internet access. It may not seem like a vacation but it is all about taking the extra step for your customers that makes them keep coming back month after month.
Getting something like a t-mobile sidekick isn't a bad idea. Then you have access to the internet while you are on the go.
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| Posted by amazingwebresults, 01-19-2005, 07:06 PM | | companyideas,
no problem. it's related.
ivialisjso,
I don't have a problem caring for my customers. In fact, I feel that even with my best intentions, I'll still be unavailable sometimes, like when I am having a meeting with another customer. I can't drop one for the other. It just makes good sense to have a backup. I'd be interested to know what other people do?
Thanks,
Adam
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| Posted by IvialisJonathan, 01-19-2005, 07:21 PM | | You can outsource some of your support from such companies as bobcares.com. They offer 24/7 helpdesk support for a reasonable price.
You might want to check them out if it is not cost effective to hire someone else part time.
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| Posted by Joshua, 01-19-2005, 07:34 PM | | We outsource some of our support when either Matt or I are on vacation, but I never go anywhere without my cell phone, and some kind of access to the internet in case something happens that needs my attention. I'm glad to say that none of my vacations have been ruined by business, yet
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| Posted by Taylor, 01-19-2005, 07:44 PM | | As all have said, take your cell phone and laptop if possible. Outsourcing is also a great idea for the short timeframes you are gone.
Is there anyone local to you that you could train in setting up accounts or handling some of the small things just to keep everything up to speed?
With this business, it seems like it's nearly impossible to take vacation without some extra form of help.
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| Posted by amazingwebresults, 01-19-2005, 07:47 PM | | It makes sense to look for a host who offers this service, but if few hosts do it I don't want to limit my choices because of this one issue. This bobcares.com sounds interesting. I never thought of a separate support company. Can you hire them just for vacation periods? Or is it better to look for a host who offers this service?
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| Posted by RossMAN, 01-19-2005, 07:50 PM | | I'm also a one man show and no one helps if I go on vacation. The cell phone/laptop comes with me.
No problems though since I get at most 5 support tickets a week and 4 of those 5 are billing related
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| Posted by IvialisJonathan, 01-19-2005, 08:02 PM | | I think the shortest period of time you can hire them is a month.
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| Posted by ldcdc, 01-19-2005, 09:34 PM | | Almost anything can be negotiated if you make it worth it for the other part. Pay them double for a week of service and everyone can be happy. (Just an imagined scenario, maybe their policies are very rigid, I don't know.)
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| Posted by IvialisJonathan, 01-19-2005, 10:09 PM | | I don't know how strict they are since I have never used them.
But since amazingwebresults is using a reseller account, he falls under the the reseller option with them and is only $24 for a month (1-12 accounts), $2 dollars for next 13-50, then $1 for the rest so it is a pretty reasonable price even if you don't need it for the month.
I would see it as being worth it if I was the only person and wanted to go on vacation. Not saying you should just leave and have no contact for a week but as a backup.
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| Posted by ArtieFishill, 01-20-2005, 01:18 PM | | What's a vacation?
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| Posted by kconnection05, 01-20-2005, 04:01 PM | | I just wrote an article for a client (I provide writing services as a branch of my business) about resellers who outsource customer support. I found through my research that many resellers find this to be a cost effective option and that it helps them to provide the best service for their clients.
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| Posted by markjut, 01-20-2005, 05:32 PM | | Maybe hire someone to do it for you
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| Posted by kelvinklay, 01-20-2005, 05:53 PM | | you really need to hire someone while you are on vocation otherwise your business status will be low and shutdown.
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| Posted by amazingwebresults, 01-21-2005, 12:41 AM | | How about this? Tell the client that your service includes a 2 hour response for emergencies. If the client needs immediate response on a 24/7 basis, there is an additional charge and you turn this client over to a service? This way, most of the sites that are simply for "show" will probably go with the 2 hour response, and that will give you enough time to get back by cell phone. But the client running an e-commerce site will probably be willing to pay extra for the quickest response. Has anyone here offered this?
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| Posted by WHRKit, 01-21-2005, 12:49 AM | | Team up with other web designer or web hosts and cover each other's accounts or helpdesk during absense. I have seen this model working in some places and everyone did benefit from it. Or ask friends to help out. Or hire a technician for the time of your vacation. Imagine how you would feel if your web host goes on vacation and support does not exist .....
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| Posted by amazingwebresults, 01-21-2005, 01:26 AM | | There is no question that you have to provide help. The fact is that different clients require different levels of support. Some aren't too concerned if their site is down for a day. Others are investing advertising to drive traffic to the site and can't afford to go down for more then a few hours. The question is, if you are a one man show, what's the best way to provide emergency service? I can't see how a one man show can seriously provide 24/7 emergency response with just a cell phone, unless you shower with your cell phone! The idea of offering basic service, and also offering 24/7 emergency service as an additional charge - then contracting that service out - seems reasonable. Does anyone here offer these 2 levels of service?
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| Posted by IvialisJonathan, 01-21-2005, 02:53 AM | | A two hour reponse time for an emergency is a pretty long time. Leaving a person's site down for a day just because they don't care is not a good thing.
Being a one man show is hard to do. If you don't have the cash to hire other people to help, ask your family members. Most likely they will be willing to help you if it is just a once in a while.
It is really up to you how you want to deal with your support. Some hosts do have different levels of support that the customer may purchase for a fee.
It is best to be honest and upfront with your clients. Let them decide if they want to host with you or not.
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| Posted by dmetzcher, 01-26-2005, 03:59 PM | | I was waiting for someone to say this, else it was going to have to be me.
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| Posted by dmetzcher, 01-26-2005, 04:06 PM | | The downside to this is that your customers will be prone to being pitched to by someone who is supposed to support you. An example is the host that I have my reseller account through. I was on the phone to their support and the guy I had on the phone could not really help me at the time. I had it fixed by someone at the company later, but the support person (outsourced in Canada) told me to check out another reseller hosting company. I did and didn't like their costs, however. lol.
This isn't a perfect example, but it shows how anyone outside of your company who does your support can send your clients elsewhere, if they have no regard for their own job or your contract with their company. I would tend think that partnering with another hosting company to offer support for each other would increase the chances of this happening. I could be wrong, however, as I have no real world experiences to back this statement up. It's just an general, initial feeling I have.
Has anyone actually done this personally?
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| Posted by Terminator1138, 01-27-2005, 05:11 PM | | I'm in the same boat I think, I have my own company and have offered great support so far. I run my own support tickets, billing, and set ups are fast, however, since its only me I run into problems since I'm a reseller and I'm not around.
My solutions. I have a forum with latest news and also front page news for clients. I post in there if I'm gone for an extended amount to time. I have also chatted with forum members who I have known that wouldn't mind helping out. (only if you trust access)
My advice, get a small network of people together you can trust! If you have about 10 or so and all agree to help each other out (cost effective, cuz you each in a sense pay each other by helping each other), you then have a support team ready for whenever anyone goes on vacations. No added support from 3rd party, and you know each person. The downfall, you have to TRUST them.
HTH
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| Posted by dmetzcher, 01-28-2005, 01:34 PM | | The problem with them is that you can't hold them to any support SLA's. Further, I wouldn't trust another host with my customers, unless we signed a contract making particular guarantees. Also, what happens if you are partnered with another host who is not providing services at the same level as you? Their people will call more often than your people, and you have an unbalance. You will find yourself supporting their people all the time, and not have time to devote to your own sales or general management (which you should be devoting your time to when not supporting your customers). If I had things set up so that I had to spend less time on support than the next company, I would want to invest my time in something that helped my company, not supporting someone else because they don't have the proper support management on their end.
Without a contract and some SLA's this poses a problem.
However, what about agreeing to handle x number of requests in any given month. You both agree to the same amount, and after that, you are on your own for support. In this case, maybe partnering with a few other hosts (though I still cringe when I type that) would work as you would have several ticket requests "in reserve" with each host. Just a thought. The idea still scares me.
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