The web hosting industry is replete with different kinds of websites being run and managed by site owners with varying skill-sets. Hence, as a Hosting Reseller, providing support and service to web hosting clients can be highly time-consuming. While the type of queries will depend on the technical proficiency of the site owner, as a Hosting Reseller, being prepared for different kinds of queries is essential to offer a memorable service experience to your clients.
Hosting Resellers are aware of the keen competition in the industry. While most providers (companies and resellers) endeavour to offer competitive plans at competitive prices, customer service is what sets them apart. While large hosting companies have a team of dedicated professionals to handle client queries, Hosting Resellers usually find themselves overwhelmed with the complexity and volume of queries raised by clients.
Today, we will be talking about some common customer service challenges faced by web Hosting Resellers and how they can overcome them.
1. Should I offer in-house support or outsource it to a helpdesk?
Most Hosting Resellers find themselves at this crossroads early into their business. While in-house support gives more control over the support function and helps understand the client’s needs, it can be costly, especially if you have to run a 24×7 in-house support unit. On the other hand, outsourcing can be easier on the pockets but leave you with less control over the support-quality.
The best way to work around this challenge is to start your hosting business by offering customer support yourself. Over time, as your business grows, try managing peak-hour queries in-house and outsource the non-peak hour traffic to a helpdesk.
2. Basic queries delay the critical ones
Another pain area for most resellers is correctly judging the urgency or criticality of a client’s query. Imagine spending 30-40 minutes with a client trying to explain how he can install WordPress using cPanel. A waste of valuable support time that can be dedicated to more urgent queries, right?
While you cannot ignore clients who have basic queries, you can create a knowledge base on your site, allowing clients to help themselves. It can reduce the turnaround time for query resolution and improve the efficiency of your support function.
3. Poor quality support from the parent host
Most website hosting companies offering Reseller Hosting plans also provide dedicated 24×7 customer support for the Hosting Reseller’s clients. Thus, your clients can talk to the parent company for technical issues. If the hosting company is not client-focused and offers poor-quality service, it can be detrimental to the image of your brand. Hence, before you buy a Reseller Hosting plan, apart from other features, ensure that you clarify the support SLAs with the hosting company.
4. Relying on a single channel for customer support
Usually, Hosting Resellers offer customer service via telephone to avoid spending money on infrastructure and workforce to provide other channels of support like chat and emails. It can be frustrating for the client as getting through a phone call can be difficult. Also, if it is a critical issue, then you will have a highly irate client on hand. Therefore, ensure that you offer at least two channels for support. Emails are the easiest platform for grievance resolutions. Also, in recent times, integrating a chatbot that can offer automated results for basic queries, has become a cost-effective solution.
Summing Up
When you are planning your customer support function, it is essential to remember that for your clients, a technical glitch or downtime translates into losses (financial or otherwise). Hence, the only resort they have is to approach you for a quick resolution to the problem. If they find your customer service lacking, then you might lose their business and gain a bad reputation in the market. So, roll up your sleeves and give the customer service function the importance it deserves to run your hosting business efficiently.
