Thursday, September 25, 2008

Importance of Support in Web Hosting Business

By Bob Willis

Technical and customer support is considered as the foundation of a web hosting company. Prompt customer support is vital for running a successful web hosting company as it reflects the credibility and reliability of the company. It also generates confidence in the potential customer because in the unlikely or rare event of technical errors or considerable downtime, customers can only rely on the company's support system to have their queries and concerns addressed.

Lets pick an example to validate the importance of customer support for a web hosting company. Joe owns an online gift shop and Christmas Eve is the time that his business generates maximum revenue. If on 23rd December, his website experiences technical problems or a probable downtime, he will eventually lose out on sales. Worse would be if he is not able to contact the support team of the hosting company. Such occurrences can adversely affect online business and this is the reason why hosting websites should focus on their support services.

Prompt and accurate customer support is what every discerning customer would look for in a web-hosting provider. This feature can make or break a hosting company, per se. Besides quality customer support, factors like performance, space, traffic allowed, features and pricing structures are also taken into consideration.

A superior web-hosting provider would offer 24/7/365 customer support through toll-free as well as email. Support through tickets is also a common feature incorporated in the support systems and while its promptness is not guaranteed, it can be used if the query is not urgent. However, a quality web-hosting provider should be able to address any ticket queries within 12 to 24 hours of its submission.

While many companies may claim to offer 24/7 customer support, it is a good idea to check their availability by calling their toll-free number on a weekend or at odd hours. This would give you an idea about the credibility and reliability of the web-hosting provider.

For a user, reliable technical support becomes imperative and for a web hosting company it becomes vital to offer this support free of cost in order to gain success in a fiercely competitive industry. In the event of technical errors or other technical failures, the user should always be able to rely on the support system of the company to remedy any technical issues and/or have any of their queries addressed promptly.

Many hosting companies would consider outsourcing their support to other hosting companies in order to cut on costs. While outsourcing support is a cost-effective strategy and the company has to advantage to access expertise in specific fields; the company cannot directly interact with the support staff. A quality outsourced support firm should be able to handle the company's technical support, sales / billing and server administration in a proficient and prompt manner.

A hosting company therefore cannot afford to compromise on their customer and technical support in an industry where users lay prime importance on the reliability and credibility of the hosting company.


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