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Three Things Your Business Can Learn From Hosting

By Tina Yew, October 25, 2004

No one would argue that the Web hosting industry is competitive and cut throat. Here are three ideas your business can steal from the hosting industry.

1. Mark Your Positions, and Stay Put

Being providers of a service, Web hosting companies have struggled with differentiating themselves. The primary reason is that many hosting providers have failed to define their unique position from the get-go. Without this, they do not have a focal point for their strategy, ideas, or target market. In turn, they fail to market themselves effectively as customers cannot relate this company to anything. While a business with an undefined position may survive, they are unlikely to be recognized or recalled.

2. Automate Before You Can Say Check Mate!

Bottom line: customers hate waiting. Web hosting providers with automated systems that apply change requests instantly have been much more successful than providers that process change requests manually and slowly. In fact, many web hosting companies have successfully won the loyal hearts of their customers by automating set-up and account feature management. Any business may increase customer satisfaction (by saving their time) with increased automation or shortening the workflow.

3. Monitor Service Quality, Not Just Product Quality

With advances in engineering and technology, many companies are able to offer the same products offering the same features. Therefore, the primary differentiator lies in the relationship your employees build with the customer. In web hosting, there can generally be two types of providers - ones which "look after" their customers, and ones which ignore them. It is inevitable that customers need personal assistance from their service providers, so providers offering telephone support are able to maintain a higher level of customer satisfaction. Web hosting providers that make it difficult for customers to contact them will only frustrate or aggravate a customer. Therefore, any business should make an effort to maintain a relationship with the customer - pre AND post sales.

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