Customer Excellence Returns to Web Site Hosting! – Marketing
Customer Excellence Returns to Web Site Hosting!
Robin Nobles
For those of you with Web sites, you probably know what a "host" is. Its a company that provides a location, or address, on the Internet where your Web site resides.
In other words, just like a physical business needs an address, so does a Web site. You cant have a Web site and just "stick it up" on the Web. Unless you want to set up your own server, you have to go through a hosting company who gives you that address, including server space and bandwidth, that enables the search engines and visitors to find your site.
Lets look at some common problems we often have with hosting companies:
You can never find an actual person to talk to! They may have a 24-hour customer service line open, but you can never get through to a real person.
Hosting companies often think that the "lowest price" will always get the sale, but they fail to realize that what people really want is excellent customer service, servers that are up almost 100% of the time, and a variety of services that come with the hosting package.
Many hosting companies dont provide any other functionality other than Web site hosting. They dont provide a "control panel" full of goodies such as PGP secure e-mail, shopping carts, log analysis, database creation, etc.
Guess what Technical support people often dont make the best "customer support" people. They may be technical gurus, but their main interest lies in their high tech servers and other functionality, rather than solving the simple problems of their customers.
In other words, weak customer service is a major problem with the majority of hosting companies these days. Solution:
I recently had the pleasure of being introduced to Combustion Hosting Company, and to say I was impressed is a vast understatement.
Here are some things that struck me as unbelievable. When the phone rings, whoever answers the phone is required to stand up to answer it and talk. After all, the sheer act of standing up requires that theyre alert and are listening to your problems and concerns. And, you actually speak to a "real" person!
With Combustion, if you have a problem, they dont just "tell" you how to solve it, they solve it for you! Also, their services certainly arent limited to "hosting." They can set you up with an account to where you can access the Internet through local access numbers no matter where you travel.
Their prices are extremely reasonable -- much better than I had been paying previously. Plus, the "extras" Ive received by going with Combustion are amazing.
But the one thing that makes Combustion shine over most Web hosting companies is their devotion to providing good customer service, and this is an area in which they truly excel.
So, if youre in the market for a new Web site, or if you arent pleased with your current host, consider Combustion Hosting. It will be one of the smartest moves you could ever make for your Web site. http://www.combustionhosting.com/moreinfo
If you want further proof as to the benefits of using Combustion, read: this article.
About The Author
Robin Nobles is the Co-Director of Training of Search Engine Workshops with John Alexander. They teach 2-day beginner, 3-day advanced, and 5-day all-inclusive "hands on" search engine marketing workshops in locations across the globe. She also teaches online search engine marketing courses through http://www.onlinewebtraining.com, and she
The 10 Bike Shop Customer Etiquette Commandments – Recreation
The 10 Bike Shop Customer Etiquette Commandments
Levi Bloom
This article was inspired by all those things customers do that really irritate bike shop owners and employees. I decided to create this list of commandments for you to follow.
Customer Lifetime Value – The Key To Maximizing Your Profits! – Marketing
Customer Lifetime Value - The Key To Maximizing Your Profits!
Larry Lim
The greatest asset to your business is your Customer, specifically, your Customer Lifetime Value.
In my many years in Sales and Marketing, Ive met many CEOs and business owners who dont have much clue as to what Customer Lifetime Value is, much less its importance and the impact it has on their bottomline. To most of them, what matters most is to increase revenue by continuously acquiring new one-shot customers.
This is one of the fatal mistakes that many business owners make; its a sad scenario, but its also the reality. Let me tell you something: itll cost you 5 times more to attract a new customer than it is to bring one of your past customers back to you.
I dont know you personally, but if youre a smart business owner, youll understand that every cent you invest in advertising is going towards acquiring new customers. Youll also realise that once youve acquired the customers, you just cant afford to let them go.
So whats Customer Lifetime Value
Customer Lifetime Value is defined as the total value, in monetary terms, of your average customers spanning the entire period that these customers are likely to do business with you. Its the potential contribution of your customers to your business over a period of time.
Heres how to calculate your Customer Lifetime Value:
1. Lets say youve 2,000 steady customers and these customers remain with you for an average of two years; for the past two years, your net profit was $700,000.
The Customer Lifetime Value can be calculated as: $700,000/2,000 = $350.
What this means is that over an average customer lifespan of two years, each new customer you could acquire and keep is worth $350 to you in profits.
2. If you do not have the actual figures, youll have to estimate. As the Customer Lifetime Value will have a significant impact on your bottomline, my advice is that you be prudent and conservative in your estimation.
Why is it so important to you and your business
Lifetime Customer Value is important to you and your business for the following reasons:
1. Knowing the Lifetime Value of your customers is crucial to you and your business as it serves as a benchmark without which youll be groping in the dark.
When you know the Lifetime Value of your customers, you can determine how much time, effort and money you can afford to invest to acquire that customer in the first instance.
In other words, you can invest more today to reap a much larger profits later down the road as long as your cashflow is healthy and can support it.
Every marketing campaign that you undertake costs you money as well as reaping you benefits such as increased sales, enhanced corporate image, etc. But how can you be sure that the benefits would outweigh the costs or investments This is where knowing the Customer Lifetime Value is so powerful - it helps you to determine this even before you launch your marketing campaign.
2. When you realize that customers are actually an ongoing stream of revenue as opposed to a one-shot sale, you can re-focus your marketing efforts.
Instead of contantly struggling to acquire more and more new customers, you can now begin to focus on keeping your existing customers longer and selling to them repeatedly, in other words, repeat sales.
You may spend more like making stronger and more attractive offers than your competition in acquiring new customers now who will be your money spinners tomorrow.
This makes sense because you now know that on average youll more than make it back over the years that the customers are with you and therefore you could afford to break even or even lose money now in acquiring the new customers.
Start shifting your focus to Customer Liftime Value and maximise your profits today.
Start to have a proper understanding of Customer Lifetime Value because its key to the success of your business. Itll allow you to acquire more customers than your competition through better and more attractive offers; itll dramatically increase your bottomline through more repeat sales and shoot your profits through the roof.
About The Author
Larry Lim is a practising marketing strategist and tactician who dishes out effective marketing strategies and tactics that will enable you to successfully start and grow your business on the Internet.
Check out his website - http://www.marketingsphere.com - that is jam-packed with secret marketing information that will skyrocket your sales, and shoot your profits through the roof. Copyright Larry Lim, MarketingSphere