Exclusive Interview with Rob Moore of HostedToday
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We recently had the pleasure of speaking with Mr. Rob Moore of HostedToday.
Rob is truly a success story for the industry and after interviewing Mr. Moore
we believe he is an asset that contributes to the success of his clients. The
depth of experience Rob brings to his company allows him to work with his
customers on a one to one basis, this is fairly difficult for the larger hosting
companies and puts HostedToday into a niche market.
1. Tell us a little about yourself Rob
Certainly! I am a proud Canadian, born and bred on the east-coast of Canada.
I have a beautiful family: a wife of seven years, a 4 year old son and a 1 year
old daughter. I am also still quite close to my parents and brother, as we all
live relatively close to one another. I am a mechanical engineer by trade, and
also have a Masters degree in business. In my spare time I like to go sailing
(preferably racing), play hockey, and spend time with friends and family. I'm
also a big NFL football fan.
2. What industry experience do you have? What did you do before
HostedToday?
I have been in the web hosting industry in some capacity since about 1997.
Prior to that, I was a sales engineer in the Heating, Ventilating and Air
Conditioning (HVAC) industry. I guess it all started when I was asked to build a
website for my wife's company. I didn't have any experience, except that I had a
little more knowledge about computers than they did. I had put a simple family
website together with Microsoft Publisher, so I guess they figured I was an
expert. So I started a small web design and hosting business called "Bishmore
Publishing Services" in 1997. It wasn't long before I started focusing on
the web hosting industry, as the lure of "recurring billing" and the
potential growth that goes along with that was attractive to me. It seemed like
a better long term business than designing websites and simply charging for your
time. In the years leading up to the launch of HostedToday, I successfully ran
another web hosting business (which I sold), and even dabbled in the web hosting
directory business (which I also sold). The experience I gained and the lessons
I learned over the previous several years, I was able to build from and develop
HostedToday.
3. Tell our readers about HostedToday, you product and services.
HostedToday was launched in March 2003, with a focus on budget web hosting.
We make no apologies about our cheap prices, as our business model is sound, and
working very well. Contrary to popular belief we do not overload our servers
with accounts, and we do not sacrifice our level of support to achieve our low
prices. Our support techs are available 24/7 through our email ticketing system,
and typically answer tickets within 1 hour, no matter what time of day or night
they're received.
4. What has led to your success in the hosting industry?
Our customer focus. As far as I'm concerned, that's the most important aspect
of our business, as without customers, we would have no business. I take a very
personal approach to dealing with our customers. I may have outsourced things
like billing, tech support, web design, programming and server
administration.... but I've maintained my customer service and sales hats. I am
the one who answers the phone when customers (and potential customers) call, and
I'm going to keep it that way for as long as I can!
5. How does HostedToday fit into the web hosting industry? What makes you
different?
Quite nicely, thank you :) When we were in the development stages of
HostedToday, there were several "key ingredients" that we wanted to
make sure we had:
1) A very simple website without any flashy graphics or animation. We went out
of our way to design a website with very little "design" features....
a very simple site that would do very poorly at a web design competition! After
all, our customers are web designers.... not us.... so why try to compete with
them?
2) A lot of support information so our customers and potential customers could
get the answers they needed easily. We contracted to have over 40 quality
support tutorials built so that our customers can "watch" what they
should do, and made them available on our website. We also put together
countless articles and help files to help answer questions, which took a long
time to do.
3) True 24/7 support available to our customers. For this we hired a support
company so that they could be available at all hours of the day/night, including
holidays and weekends. Support tickets are answered within an hour, in a very
friendly, courteous and ACCURATE manner.
4) One product that appeals to 95% of those needing web hosting. So we put
together 1 package that has more storage space than most people will ever need
(500 MB), loads of bandwidth (5 GB), free stats, domain parking, add-on domains,
email, and a control panel to manage it all, plus many popular tools to make our
customer's websites come to life. With this much storage space, and no real
option of upgrading to something better (unless customers need even more storage
or bandwidth), it makes the buying decision much less complicated.
6. I noticed you also own ResellerToday, can you tell us more about your
reseller program?
ResellersToday is basically an expansion of HostedToday. It allows reseller
customers to create their own custom hosting packages and resell them to their
own customers. It was designed with the small web designer in mind.... and those
who want to try their hand at their own hosting business. They get the
flexibility to market their services however they wish, sell whatever sized
plans they wish, and charge whatever they want. ResellersToday basically becomes
their wholesale supplier of hosting space, in which our customers create their
own hosting accounts to sell. It really works well for web designers who want to
provide hosting to their customers, or perhaps have several websites of their
own. HostedToday customers can easily upgrade to a ResellersToday reseller plan,
and then to their own dedicated server which we will manage for them.
7. ResellersToday seems very competitive to the industry, why should a
webmaster or web developer choose your service over your competition?
ResellersToday gets most of it's business either from upgrading HostedToday
customers, our word of mouth recommendations from HostedToday or other
ResellersToday customers. Sure we have a great service and a great price.... but
there are so many other hosting companies out there that it's hard (if not
impossible) to make the right choice simply based on a website. Those that do
recommend us however, usually say that it is our customer support, the
availability of our tech support, and the availability of quality help files
that they like most. That's not something we can simply tell potential
customers.... it comes across much better when existing customers tell the story
for us.
8. What incentives are there for a web hosting company to outsource their
hosting operations?
I'm a big believer in outsourcing, as it allows us to grow our business
without getting too big and complicated ourselves, and without me losing control
of things. Instead of hiring employees to handle certain jobs, we've outsourced
our billing, accounting, tech support, graphic design, programming, and server
administration, and that has worked out well for us. Outsourcing allows me to
focus more on other aspects of the business. As long as we are selective in the
companies we outsource to, and are sure we're getting good value for our dollar,
then I can confidently spend more time focusing on the things I need to do. For
me, that means customer service and sales.
9. Technical support is always important with website hosting. What types
of support do you offer and to what lengths will you go to satisfy a customers
needs?
Yes, tech support is extremely important, especially in the budget hosting
industry. We get many customers who are building a website for the first time,
and need lots of hand-holding to get it up live on the net. That is where our
tech support comes in. True 24/7 support is available to our customers. We've
hired a support company so that they could be available at all hours of the
day/night, including holidays and weekends. Support tickets are answered within
an hour no matter what time of day or night they are submitted, so customers
never have to go very long before getting the answers they need. I also monitor
all support correspondence (yes, I eavesdrop!) so that if I see a customer is
not getting the help they need, or if I see they are not getting the responses
(perhaps their email is not working), then I will go as far as to pick up the
phone and give them a call. That goes a long way to earning a customer's
respect, and it is a relatively easy thing to do.
10. Speaking of customer service, do you have any success stories that
stick out in your mind?
I can't really pick out just one..... customer service is an ongoing
commitment, and all cases are completely different. Like I just mentioned, I may
give a customer a phone call if I see they are having troubles with something
(i.e. getting DNS changes done with their domain registrar) and recommend a
solution. A 10 minute phone call takes far less time, and earns a lot more
respect than 5-10 emails going back and forth :)
11. The hosting industry has changed a lot in the last year, what
predictions do you foresee for this coming year?
I predict the hosting industry will continue to grow over the coming year,
and we are gearing up to take on a large chunk of that business. We are
constantly adding new servers to accommodate the increase in account sales, and
don't anticipate any slowdown in the coming year.
12. Do you have any changes or additions to your service in this coming
year?
We are planning a new integrated back-end billing system (I know, that sounds
pretty boring) that will help as our company grows, and a Customer Forums additional
to our website so that customers will be able to share their experiences and
help one another out.
13. Lastly, what is your favorite website and the most recent book you
have read?
Hmm.... I'll give you two favorite websites: www.google.com
(practically the only search tool I use), and www.tsn.ca
(because I love sports, and I am Canadian :). Most recent book I've read? I'm
somewhat embarressed to say that I don't have a lot of time for conventional
books. I get my news and business information on the internet, and read a few
industry magazines (Ping Zine!, PCMag, etc...). But if I want a good fictional
story, I prefer to take my wife to the movies..... or read a Spiderman book to
my son!
We want to thank Mr. Moore for his time and contribution to the web hosting
industry. With all the Budget Hosting companies that exist today, it is very
difficult for the end user to decide what company to go with for web hosting or
even reselling. Rob has shared with us a few points that make a lot of sense,
outsourcing and customer service, a recipe that works nicely, thus working even
better for the customer.
New web hosting companies can learn from HostedToday, think of your customer
first, do what you do best and outsource the rest. and see what Rob has to offer you. |
