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6 Tips to Stand Out from the Competition

By Lia / July 11th, 2019

The onus is on businesses to differentiate themselves amid the increasingly competitive web hosting industry landscape. Choosing a web host is often the most difficult decision that customers have to make when launching their business, so it's vital to shape your niche and stand out from the crowd.

Here is our guide on how you can deliver more value to your customers and stand out from the competition:
1. Be a trusted advisor
Providing web hosting advice is a great way of building trust and adding value to your customers. This is especially the case given that many businesses won't have the technical expertise to know exactly what service they need. This can range from advising whether they need Linux or Windows hosting, through to whether they'll require free, shared or dedicated hosting. For those starting small, providing advice early on could see them remain loyal to you as their business - and hosting needs - grow.
2. Focus on stand out support
Customer experience is a vital tool in standing out from the competition. The modern customer demands that any concerns are answered or resolved immediately, and any delay in response could lead to a loss of business. So, ensure you're on hand to speedily remedy anything from issues with billing to questions regarding technical help at all times.

WHMCS provides you with a complete customer support suite - both ticket desk and self-service tools - so you can provide stand out support to your customers at all times. With the powerful and integrated ticketing system, customers can open tickets via the web or email; and even when you're not online, customers can find answers to their questions with the built-in self-help knowledgebase.
3. Guarantee strong technical performance
Technical performance that customers can rely on is central to providing value to customers. Every second a site is inaccessible could result in missed sales opportunities and damage brand reputation. 99% uptime is almost an industry standard now, so it's a given that you must meet and exceed this expectation. Reliability, security, speed and accessibility are four pillars you need to have front-and-centre.

Additionally, achieving a sudden surge in traffic should bolster your customers' sales. But if their web hosting isn't able to handle the extra demand then it will do the exact opposite. It's vital to ensure your sites can handle a sudden influx of visitors as and when they occur.

To ensure that your customers are always informed of any issues, the Network Issues and Server Status in WHMCS helps you monitor and keep customers informed of any server issues should they occur.
4. Upsell services
As your web hosting business grows you can offer additional services that provide further value to customers. These could be technical-based services or assistance with online marketing, web design or SEO. For example, many businesses prefer to use one provider when it comes to web hosting, domain registration and email hosting, so this is a popular additional service.

You can add services yourself, do so in tandem with a contractor or by partnering with an agency. However, before launching any service consider the specific needs and requirements of your customers to assess where you can add the most value.

Additionally, you can offer value-added products such as SSL certificates, website builders, data backups, and website and email security. WHMCS makes it easy for you to sell value-added products via MarketConnect. With free landing pages, automated provisioning, unified platform and competitive pricing, reselling value-added products have never been easier.
5. Provide peace of mind
Ensuring robust security levels is paramount to every business. As a web host, security concerns can range from staying on top of upgrades through to protecting data as a third-party supplier and assisting with regulatory concerns like GDPR.

It's therefore vital to be on top of the latest security and compliance issues and offer support and advice for customers' security requirements. However, if security isn't your strong point be careful not to overpromise on what you can do for customers.

You can also offer various security products such as SSL, email and website security and data back-ups on top of your hosting and domain packages. DigitCert, CodeGuard, SpamExperts and SiteLock are all big names in security available for you to offer via MarketConnect.
6. Inspire loyalty
Despite the amount of competition out there, businesses want a web host they can trust and, when they find it, they're unlikely to want to jump ship. Inspire loyalty in customers by committing to understanding their business and unique pain points, demonstrate that you care about helping them grow their business and aim to meet and exceed their expectations.

Always deliver value to beat the competition

Businesses are increasingly looking for web hosts they can stay with for the long haul, but they also aren't afraid to jump ship if they don't receive the service they expect. WHMCS helps you to stay on top of your competition through powerful automation features that keep you in control and allow you to offer more value to customers.

By providing powerful technology, taking the time to understand customers' needs and building their trust with excellent support, you'll build value and, consequently, see your web hosting business flourish.

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