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What do you see in this picture? Click here. Did you see an old lady or a young lady. I know many of you have done this exercise and know that there is actually an old lady and a young lady in the picture.
I first encountered this exercise many years ago in a high school art class. We were taught that two people could look at the same picture but see it very differently. Our perception of the picture is the reality in our mind.
This relates very well to marketing. The customer's perception is the reality. You may be marketing a picture of a beautiful young girl, but if their perception is a picture of an ugly old lady, the latter is the reality.
We play a very delicate game of perceptions in marketing. Right now there is a huge battle of perceptions that, if not handled correctly, can eliminate your ability to sell EZ-NetTools™. The battle I speak of is that of hosting companies. Two years ago, very few people even knew what a hosting company was. Now consumers are trying to compare services. Consumers want the most for their money, so they start comparing.
To survive the battle, hosting companies have to create a "perception of value." The fact is, hosting companies are really only offering web space. There is very little difference between hosting companies, so in order to create a perception of value, they must "package" their services so that they appear to have a superior service.
They start offering the ridiculous, boasting web space upwards of 300MB when the average web site uses only about 4MB. The additional 296MB is "fluff." Also, since hosting companies don't have EZ-NetTools™, they also offer "fluff" software which is usually a scaled down version of a popular program, a CGI script from a library of code or simply a useless program.
Finally, the big thing hosting companies lack is the ease of use found in true integration of software and hosting hardware.
BEWARE and do not be fooled by the fluff of hosting companies or ISP's who offer hosting! As an Internet consultant, you need to point out to your clients and prospects that they are really seeing the picture of the ugly old lady in a hosting company and you have the pretty young lady in EZ-NetTools™.
Hosting companies are in the midst of a huge battle of perceptions. They lead their customers to believe that they have more value than they really have. Avoid the pitfall of joining this battle when you don't have to.
Educate your Prospects / Clients
So, how do we help our clients understand that what they are seeing is fluff? Of course we need to educate them. Many of your prospects will not know the difference between an ISP and e-mail. It is important that you help them understand what different services are. Most of all, help them understand how we are different. There are three steps necessary to help you avoid the pitfall of the hosting battle.
1. Feel confident in your offering. I have received many calls from resellers wondering if our pricing is still competitive. We monitor the market pricing continually and can comfortably and positively state that our suggested retail price of $49.95 per month is very competitive. In fact, your clients could easily spend a lot more than $49.95 a month to sign up for a non-integrated solution.
If you are charging more than $49.95 a month, I suggest that you include some monthly maintenance service on their web site. For example, provide 1 hour of changes on the web site per month. Compare what you are offering to our Reseller in a Fish Bowl. It is, of course, important to compare prices with those in your area.
2. As we work with our clients, it is imperative that we separate ourselves from hosting companies and be able to explain how we are different. The following chart may help you understand the main differences. Click on the links to learn more about the individual concepts.
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You can really avoid the battle altogether by presenting your service's options rather than displaying hosting details. Click here to see how the new model site presents the Self Serve, Jump Start and Full Service packages.
3. Work out your packaging. EZ-NetTools™ is far superior to a typical hosting solution. We need to help our prospects and clients understand that we have the "beautiful young woman" and not the "ugly old lady." We suggest that you minimize the importance of hosting by making the following offering:
Free hosting with an EZ-NetTools™ account.
In reality, hosting is just web space. Granted, response time and uptime are important and we excel in these arenas. So you might be asking how you can give hosting away for free? I am not implying that you give away the service for free. However, I do propose that you "package" your services in such a way that hosting is free. You offer free hosting but charge your standard fees for the EZ-NetTools™ service. In other words, you separate the hosting from the EZ-NetTools™ software in your customer's mind.
The "free hosting" offer makes a very powerful statement and leads your prospects through a very strategic train of thought. If hosting is free what do they charge for? ( Answer: EZ-NetTools™). If they charge for EZ-NetTools™, then what is EZ-NetTools™? Now you can explain the power of EZ-NetTools™ and your services which hosting companies do not have. Hosting is included.
Where hosting companies are offering "perceived" value, you can offer a true value. Remember, we have what they don't - software, which we often refer to as hostware. We also have the integration that hosting companies and ISP's simply don't have. It is true that some ISP or hosting companies may have a very simple administrative tool, but don't be fooled into believing that is even close to the sophistication of EZ-NetTools™.
Click here to view our current model site for new resellers which is already set up this way. This updated web site is also available to you in the EZ-SiteDuplicator™ program if you would like to copy the updated web site for your use. Click here to read an article about the new tool.
Summary
Knowing that perceptions are powerful, it is important that we avoid the ridiculous tactics of hosting companies which are engaged in a fierce battle selling fluff. As you separate yourself from them, it is important to educate your prospects and clients. Help them understand that we are an ASP - not merely a hosting company. As you present your services, you can offer free hosting which will further differentiate your services from that of a host. By helping them understand that your services are that of the pretty young lady, we have found much more success selling our services.
It's time to get jazzed about selling EZ-NetTools™!
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