On 19 Dec 2009, at 10:21, Mark Rogers wrote: > On 18/12/09 23:21, Dave Sones wrote: >> the real test of any >> company is how it behaves when things go wrong. >> > > On the other hand, it's a perfectly legitimate business model to get as > many customers as possible on a miniscule margin, and let the ones with > problems flounder until they leave.
It may be legitimate but it's not moral and it is this sort of thinking that makes the would a BAD place. > As long as your systems work, the > vast majority of customers will be happy and problem free and if enough > of them are making you £1/month you can make a decent income. Once you > let the few with problems eat into that margin the business model falls > apart. > > Companies like A&A (and there are plenty of others out there) charge > more for the service so can provide decent support, and that's another > perfectly valid business model, not least because effectively you have > TT and other big boys out there recruiting for you. And there are > smaller companies in the middle (mine is one of them) who offer > broadband with other support services so the business model is different > again (although I'll say for experience that we're very much dependent > on our upstream providers to deliver decent support to us when there is > a problem). > > I think the best model might be to be completely open about the margins > on a service like TT's, and offer decent support on a chargeable basis > when needed. You get your broadband at a very low price, but if you're > unlucky enough to have problems you understand that there isn't the > money to provide support except if you pay at the point of use. And I'm > not talking about £1/min phone lines, I'm talking about something like > £100/incident but backed up with the kind of support that Dave described > - someone takes ownership of the fault and gets it resolved. Since you > could be saving £10/month by using the cheaper provider, £100 to sort a > problem isn't too hard to justify. > > -- > Mark Rogers // More Solutions Ltd (Peterborough Office) // 0844 251 1450 > Registered in England (0456 0902) @ 13 Clarke Rd, Milton Keynes, MK1 1LG > > > _______________________________________________ > Peterboro mailing list > Peterboro@mailman.lug.org.uk > https://mailman.lug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/peterboro > _______________________________________________ Peterboro mailing list Peterboro@mailman.lug.org.uk https://mailman.lug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/peterboro
