Elliot Noss about ISP Strategy

ISP Planet has two articles with Tucows CEO Elliot Noss. Email is critical. Tucows already offers the critical apps of messaging and billing, now blogware and domains. Noss gives ISP owners advice on running an ISP business:

• Noss points out to "think of tech support as a service, not as a cost center" and to have a career path for your people. [You want to keep them right? Plus a knowledge base created and kept up-to-date by all of your employees alleviates some of the loss when employees move on.]
• "Noss pointed out that if a customer has a problem and calls, that's a good thing: it's better than a customer having a problem and switching service providers."
• "When you've just had a haircut, how often to you talk about the scissors the barber used? When you have a plumbing problem and it gets fixed, and you recommend a plumber, what did they do for you? They showed up on time and fixed the problem. So don't keep customers on hold, and don't make customers feel bad."
• "Customers want help with technology and gadgets." [Seminars, videos, & HOWTO's can help you help customers, who can look to you as the Expert.]
• Finally, Noss gives marketing advice: "You should find out what customers want."
• "If you don't know why your customers are leaving, you cannot fix the problem." [Poll your customers.]
• Look for more Marketing advice on ISP-Planet.com from Guy Decratel and myself. RAD-INFO wants to help your ISP grow.