2019 reseller rebate (or growing a successful business relationship)

In our company history we have always counted on something we recognize as extremely important in every business relationship - loyalty. When people say loyalty, what usually comes to mind is customer loyalty. However, loyalty is much more than that. Loyalty is something mutual, and it is an important pillar of our relationship with customers.

Indeed, customer loyalty made it possible for us to stay on the hosting market that long (18+ years). But customer loyalty can be built and maintained only when the provider is also loyal to their own customers.

Of course, the most apparent manifestation of provider loyalty is to assure a service of the highest quality at a reasonable price. Uptime, stability, vast number of features, immediate support – these have always been our top priorities. Reasonable pricing and keeping a healthy profit rate – too.

However, provider loyalty can be expressed in various other ways, specifically by making moves that no other provider would make. We have always tried to be unique in the hosting industry, and that has brought to us many loyal customers.

To name a few of our unique features:

• Extensive discounts. Each of our customers gets AT LEAST A 20% discount off our base hosting prices on renewal. More accounts = a greater discount. Customers with seven or more accounts receive a 50% discount on renewals. Loyalty brings pricing down.
• Overdraft. At the moment, 612 of our most prominent partners have the Overdraft feature enabled. Just like with a credit card, they can purchase and renew services without paying immediately. But unlike credit cards or bank overdrafts, they pay absolutely no taxes or interest rates. This significantly simplifies the operations of our resellers, as they can pay for all services at once, just once a month. We trust our customers, count on their loyalty, and this is our way to show our loyalty as well.
• New accounts at (nearly) zero cost. Given that our marketing budget is close to zero, we have always considered that we should “spread” the “marketing money” to customers that bring business to us. Therefore, allowing our resellers to open new hosting accounts for as small a fee as possible has always been in our agenda. The discount on new hosting purchases for our resellers is currently 90%. The main reason it is not 100% (completely free) is the fact that providing completely free accounts may distort statistics as some accounts might be opened without actually being used. A fee, no matter how small it is, takes care of that and makes things right.

Overcoming difficulties

One of our large resellers lives in a troubled country, where violence, terror, car bombs, and such are a daily activity. He is forced to live in a country nearby as a refugee, but somehow still manages to run a reseller business. Of course, he has to deal with various difficulties on a daily basis, such as managing accounts with little or no internet, sending payments to us from a region where banks have various limitations, dealing with customers who cannot be easily contacted, and so on.

Recently, this reseller contacted us with a request to increase his overdraft amount as there were current issues with non-operating banks in his area. Of course we did that – as this is quite normal reaction in a long-term successful partnership. Our CEO saw this request and said “Oh, how is this man doing business at all? Let’s think of what else we can do for him!” Then we checked statistics, seeing that this reseller, in a region where war is going on, has managed to sell some new accounts. Thus, we came up with the idea that we will return all money for new account purchases to this reseller. Also, our CEO advised to increase the overdraft of this reseller permanently, as well as provide much longer grace period to cover it – this customer has proven through the years that he is a loyal partner of ICDSoft, and we value that greatly. Overcoming difficulties together is our way of doing business.

Rewarding all successful partners for 2019

Shortly after rebating the above-mentioned particular reseller, we had some communication with another of our larger resellers on a non-related matter. We had to consult our CEO about it, and in the course of talks, he advised us – “Please check what business this guy brought to us in 2019. If it is significant, make a rebate to him also”. So we thought that there are many other resellers that brought business to us, why don’t we do the same for all. So we came up with a plan: we would rebate new purchases for 2019 for all resellers with over 20 accounts that increased their number of accounts with more than 10%.

The statistics

• 78 resellers rebated.
• Fees for 1511 new hosting accounts refunded.
• Over 10,000 USD refunded to reseller balances.

Conclusion

Most companies, no matter in what sector they work in, would come up with quite different ways to spend 10,000 dollars. We prefer to invest in loyalty, as we know that this definitely pays back.