I don't mean to pick on you specifically, Peter, but to raise and echo some important points about our experience as an OpenSRS reseller, since early 2000.
Let my reply ring true... or at least honest. :-) . . . Peter Kiem wrote to [EMAIL PROTECTED]: > I read Chuck's statements in that OpenSRS used to be about providing > a fair and equal basis for resellers to make a business, or augment > their business, with domain name registrations. Yes, and I think, OpenSRS still provides this. "Fair" has implications that are extremely relative in nature. "Fair" to you may not be "fair" to me, to OpenSRS, or some of the large resellers that seem to be dominating the referral list. This is why "they" say "life" isn't fair. "Their" interests conflict. That being said, OpenSRS is "augment[ing]" my business to the tune of nearly 25% of gross revenue... and domain registration has never been anywhere near the front lines of our marketing or retention strategies. The really *good* part is the majority of domain customers also host with us, and we've had excellent luck when converting "domain-only" customers to domain and hosting customers. "Customers" is the word of the day. Be "fair" to *them*, and you will really go places. I've travelled more in the past twelve months on business than I did in the last twelve years. I could have farmed out the work, but I needed to get out more, anyway. :-) > Dubious practices by other registrars were not followed by OpenSRS > even though that could have increased revenue. "Right" was given > more priority than "$$$". And still is, in my opinion. OpenSRS has consistently demonstrated their dedication to their customers, regardless of statistics. Software is updated constantly. Reseller updates are timely. Downtime is minimized. Wholesale prices remain profitable (for "us" *and* "them". If OpenSRS couldn't turn a profit, there's no way we would have been a reseller for nearly three years!). Read below. > Nowadays, OpenSRS seems to be favouring the resellers that bring in > more "$$$" than the smaller ones and providing an equal playing > field for all the resellers. Aha! Now we've reached the sticking point. You seem to point to *undue* favoritism of the major breadwinners. Isn't it really a question of relativity, though? If I register 400 domain years/month, and another reseller registers 4,000, would I expect to receive, in absolute terms, as much support/recognition/profit as they? I don't think so. At least, not if you've been in business, and wish to stay in business, for a significant length of time. Many business models are (rightly) built around the premise of mutual reward. It simply isn't profitable to devote 90% of your support/marketing efforts to 10% of your sales. HOWEVER.. I think the real question is one of privacy and ethics. Nobody wants to admit that they aren't selling as much as <Reseller X>, which is the reason they aren't on the list, or aren't as highly ranked. When this whole debate started months ago, I hit Tucows' server with a few hundred requests to determine who was on the list, and what percentage of the time their listing was ranked first. It was really quite easy. The list was quite small (we weren't on it); certainly not the "thousands" that Elliot mentions, or even "dozens". I wouldn't want to have to explain to a client or potential client that we didn't make the list because we can't compete in volume with <another local reseller>. So, I think that the referral list, in its current form, is not unfair, because it reflects service levels established with the clients who best reward Tucows. HOWEVER, I *do* think that it is unethical. I certainly did not join Tucows to be placed into a ranking system that *publically* exerts the sales impact of one reseller over another. At least, it wasn't in the agreement that *I* signed. > In the technical arena OpenSRS has grown considerably Agreed. > but their management is seeming more and more distant > from us each month. I don't know about *that*. I have always been able to get reasonably quick resolution to any problem that has come up. For a time, SaskNow essentially had a dedicated support rep, who helped us through the *many* policy headaches with CIRA (for all you .ca folks out there), and personally saved us the *thousands* of dollars we would have spent in development, staffing, and communication with CIRA to become an independent registrar. To more directly address your point, why do you think you *should* be close to management? I will agree that I greatly admire Tucows' management for their willingness to roll up sleeves and interact directly with resellers. I also understand, from my own experience, that management can't (and shouldn't) do everything. That's what qualified employees are for. Elliot is bang on the mark when he says that if he acted alone, it would be very difficult to keep employees. Been there, done that, signed the layoff notices (in my dark and fettered past :-). Retaining the services of an army of well-qualified employees, and then ignoring them, makes for gross abuse of payroll expense. What I couldn't do with 10% of that. :-) Management might be outwardly great for PR, but don't forget their most imporant purpose. They are there, in large part, to ensure that the "little guys" on the support lines are able to help *you* get *your* job done every day. > > in the near future. Until then, PLEASE feel free to keep raising > > it, complaining about it and jumping on our heads in general just > > please don't feel we are ignoring your comments. Again, we may not > > always agree but the comments are never ignored. > > In the referrals list you DO have resellers telling you outright, WE > DONT LIKE THE WAY YOU DO THIS. What do we hear back? Silence.... Hardly. Why don't you email Verisign and ask them for a higher ranking on *their* referral list? ;-) Sorry, don't mean to be flippant, but the fact is, Tucows has looked after my company better than nearly any supplier we've had, including pivotal, but much smaller suppliers, local to our region. In my experience, when Tucows says they're working on something, THEY'RE WORKING ON SOMETHING. Priorities don't always line up with what you *think* should happen (and when), but the bottom line is, Tucows has enough smart people in their employ to know how to run a profitable enterprise. And, given the fact that their profitable enterprise is based largely on the reseller model, reseller profits = Tucows profits = reseller profits, which implies that Tucows' best interest is looking after their resellers. Tucows knows this. If they don't hold to that mandate, then I suspect it won't be long before there are a lot of OpenSRS employees sending us resumes, and a lot of OpenSRS resellers "focusing on other areas" of their businesses. > > Today is the 3rd birthday of OpenSRS (born January 12, 2000) so to > > all of you I raise a glass tonight. Elliot, I'm with you on that, though it's now the 13th here. :-) > > Thanks to all of you for allowing us to do what we do. We hope, I > > hope, that you always care enough about this and about us to raise > > these issues. > > Please consider our pleas about the referrals list and SHOW us you > care about the reseller base that has allowed you to do what you do. Agreed. I think Tucows does care about its reseller base. I also think that their treatment of the referral list could be better handled. Given my comments about "fairness", above, I think there is only one "fair" solution. Trash the referral list, and replace it with a randomly ordered Certified Reseller list. Or trash that, and stick with the button program for recognition. Whatever the case, it would take a *lot* of flak for us to even *think* about moving our registration services to another reseller model. Tucows has brough profit to our business. Our lack of placement on the reseller list has cost us nothing. Thus, I've said comparatively little about it. Look at the bottom line, though, people. Are you willing to pay another $1 per domain year for a "fair" referral system (or did you expect Tucows to do everything for free)? I'd personally rather spend $1,000/month on a good marketing campaign that I know will turn a profit in 5-6 months. Random referrals? Not worth very much to us. Everyone: (Tucows and resellers): Stick to basics. What is your core competency? If you don't know, think fast! I would submit that any reseller whose survivial depends on links from a supplier's web site should give serious thought to their business model. - Ryan -- Ryan Thompson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> SaskNow Technologies - http://www.sasknow.com 901-1st Avenue North - Saskatoon, SK - S7K 1Y4 Tel: 306-664-3600 Fax: 306-244-7037 Saskatoon Toll-Free: 877-727-5669 (877-SASKNOW) North America
