WebsiteAlive™ Live Web Interaction
On-Demand Solutions:
The Road to Lower Cost of Ownership
WebsiteAlive Editor Christin Gulick contributed to this article.
The Total Cost of Ownership of a Managed Solution
vs. Hosting your Own Live Chat System
The definition of the Total Cost of Ownership (or “ TCO”) is probably not very far from what you think. It’s rather self-explanatory. TCO is all costs, direct and indirect, involved with owning an entity. Although the meaning is not tricky or hard to comprehend, the actual realization seems to have a reputation of passing right over the heads of small business owners.
The concept of TCO itself originated from the Gartner Group in 1987. The company’s vice president, Bill Kirwin, said that it was impossible to understand TCO without first understanding indirect costs. Kirwin was also the first person to look at the notion of TCO as a fraction. “We use TCO to look at the overall impact of the implementation. Cost is the numerator. The denominator might be service, customer satisfaction, quality levels or productivity, for example,” Kirwin said.
According to Bill Kirwin’s fraction analogy, and thinking of TCO in that way, you want to keep your TCO somewhere between 0 and 1. As soon as you start finding your TCO greater than 1, you need to cut out whatever cost is causing it to go over 1.
As stated above, “costs” include direct and indirect costs. Direct costs are rather straightforward. They include costs such as the initial startup fees, installation fees, etc. Indirect costs (also sometimes called “hidden costs”) include depreciation, support, upgrades, research administration, utilities, custodial services, and countless others. Depending on your business situation, there are different indirect costs associated.
The Gartner Group also made a study that showed almost 80 percent of costs happen after the initial purchase. This study was made from an IT solution standpoint, but is a figure that is highly comparable across the board. If you buy a computer, you can go ahead and figure on paying the same thing, if not more, for maintenance, upgrades, programs, etc. Think about purchasing an automobile. When you were looking at that Porsche in the lot, the last thing on your mind was that you’d be spending thousands upon thousands of dollars in gas money making that car run.
With a better idea about what indirect cost is, it is easier to understand what Total Cost of Ownership means and why it is important. “Managing your TCO” is a fancy way of saying, “knowing where your money goes.” TCO management is something that a company cannot see short term gains with. It is a long term realization. However, if your company can be conscious about TCO from the beginning, it is a recognition that can save you lots of money, time, and headaches.
If you look at what AliveChat offers, it is easy to see that virtually any business can benefit from it. Essentially, AliveChat is a customer service and sales department without the costs of setting up an alternative network (phone, etc.) – so while you may have start-up costs by integrating AliveChat into your company, you’ll be able to eliminate the long term costs associated with other customer service options.
While some companies still rely on having a customer service team available via telephone, technology has forced business communication to transition to largely an email based platform. One of the disadvantages with email, however, is that the reply is not instantaneous. You email a customer service representative, and they may get back to you in the next day or two. Wouldn’t it be nice if you could communicate electronically with a customer service representative in real-time? What a concept! AliveChat offers solutions to companies that do just that.
AliveChat allows a minimal investment that does not pressure or require you to purchase an entire solution. With this in mind, it is a safe purchasing decision due to the option to cancel at any time (there are no contracts). Another perk to integrating with AliveChat is the installation and customization are immediate. You can get started with AliveChat today.
So what is the TCO of AliveChat software, and why should you make it part of your company? Let’s look at the packages available:
WebsiteAlive Solution
Cost Suitable for whom? AliveChat Lite $29.95/mo. + $0.00 setup For small business centers AliveChat Pro $69.95/mo. + $99.95 setup For web sites with high traffic and visibility with Reporting Tools AliveChat Pro+ $97.95/mo. + $149.95 setup Full AliveChat package with complete Traffic and Reporting Tools
Of course, depending on which version of AliveChat is best suited for your company, there’s going to be a difference in TCO. However, there is one similarity between them all – your TCO will be much lower than your return on investment. How do we know this? Simple: the personable connection you make with website visitors (potential customers) will help bring peace of mind if there are any issues of trust present.
Let’s think of a real life example. A small consulting firm just purchased AliveChat 3 Lite ($29.95/mo. and no setup fee) to handle their customer service. If that company makes $60.00 more than they would normally make in a month (a very conservative and realistic figure), then they’ve already more than doubled their investment with AliveChat.
WebsiteAlive understands the concept of TCO and has positioned their line of chat hosting software (AliveChat) to ensure that their customers recognize their return on investment is a positive one.
