GoDaddy, the world’s largest provider of domain name registrations and web hosting services, is trying to attract more small and mid-size businesses to use its services in India. Globally, half of GoDaddy’s revenue come from services for small businesses, which it defines as companies with five or fewer employees. The company, which has been present in India since 2012, is trying to replicate a similar model here. GoDaddy has designed a new multi-channel campaign with National Film award winner Mithun Chakraborty. The company’s India Managing Director Rajiv Sodhi spoke to Business Line on the journey so far and future plans. Edited excerpts

Given the challenges most new businesses have faced since 2012 , how has the company’s journey been?

It’s been 18-19 months since we started operations in India. The journey has been great so far. We realise that success in India can only come by intimately understanding your customer and his needs.

In the US, all customer segments may have predictable characteristics, but in India, a lot of time has to be spent on how products and services can be made simpler.

How different are the Indian small and medium businesses compared to the ones in the West in their attitude towards an internet presence?

Unlike in the West, which is a ‘do it for yourself’ market, India is more of a ‘do-it-for-me’ market. Businesses expect a person to show up at their doorsteps to deliver a product or service. Our research shows that most SMBs are intimidated by websites.

They perceive it to be costly and complicated. Indian SMBs ask a lot of questions related to web hosting and domain names as that is not their core area of expertise.

That’s where GoDaddy steps in. While it is commonly accepted that India is a price sensitive market, I believe it is a value sensitive one . Domain names start for as low as ₹100 a year, but customers will not spend if they are unsure of the value it will bring.

Internet penetration in India is driven largely by mobile phones. How is GoDaddy riding the mobile opportunity?

India is one of the first countries where mobile has surpassed fixed line connections. Setting up mobile presence can be daunting for SMBs because of the prevalence of different devices and operating systems.

Our focus is to ensure seamless access, across different devices and platforms through the GoDaddy website builder. SMBs can thus have a fully professional web presence for as low as ₹99 per month.

What is your outlook on hiring in India? Will it add a new centre?

We have over 100 agents currently servicing the Indian market. Future hiring depends on how the volumes shape up. At the moment, we are adequately benchmarked from a capacity perspective, and are able to give the right service, based on our agreement with the customer.

Hyderabad has worked out well for us, as it is one of the few places in the country where you can do all the South Indian languages, in addition to Hindi and English.

Infrastructure wise, it’s a great city. We are not looking at additional centres at the moment.

Going forward, do you plan to leverage your India operations for servicing global customers?

Since we have been around for less than two years in India, our focus is on ensuring the right care for customers here. Customer service for other countries happens either in the US or in that country itself. At the moment, we are not looking at servicing global customers from India.

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