TheSSLstore Guidance of VeriSign Partner Program to more growth opportunities (PDF)

							CASE STUDY




        THE SSL STORE
        DEDICATED SSL CERTIFICATE PROVIDER
        JOINS VERISIGN PARTNER PROGRAM AND
        INCREASES SALES BY 200%




                        Now from
                                   PA R T N E R P R O G R A M
                                                                                              CASE STUDY


    THE SSL STORE


    Launched in 2009, The SSL Store is a leading provider of SSL Certificates that works      SOLUTION SUMMARY
    with customers in more than 72 countries around the globe. The SSL Store is owned         To differentiate itself in a highly
    and operated by Tuncer and Tuncer, a St. Petersburg, Florida-based corporation            competitive marketplace, The SSL
    that provides a variety of Internet-related products and services, including content      Store wanted to create an exceptional
                                                                                              online experience that would guide
    management systems, web-based billing services, and web site development.
                                                                                              buyers in selecting the right SSL
                                                                                              Certificates for their needs. The
    The SSL Store provides SSL Certificates to a broad range of customers, including
                                                                                              VeriSign Partner Program, now part
    small businesses, universities, and large Fortune 500 companies such as IBM, CVS          of Symantec™, provided educational
    Pharmacy, and Panasonic. The company also works with an active base of 400                materials and a powerful API to that
    resellers that provide SSL security to almost 20,000 customers worldwide.                 helped The SSL Store create a unique,
                                                                                              user-friendly ordering process—and a
                                                                                              thriving business.
    BUSINESS CHALLENGE: MEETING CUSTOMER DEMAND WITH
    INDUSTRY-LEADING SSL CERTIFICATES                                                         Business Challenge:
    When John C. Tuncer founded Tuncer and Tuncer in 1997 he wanted to help
                                                               ,                              ƒ Meet customer demand for
    companies create transactional web sites as easily and cost effectively as possible. To     certificates by offering a variety
                                                                                                of SSL products
    accomplish this, the company’s team developed a suite of tools that customers could
                                                                                              ƒ Provide best-of-breed SSL
    use to manage online sales, backend billing, and customer-facing content.
                                                                                                Certificates to differentiate company
                                                                                                in competitive marketplace
    As Tuncer and Tuncer’s list of customers grew, John quickly realized that securing
    web sites would be critical to the company’s success. “We started off selling a few       ƒ Educate non-technically-savvy
                                                                                                customers about the value of
    SSL Certificates every year, but we discovered that it could become a huge, fast-
                                                                                                SSL security
    growing segment of our business. We just weren’t taking full advantage of the
    opportunity,” he says. “We were offering a fairly small range of SSL products, and        Results:
    we found it difficult to educate potential buyers about the benefits of SSL security,     ƒ Increased sales of SSL Certificates by
    especially since some of them weren’t very technology-savvy. Those things were              200% to date
    definitely holding us back.”                                                              ƒ Allowed company to achieve a
                                                                                                42% jump in sales in first year, with
     o
    T meet demand for SSL security, Tuncer, now the company’s chief executive officer,          additional 5 to 7% month-over-
    created The SSL Store, a web site dedicated to providing SSL Certificates. “T make
                                                                                 o              month growth

    The SSL Store a success, we needed to offer an array of industry-leading products         ƒ Enabled company to keep SSL
                                                                                                certificate management costs low
    and provide superior customer education,” he says. “The SSL marketplace can be
    tough, so we turned to the VeriSign Partner Program to help us stand out and
    succeed financially.”




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    THE VERISIGN PARTNER PROGRAM: USING THE                                                 “As soon as we became a VeriSign
                                                                                            partner and launched The SSL Store,
    VERISIGN RESELLER API TO CREATE A SEAMLESS
                                                                                            our sales jumped 42 percent over the
    CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE                                                                     course of just one year. Since then,
    Initially, Tuncer and Tuncer partnered with GeoTrust to provide RapidSSL                our growth has stayed strong, with
    Certificates. After the acquisition of GeoTrust in 2006, Tuncer and Tuncer              increases of five to seven percent
                                                                                            every month. That adds up to a
    reevaluated its SSL sales strategy, leading it to join the VeriSign Partner Program,
                                                                                            growth rate of almost 200 percent
    now part of Symantec, and launch its new company, The SSL Store. “Consumer              to date, despite the challenging
    confidence and trust are the most important factors in the ecommerce marketplace,       economic conditions. While Tuncer
    and VeriSign SSL is the most trusted brand,” says Tuncer. “The overwhelming             and Tuncer’s other web services
    majority of people recognize the VeriSign checkmark, so becoming a partner was          business are holding steady, our SSL
                                                                                            business continues to improve.”
    essential to helping us realize the full potential of our SSL business.”
                                                                                            —John C. Tuncer, Chief Executive
    Along with strong brand recognition, the VeriSign Partner Program supplies a            Officer, The SSL Store
    variety of materials that The SSL Store can use to educate potential buyers about
    the certificates that will best meet their needs. “They offer us a phenomenal library
    of content that we can customize. That way, prospects can learn what they need
    to know without us having to explain it to them one-on-one,” Tuncer says. “Not
    only that, but the VeriSign Partner Program co-sponsored a seminar we recently put
    on, and even sent two senior executives to St. Petersburg to speak about the latest
    security issues. Clearly, they know that customer education matters, and they’ve
    done a great job helping us.”

    Once The SSL Store’s customers know what they need, the VeriSign Reseller
    API makes it easy for them to buy, manage, and renew all of their VeriSign SSL,
    GeoTrust, and Thawte SSL Certificates in one place. “With the VeriSign API, we
    were able to create a streamlined ordering process that integrates with all of our
    backend systems and offers a user-friendly interface,” Tuncer says. “Our customers
    have told us they love how easy it is to order and manage certificates on our site.
    In fact, one client even told us he can easily buy certificates from his boat in the
    middle of the ocean. That seamless purchasing experience helps set us apart in a
    crowded market.”

    RESULTS: SIGNIFICANT INCREASES IN SALES DESPITE A
    CHALLENGING ECONOMY
    After joining the VeriSign Partner Program, The SSL Store experienced an impressive
    boost in its SSL sales, followed by strong month-over-month growth. “As soon as
    we became a VeriSign partner and launched The SSL Store, our sales jumped 42
    percent over the course of just one year. Since then, our growth has stayed strong,
    with increases of five to seven percent every month,” Tuncer says. “That adds up
    to a growth rate of almost 200 percent to date, despite the challenging economic
    conditions. While Tuncer and Tuncer’s other web services businesses are holding
    steady, our SSL business continues to improve.”




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    Thanks to the partnership, The SSL Store has been able to expand its portfolio of
    SSL products and now offers 17 different certificates from VeriSign SSL, GeoTrust,
    and Thawte. Even though the company sells more types of certificates, The SSL
    Store has been able to use the VeriSign Reseller API to keep management costs low.
    “We’re always there to help people complete a transaction if necessary, but for the
    most part we don’t need to,” Tuncer says. “The VeriSign API has not only helped us
    keep our customers happy, but it enhances our profitability because we don’t have
    to hire a lot of customer service representatives. That’s a win-win situation no matter
    how you look at it.”

    FUTURE: WORKING WITH VERISIGN PARTNER PROGRAM TO
    CREATE MORE GROWTH OPPORTUNITIES
    In the future, The SSL Store plans to expand even more by working with additional
    resellers and reaching further into the global marketplace for SSL security. “The
    VeriSign Partner Program has been key to helping us achieve this level of success,”
    says Tuncer. “We’re excited to continue working with the VeriSign Partner Program
    to see how our partnership evolves, and how we can work together to grow and see
    even better results.”

    ABOUT VERISIGN
    VeriSign is the trusted provider of Internet infrastructure services for the digital
    world. Billions of times each day, companies and consumers rely on our Internet
    infrastructure to communicate and conduct commerce with confidence.

    Visit us at www.VeriSign.com for more information.




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