What do you personally think about phoning your hosting clients?

I noticed from WHT that many providers even call their clients to "check out how everything is going". Whilst some might appreciate that, I feel that many would find it very annoying and unnecessary - especially these days when every home is being bombarded with scam/sales phone calls anyway.

Your opinion - well appreciated.

I chose #3, tho my true feeling is a mix between #2 and #3.

It's a great way to contact and keep in touch with your customers if that's their preferred method of contact, but also important for rapid emergencies and/or order verifications.

I have some clients which prefer to speak to me on the phone about any issues... I have others which would rather I just AIM them.

I would think one's answer should depend on a specific client.

hi,
earlier i used to call up clients and it certainly gave us possitive result, then later it came back as request for book now get paid later types so stopped calling our customers the friendly way, do call now but only for option 3 on this poll.

generally if you make just ordinary call without any reason what would you say? ask for a feedback? I agree this can be very annoying and unprofessional most of all if you serve business segment

generally if you make just ordinary call without any reason what would you say? ask for a feedback? I agree this can be very annoying and unprofessional most of all if you serve business segment

For example, there are hosts who call clients for stuff such as

"You signed up 1 week ago, has everything been good for you so far? Anything more we could do help you?"

Or phoning because a support email/ticket, when frankly the issue is not that important.

Or "just to make sure you know something".



Another question is:

When a client signs up for hosting via a web form and inserts his/her phone number, does it automatically consent the provider to call the client at their wishes and convenience?

I've never seen a hosting signup form that says "Please tick this box if you do not wish to be contacted by phone." Yet I see providers who call for various, unnecessary reasons. I feel this is unprofessional.

I personally think that web host should call clients at 3am when they have an issue with their billing information. Time has never stopped clients from calling at the wee hours of the morning for level1 support.

HA!

Actually I think #3 is the best choice. You should only contact the customer in certain instances that requires immediate assistance unless otherwise stated by the customer(s).

That's my 2 empty bingo cards, go nuts on the stamper if you want.

It's up to the client, not the host. I think a host should always be open to phone clients, or allow clients to phone them dependant on their preferences.

You will find most business clients especially much prefer to resolve an issue over the phone, plus it 'pushes' the fact your human. For clients who are foreign, this is completely different.

Ummm - I tend to think it is up to both the client and the host on some instances but during times of emergencies, a curtsy call would be polite.

Phoning clients to touch base and to make sure everything is running smoothly is a great way to build a relationship with that customer, in my opinion. Of course, we can't all call every customer. I tend to randomly call my best customers every month or so to touch base, if I haven't heard from them.

In the very rare event that we have some serious problems with a server, I'll call as many customers who were affected as my fingers will allow to let them know when the server is stable. It also gives me the chance to tell them that I stayed up for the last 18 hours to get it fixed. Some don't like me to tell them that, but most like to know I did everything I could to get them back online as fast as possible. I've only ever had to do that twice in my several years of being in this industry, and each time my calls were met with great appreciation from customers.

As a Web development firm, I'll call all our clients a week or two after we finished their project to ask whether we exceeded their expectations, and if not, why? I don't call for any other reason, and often I'll get asked by the customer if the only reason I called was to check to make sure we did a great job. When I reply yes, there is usually a short pause of shock, and then it's followed by the massive appreciation. I class phoning hosting customers after a problem, or just randomly phoning them to see how they we are doing as the same thing as calling development customers. Often, I'll find that many of our customers have very small, niggling problems but they haven't bothered to contact us. They tend to tell us these when we contact them, which is the perfect way to avoid small problems becoming big problems.

I'm probably spending a little more overall compared to what I would if I let customers contact me, but the increased satisfaction from customers far outweighs that cost, in my opinion.

As for whether we should build relationships with our customers; Well, that's a whole other debate, and I've seen both ends of the stick in recent times. For me, the positives are stacked far higher than the negatives, which is why I continue to build those relationships.

If you sell dedicated servers it could be advised to phone a client who has just ordered due to a lot of people doing false sign ups. You could also to check that details are entered correctly (for server setup)

And as said above to see if they are ok and everthing is going ok :)

I'd vote for an answer half way between options 2 and 3. You should definitely call clients when there is an emergency, but sometimes it's useful to call them just to show that you realize they're an actual human being.

For example, if you had sets of monitors running on their server that went off, calling them to check up with them can be great and appreciated. Especially if you catch it before they do.

I'd recommend shooting for a 50/50 split of happy reasons for the call and sad reasons for the call. If you call them on Monday to get them to pay their bill, and then again on Friday to see if you can help with anything, they're more likely to remember the second call more often in the long run which will reflect better on you.

If it is just a "checking up" type of call I would say leave it to email. Most people these days, especially "internet" people do not want to be contacted by phone at all. An email is plenty, don't be aplus.net :)

If it is just a "checking up" type of call I would say leave it to email. Most people these days, especially "internet" people do not want to be contacted by phone at all. An email is plenty, don't be aplus.net :)

While you might be an "internet person" i think you'll find your clients aren't..

One of the things people used to (still do?) love about ServInt was the simple fact they sent out paper invoices every month...it's those personal touches...otherwise people forget you're a real brick and mortar company.

calls are great...of course, you should have a "reason" to call.

Works wonders for new business and referrals.

For those in the brick and mortar world....its very common and accepted.

method only for rapid emergencies and order verifications.

Last month I pushed myself and got on the phone calling a bit of my database...I forgot how good and important it is. How to break the ice...for some reason honesty always works. "I 've always wanted to call you but never have, but -----" If they are--or have been a customer you have a reason to call.

When a client signs up for hosting via a web form and inserts his/her phone number, does it automatically consent the provider to call the client at their wishes and convenience?

Our contact form used to have fields for both phone and email addresses and radio buttons that asked for the customer's preferred contact method. I eventually noticed that no one ever changed the default (I switched the default a few times and repositioning the buttons...no diff). So we had situations where 'phone' was set as the preferred contact method but they didn't leave a phone number.

If someone provides a phone number, I do take that as an invitation to call. We call new signups and when an existing customer orders a new service I generally try to call them after a week or two to see how it's working out (if we haven't heard from them about it already.)

I would NEVER call a customer to tell them about a new product or service. Got a call like that the other day myself. Nice vendor with good products but I totally resented the intrusion.

I chose #3, tho my true feeling is a mix between #2 and #3.

It's a great way to contact and keep in touch with your customers if that's their preferred method of contact, but also important for rapid emergencies and/or order verifications.

I have some clients which prefer to speak to me on the phone about any issues... I have others which would rather I just AIM them.

I would think one's answer should depend on a specific client.

Pretty much my thoughts.

#3 or when a customer requests a call back.

When a client signs up for hosting via a web form and inserts his/her phone number, does it automatically consent the provider to call the client at their wishes and convenience?

I guess what I really meant by above is, do we have the right to call customers up, just because they've provided a phone number on the form field? (Which is usually a required field - so they have no choice anyway)

Usually calling them can open a can of worms. For the most part, when something is not going right, you are going to hear about it.

I think my 'customer service' call was about 18 months ago. Some called the toll free number and I could not get to it in time. I called them back just in case they had any questions. Turns out, it was a competitor on the merchant account side. He started telling me how he worked for Visa and the site was not in compliance, and we will be charged $10,000 a day. I would have taken it with sincerity if he was not yelling and screaming at me.

So a little legwork, found out who it was and I reported his site to Visa since his site was not compliant :)

If you have a personal relationship with the client, it is good to call. I did that with our hosting clients since I knew most of them. But even afterwhile, I was too busy too call them unfortunately but they knew they could always call if any problem arose.

Calling them can sometimes even make problems appear. If any company called me, I am sure I could think of something I did not like about their services and products. But for the most part, it would not be worth my time to pick up the phone. But since you called....

if you have their number...you not only have the right...as a SHARP business person, you have the RESPONSIBILITY

as you can see from many responses in this thread, you will immediately set yourself apart from many others who can't be bothered with such things as talking to a customer who DOESN'T have a problem ;)

In reality...customers don't LOOK for problems...in fact, its comforting to know you care enough to be PREEMPTIVE about problems, and find out how you can better serve them.

DO people get upset when the waiter comes by and refreshes the drinks and asks if you need anything else...or when your done, if you want desert

DO guests get upset, when the concierge comes by "just to see" if all is well and if you need anything?

The truth is...that kind of thing doesn't happen with the cheap guys...people are used to businesses that don't care about them...just want their money and DO NOT WANT to hear from them unless something is wrong.

But that level of service IS EXPECTED on the high end.

I actually have clients who on occasion call me about things TOTALLY unrelated to their business...I also call them and give them referrals, not asking for anything in return. I often tell them about articles I see that may be helpful...sometimes its an email.

The point is...my customers stay with me for YEARS...even though people who are less expensive try to convert them constantly.

I have a relationship...and I treat them like a 5-star hotel would.

This causes people to say..."wow...these guys are different. My last guys would never have done that...in fact they never did!"

If you DO NOT BELIEVE service goes a long way...especially when you go OUT of your way to invest in it...just take a look at Rackspace and inquire about how much profit they made this quarter alone ;)

igrowyourbiz, I admire your post, I would read and read it, very well said, especially about 5-star hotel:)

I only call customers when they initially submit their signup. It is basically a verification of their payment details, a chance to talk to them about how they found us, any questions or concerns they have, etc...

They love it. I have never had a customer who was not absolutely thrilled to receive that phone call.

After the call, we will never call them again unless they specifically request it.

Well, somebody makes new friends by calling :D

I think you should only call clients in emergencies or to verify their order. Beyond that, I believe some clients will take the call as a hassle. Some may be impressed by the service but it's just as easy to send a survey through email.

It's all well and good if you have the time to do this...

But if you are running a tight ship, on tight margins to be super-competitive in a over-competitive industry, with staff that you pay, is it profitable to be calling client's that pay $5 a month?

It certainly wouldn't be for us.

Business clients paying for business class service, go for it. $5 a month clients, not so sure :)