I'll post this here as it should be read by owners of hosting companies. I've been having my sites hosted for so long. From host to host, like a nomad. Most hosts start off good but with time, things start to go down hill. Sometimes it isn't the technical aspect but just their slowness to stay competitive.

For the most part, I'm a 'dream customer.' I say that because...

* I will recommend my host to countless others.. countless
* I don't install crazy scripts to tax/compromise the server
* I don't ask questions every hour on how to install something
* I don't play around with the settings and 'break things'

Through my adventures with hosting companys, I tend to match up with what I call middle of the line hosts. Middle line is a host that has a fair price with good service. I stay away from the fly by nights and also pass on the guys charging $2K for a basic account. lol

Back to the topic.... I find that when I do need to communicate with my host, which can be at different times of the day, I will get such a WIDE RANGE of techs that respond to the tickets. At my day job, there are also highly skilled workers, some learning the ropes and some needing to be tied up by a rope. So I don't think hosting biz is very unique.

Anyways, I want to make hosting companies conscious of who they hire for their support. Here is a scenario of what I hate...
* Problem occurs, support contact is made
* First Tech 'fixes' issue
* Problem continues or is fixed temporary
* Support contact is made again
* Next Tech says, 'I fixed it'. Seemed like the first Tech made things worse/broke it. 2nd TEch is now fixing their issue and original problem.

While I appreciate the issue getting resolved. My confidence in the host takes a hit. I do realize that tickets get passed on to higher level Techs. That's true. But I think in some cases a lower tier Tech really needs to send the ticket on.... its just a waste of time and money if they don't.

I'd like to ask, how many of you TRULY audit your tickets, have training based on the tickets and have other procedures to improve level of care? How many with CEO titles will randomly contact customers for their feedback on service? In my day job, while it is eCommerce, we actually pick up the phone and call customers or hand write thank you or follow-up cards. Wow, how often does that occur at the online stores you shop at?

I'm also wondering if this is a 'USA' problem? What do I mean? I spent 16 years in Japan working. Customer service is so vital in Japan. Coming back to the USA, I've had great reverse culture shock.. Americans don't really care about service as short term gains is most important. I see it at all levels of business. Next time you are in Japan, go to a McD's. The service is crazy good. And the USA? 'Give me a big tip or else you shouldn't expect good service!' WTF?!

Let me tell you a good story...

Japanese tourists are overseas. They are in the hotel waiting for their tour guide. Outside a tremendous storm rages, traffic is at a standstill. Their tour guide shows up so late. What does he say? He blames the weather, hellish traffic, and so on? From my experience, if he were American, he would. However, what he does is apologize very very sincerely. No excuses. The customers expect nothing less and continue their trip with the guide. I like this story... and it can apply to hosting.

Economy sucks everywhere... I drill into my staff everyday that we must be MUCH better than the competition, we must HUG EVERYONE of our customers. My boss concurs, "Our SEO is through the roof, finding new customers is not an issue... KEEPING the customers we have is."

Cheers,
Carlitto

Good post Carlos, some very good information.

Personally, we audit our logs monthly and we send out personalised "How are you messages" just to check up on our clients. Normally I spend quite some time actually looking at my clients websites, sometimes just to make sure that they aren't hosting anything illegal, but mostly because I'm interested in my client's creations. I find that they respond well to that and it makes them a happier customer.

Mike

I definitely agree, terrific post, Carlos. Well said. :agree:

I'll post this here as it should be read by owners of hosting companies. I've been having my sites hosted for so long. From host to host, like a nomad. Most hosts start off good but with time, things start to go down hill. Sometimes it isn't the technical aspect but just their slowness to stay competitive.

For the most part, I'm a 'dream customer.' I say that because...

* I will recommend my host to countless others.. countless
* I don't install crazy scripts to tax/compromise the server
* I don't ask questions every hour on how to install something
* I don't play around with the settings and 'break things'

Through my adventures with hosting companys, I tend to match up with what I call middle of the line hosts. Middle line is a host that has a fair price with good service. I stay away from the fly by nights and also pass on the guys charging $2K for a basic account. lol

Back to the topic.... I find that when I do need to communicate with my host, which can be at different times of the day, I will get such a WIDE RANGE of techs that respond to the tickets. At my day job, there are also highly skilled workers, some learning the ropes and some needing to be tied up by a rope. So I don't think hosting biz is very unique.

Anyways, I want to make hosting companies conscious of who they hire for their support. Here is a scenario of what I hate...
* Problem occurs, support contact is made
* First Tech 'fixes' issue
* Problem continues or is fixed temporary
* Support contact is made again
* Next Tech says, 'I fixed it'. Seemed like the first Tech made things worse/broke it. 2nd TEch is now fixing their issue and original problem.

While I appreciate the issue getting resolved. My confidence in the host takes a hit. I do realize that tickets get passed on to higher level Techs. That's true. But I think in some cases a lower tier Tech really needs to send the ticket on.... its just a waste of time and money if they don't.

I'd like to ask, how many of you TRULY audit your tickets, have training based on the tickets and have other procedures to improve level of care? How many with CEO titles will randomly contact customers for their feedback on service? In my day job, while it is eCommerce, we actually pick up the phone and call customers or hand write thank you or follow-up cards. Wow, how often does that occur at the online stores you shop at?

I'm also wondering if this is a 'USA' problem? What do I mean? I spent 16 years in Japan working. Customer service is so vital in Japan. Coming back to the USA, I've had great reverse culture shock.. Americans don't really care about service as short term gains is most important. I see it at all levels of business. Next time you are in Japan, go to a McD's. The service is crazy good. And the USA? 'Give me a big tip or else you shouldn't expect good service!' WTF?!

Let me tell you a good story...

Japanese tourists are overseas. They are in the hotel waiting for their tour guide. Outside a tremendous storm rages, traffic is at a standstill. Their tour guide shows up so late. What does he say? He blames the weather, hellish traffic, and so on? From my experience, if he were American, he would. However, what he does is apologize very very sincerely. No excuses. The customers expect nothing less and continue their trip with the guide. I like this story... and it can apply to hosting.

Economy sucks everywhere... I drill into my staff everyday that we must be MUCH better than the competition, we must HUG EVERYONE of our customers. My boss concurs, "Our SEO is through the roof, finding new customers is not an issue... KEEPING the customers we have is."

Cheers,
Carlitto


Nice and well said.

Yes, we should know our customers in & out, and build a long lasting relationship with them. Thats possible only by communicating with customers regularly. There is a saying, take care of your customers else your competitors will. Its true, we loose customers due to our negligence and bad quality service. Customers are our bread and butter, we should do anything to keep them happy. Promise only what you can deliver and go one step ahead to make your customers delighted rather than just being happy, this policy does work and we have seen good results :-)

I do write to my customers when ever i get time to know how they feel about our service and for suggestions/comments which we need to take in to make our service even superior. I have even insisted my Quality Managers and other managers to keep a close relation with the Customers.

I have also asked my Managers to work with customers to grow their business. I always believe that, we will grow as our customers grow and thats what actually happened with us. Thats one of the main reason why we are still here for 9+ years, growing strong and tall.

Great customer service is the key for success in any business.

Keep it coming. I think that such information helps to raise the level of this industry.

A couple of months ago, one of my company's competitor's product had a near-fatal accident. It was covered on CNN and all other media. At first, one would think, "Great for us!" but actually, it brings my whole industry into question. So I think that any industry wants to try to keep its level of service and perception as high as possible. Much like the airline industry.

I'm curious,. is there an industry association for you all? Outside of ISO and certificates from various software and hardware vendors? And of course outside of the sites that hosters pay to proclaim 'Top 10 web hosts'. I think there ought to be a true, independently run certification organization. It would help your marketing efforts should your company be certified.

Hi Carlos,

The issues you're describing can almost all be grouped under the growth issues umbrella. Webhosting, in general, doesn't seem to attract the best and brightest (or trained) in terms of business economics for many reasons. So you end up with poorly managed firms with a growing subscriber base. The lack of skill in projecting growth rate and managing the resource aspect of it turns the more or less great startups into zombies.

To answer your question, weekend tickets get audited by Monday. Weekday tickets on the other hand get audited same day. Some customers even wake up to a beefed up server ;). And whether the US in general provides poor service, I think that's debatable. I don't see customers leaving US firms to Japanese ones in droves (for example).

Thanks for bringing up such an insightful topic here.

Regards

Keep it coming. I think that such information helps to raise the level of this industry.

A couple of months ago, one of my company's competitor's product had a near-fatal accident. It was covered on CNN and all other media. At first, one would think, "Great for us!" but actually, it brings my whole industry into question. So I think that any industry wants to try to keep its level of service and perception as high as possible. Much like the airline industry.

I'm curious,. is there an industry association for you all? Outside of ISO and certificates from various software and hardware vendors? And of course outside of the sites that hosters pay to proclaim 'Top 10 web hosts'. I think there ought to be a true, independently run certification organization. It would help your marketing efforts should your company be certified.

IMO, our brightest hope in this regard is www.aihsp.org , but it is slow getting off the ground. It may take a few more years before enough hosts are on the same page for that to really work out.

Very nice post.

I try to either reply to each post myself (even if I'm not the one fixing the issue) or look over it to make sure everything is done to our standard.

Relationship building is key in this industry and the only way in my opinion to keep a client loyal. This is beneficial for both sides as you keep track of your clients needs and your client is satisfied by constantly having their needs met.

Very nice post.

I try to either reply to each post myself (even if I'm not the one fixing the issue) or look over it to make sure everything is done to our standard.

Relationship building is key in this industry and the only way in my opinion to keep a client loyal. This is beneficial for both sides as you keep track of your clients needs and your client is satisfied by constantly having their needs met.

Correct, building long term relationship is the key :-)

Nice post, Carlos. I seem to remember you being a client of ours at some point (not sure if you still are).

There was a day when I would read almost every support ticket. But alas, as a host grows it becomes impossible. I must admit though recently I have been reading more tickets as I strive to improve things.

>Nice post, Carlos. I seem to remember you being a client of ours at some point
I'm not, but I have thought of being one again as of late
lol

Carlos great post.

Auditing tickets to ensure fast, accurate and friendly resolution is a key point I think is easy to overlook when you are stuck in the day to day grind.

Keeping in touch with your clients to find out their needs is another thing most companies should be doing to stay on top of the game.