I'm a two man operation and I have for over a year now used WHMCS for billing and support and I must say for billing it has been a godsend ! BUT for support it has been a disaster.

For some reason my clients WILL NOT USE it for support. Using an online support system for me would actually be the most efficient way to prioritize the support but they insist on calling me for mundane tasks. I make it a point to tell them that they can use the support ticket next time but inevitably they call on the phone and I can't remove the phone so what do I do ?

Anyone have any ideas on how to get clients to use online support instead of Calling ?

Ouch, we've hit this before with a few clients.

Eventually they get tired of us telling them that our ticket system is our preferred means of support and just start going there.

stop answering the phone?

Tell them the phone is for billing and sales purposes only and that they need to send in an email for support.

Also send a mass email with the above 'change' and maybe they'll bite. :)

stop answering the phone?

I actualy have stopped answering the phone hoping they would leave a message and after the 3 call some leave a message and when I call back I get sarcasm !

Tell them the phone is for billing and sales purposes only and that they need to send in an email for support.

Also send a mass email with the above 'change' and maybe they'll bite. :)

So you don't think it's rude to tell a client that ? Because I feel like I can stick to my guns and refuse to provide support by phone . But I don't want't to alienate clients...


I like the mass mailing Idea ... I will enforce it !

Let them know directly that support is not provided by phone. Guide them to use the ticketing system and tell them that this will provide better efficiency and faster resolution. :agree:

Phone support $1
Support ticket $0

We don't do it this way, but it might work!

Make it worth your while by charging them for phone support: $5 a minute. I am sure they will start using the support desk after hearing how much it will cost or ---- run off to another host :(

label phone support as "Premium" and charge that as a extra package

Let them know directly that support is not provided by phone. Guide them to use the ticketing system and tell them that this will provide better efficiency and faster resolution. :agree:

Good idea in theory but in practice it does not work. You have someone call with a support inquiry and you ask them to make a ticket they say back "But I called can you just please help me". So you either piss them off by insisting they open a ticket or helping them. You then help them and then the next time they call again and the process repeats itself.

Since we've had phone for sales and emergency support we've opened ourselves up to a whole lot more customers. At the same time unfortunately it's brought in the type of customers we probably do not want. Some of our staff know the people by number at this point. If it's x number it's the guy who calls every other day asking for help. If it's y number its the person who calls us every week asking how to create an email account and in the end after explaining cPanel and they're unable to figure it out we do it.

There are of course also the people who's company's only IT person is away every other friday as a result they call us for their IT needs. Each time we tell them we're not their IT department go to them for assistance and they say Frank is not in today can we help them restore their outlook icon on their desktop. The fact we host their web site and email apparently means we somehow have a responsibility to assist with getting to said email via their outlook.

So to summarize my several paragraphs you're never going to get everyone to use the ticket system. You've opened the can of worms you now unfortunately are not going to be able to stop the problem without annoying the frequent callers.

Yeah, you could start charging the phone support.
Or assign someone else on the phone.
Restating that the online support guarantees 1-2 hour response and telephone will wait for around 6 hours. I don;t do this, but it might work..

There are of course also the people who's company's only IT person is away every other friday as a result they call us for their IT needs. Each time we tell them we're not their IT department go to them for assistance and they say Frank is not in today can we help them restore their outlook icon on their desktop. The fact we host their web site and email apparently means we somehow have a responsibility to assist with getting to said email via their outlook.

That just gave me a good laugh. Sad, but funny.

Let them know directly that support is not provided by phone. Guide them to use the ticketing system and tell them that this will provide better efficiency and faster resolution. :agree:

Better efficiency for whom?

People like the two way interaction. Even if the answer is no, they would like to hear about it now. Not when someone gets around to it.

One way around this is to offer "managed hosting". That way, unmanaged = tickets only, managed = whatever they feel like.

At some point, for the hopeless, just say "managed hosting is the better suited option for you." Instant upgrade sale.

Believe it or not, a lot of business people *want* managed, but they end up buying what you have. You want these people, they are actually willing to pay for what they use.

Our phone line is only for sales and billing, like someone mentioned above. Anything support related will be redirected through a ticket.

why not guide them to use the support ticket system while they call you?
and explain that's the way you would like them to contact you.

So you don't think it's rude to tell a client that ? Because I feel like I can stick to my guns and refuse to provide support by phone . But I don't want't to alienate clients...


I like the mass mailing Idea ... I will enforce it !

That would depend on how you say it. I guess some will get pissed off no matter what you do.

I like the managed idea someone mentioned earlier and that is something I'm planning on implementing myself (although it goes quite a bit further than just phone support).

Phone support is a great way to interact with customers, get to know them and build a long term business relationship. People spend money with who they trust and will often forgive a few mistakes when they trust a provider who gives them good service. If you alienate your customers and force them to use a written ticket system against their will, it may just be the customer you loose to a provider who provides the level of service they want.

Of course, it does not hurt if the problem is large or difficult to ask the customer to send an email to your support system for later followup but for simple fixes or advice why complain.

I do not offer phone support but nobody uses my ticket system. I do not have a problem providing support in any way possible.

Phone support is a great way to interact with customers, get to know them and build a long term business relationship. People spend money with who they trust and will often forgive a few mistakes when they trust a provider who gives them good service. If you alienate your customers and force them to use a written ticket system against their will, it may just be the customer you loose to a provider who provides the level of service they want.

Of course, it does not hurt if the problem is large or difficult to ask the customer to send an email to your support system for later followup but for simple fixes or advice why complain.

Quite right. The larger customers expect to be able to get to know you before buying more. Taking them to Vegas or Atlantic City doesn't hurt either. Different scale than 3.95 hosting, but that's how you get to the next level.

Why not setup an automated call center type of thing, where they are asked do they require sales or billing then you could also say "this phone line is not to be used for technical support and you may be charged" or something.

Pick up the phone and talk to your customer. People like the personal interaction. Find out more about their business and try to upsell them on additional services. Open a ticket for them and tell them you have done so and will call them back as soon as it has been resolved. They normally begin to get the hint after they figure out this is how it is normally handled.

Some things need to be done over the phone (helping set up email, etc.) but this comes with offering phone support unfortunately....

Pickup the phone and create a ticket for them and tell them they will see a resolution when a engineer picks up the ticket?

or charge for phone support.

People like to get some feedback from the company, that is why they like to call. However i would admit that most technical questions require investigation and thus some time for the answer, so ticket system makes sense actually. In most cases customers can not clearly describe the problems over the phone, while in the written form they state their thoughts better. So, usually it takes some time for engineers to investigate the question, login to the server, make the changes, etc, so to my mind it would be better for engineers to spend their time for actual technical work rather then talking on the phone.

Sure, phone can be used to inform about urgent technical issues, to make engineers react to server fail problem for example fast.

So, it is normal to use ticket system and ask customers to post their questions there. Most customers get used to such systems and use only them finally.

i think your clinet is from local ?

you may try to note on your website and tell them you only support via ticket,

if the users can not agree with this,

please do not make any order.

The phone works faster for us. You can solve issues faster, however if the problem doesn't sound like something you can solve right away, open a ticket when your on the phone with them and then it will help you keep everything organized.

I think the best course of action for me is to combine all the advice I received from everyone here ( thank you all by the way ! ).

I will first send a carefully worded mass mail explaining that from now on support will only be provided by email/ticket system.

Second I will carefully enforce it by creating a support ticket for the client over the phone when they call.

Third I will try to find some sort of incentive ( ¢¢¢ or goodies or discount for using support tickets ).

Thank you all for the great advice and by all means keep discussing this issue because I'm sure I'm not the only one have this problem.

What about setting the phone up with a voice message before your phone starts calling ?

"Welcome to hosting company. Our phone is answered between 08:00 and 18:00 monday - friday and 10:00 and 15:00 saturday and sundays. The phone support is strictly for use for sales and billing inquires, support issues are to be sent in through the ticket system. ... Please wait, and you will be transefered to one of our available emplyees.. *pip**pip"..

On that way you will not need to tell the client where to go with their support issue.

I'm a two man operation and I have for over a year now used WHMCS for billing and support and I must say for billing it has been a godsend ! BUT for support it has been a disaster.

For some reason my clients WILL NOT USE it for support. Using an online support system for me would actually be the most efficient way to prioritize the support but they insist on calling me for mundane tasks. I make it a point to tell them that they can use the support ticket next time but inevitably they call on the phone and I can't remove the phone so what do I do ?

Anyone have any ideas on how to get clients to use online support instead of Calling ?

Give them a minute or two on the phone then insist on the ticket system "for documentation purposes."

Pick up the phone and talk to your customer. People like the personal interaction. Find out more about their business and try to upsell them on additional services. Open a ticket for them and tell them you have done so and will call them back as soon as it has been resolved. They normally begin to get the hint after they figure out this is how it is normally handled.

Well said except for the calling them back part. I'd suggest all of the above, and letting them know that the resolution will come via the opened ticket. In that way they might get the process...or they might call every time. ;)

Ask your clients for ticket number on the phone and tell them you are working on it and you will update the ticket shortly!

Also I like this idea, "label phone support as "Premium" and charge that as a extra package".

-Avital Web

Give them a minute or two on the phone then insist on the ticket system "for documentation purposes."

This is pretty much the way to go. If you want to be extra helpful, go through the process of opening the ticket for them. Should take you about 5 minutes per call max. Then reply to the ticket with the response / solution, and hopefully if they need to follow up, they will reply to the existing ticket.

Many customers are put off by email / online based support due to their experiences with large companies that offer 2 day turn around, etc. Once they see you are capable of fixing issues quickly and competently via the helpdesk, they will go that route. You will still undoubtedly have a few chatter bugs who insist now on both opening up a ticket and then calling 30 seconds later.

Here is What I Would Do,
Place a recording on your phone directing customers to place a ticket for all technical issues not relating to a total system failure. There is nothing worse then a host who places a phone number on their site but refuses to answer.

Whoa Whoa Whoa all these member's saying charge for phone support? Ah stop it... Simply make a mass email as he mentioned he has WHMCS what's the biggy? Or if you got that many client's ringing up the phone you might want to consider hiring another person? Me my self i hate ticket's so i understand the client's point of view. I like a simple phone call where i can acutally speak to some one let them know my problem and get thing's resolved. Let's say you were a client and your website is running slow and going offline and online are you going to want to submit a ticket? Or call? And what if you want to call the company and they want to charge you? I think in this hosting business people have to understand your company is not the only one around so think smart and try not to empty your client's wallet over some simple support. They will simply move onto another host which fit's their need's without charging for support. My best suggestion is send out that mass email using WHMCS and also make an announcement on your WHMCS and possibly make a little note on your website where you do provide your companys phone number mentioning that the phone is used for sale's and billing or simply sales which ever fit's you best. And with that note make it user friendly and kindly place the link so it can direct them to ticket support.

As Kdisk mentioned i think it company doesnt look very well providing a number and not answering.

Anyhow best of luck,
Dustin

U can slowly turn them by attending call plus ask them to open a ticket too. If they dont and next time they call just ask for ticket details and u will be just fine. We have been thru this long time back and this idea has worked very well for us.

We have only few clients contacting us through phone. For things that need us to logging to the server we ask them to open a ticket for verification. If it's something simple and can be done in 1-2 minutes we do it right away as we mostly know their numbers and voice.

Even these people only call for emergencies even if the questions are not related with our services. For anything else they send us e-mail which parsed to our ticketing system.

For example 2 days ago a client (he has shared hosting from us) contact us about a problem with his father yahoo.com e-mail because his father couldn't connect and ask me if we can help. I reset his password and told him that new password is sent to his alternative e-mail. He thank me and told me that he will deposit an amount to my bank account for the help offered.

Simple.
Phone = Sales and Billing.
"Should phone support be required please first make a support ticket regarding the issue so we can review the case"

Require clients calling to give you a ticket ID before handling their call. I have used this method in the past to great success. Even if they call, they have had to have submitted a ticket.

well call him once and tell that you are from customer relation management team..and ask him what problem he is facing to open a ticket to the technical team..!hope he may explain his issue then it will come to an end

Have your PBX have a recorded message for the support extension.. ie.. "Support is not available via telephone at this time. Please open a support ticket at http://url"

We usually listen to what is the issue they are having; and if more as a simple yes or no we create a ticket FOR them; and explain them our support engineers will contact them trough the ticket system. This way they didn't need to create the ticket themselves but eventually get used to the ticket system, as soon this step is taken they will follow it.

The next step is getting them to put the tickets in the right queues though :)

This is pretty much the way to go. If you want to be extra helpful, go through the process of opening the ticket for them. Should take you about 5 minutes per call max. Then reply to the ticket with the response / solution, and hopefully if they need to follow up, they will reply to the existing ticket.


That would work only with the tickets/questions that do not require any explanation/details from customers. From our experience, in most cases some detailed description of problems is required from customers to start investigation of the problem. And it would be useful if such explanation could be provided by customers themselves, not from their words. Otherwise you can misunderstand the request by the phone, and customers will not get solution anyway in this case.

Somebody else suggested it previously, I just log a ticket on their behalf, all but one eventually got the message.

I like 040Hosting's solution.

One that I like is to ask the client, "Would you like to know a secret to getting help faster?" I've never had anyone say no obviously. Then I confide in them that by creating a ticket ensures that we get to support issues faster because we take the issues in order and we can sometimes send a canned response in a lot less time than it takes us to talk someone through it. Also, we confide in them that with all businesses we have our agressive customers that try to "cut in line" by agressively calling to get help. By us handing most support issues through our ticket system allows our issues to be handled in order rather than by who calls and complains the most.

I've had most customers not only start using the but thank me for the advice.

As with the few others that have made the comment, if you have a phone # for support - answer it.

That would work only with the tickets/questions that do not require any explanation/details from customers. From our experience, in most cases some detailed description of problems is required from customers to start investigation of the problem. And it would be useful if such explanation could be provided by customers themselves, not from their words. Otherwise you can misunderstand the request by the phone, and customers will not get solution anyway in this case.

In this case, start the ticket and tell them you expect them to reply with additional information to proceed with troubleshooting.

In this case, start the ticket and tell them you expect them to reply with additional information to proceed with troubleshooting.

Yes, you are correct, that could be the option.

However as you know some customers prefer the whole problem to be solved without their participation at all. So if a representative over the phone would say that the ticket is being open and ask them to provide additional information in written form, such customers would miss the second part and would think nothing more is required from their side. So they would wait for a solution instead of submission of the information required.

I myself think that customers would better learn to submit all the details required themselves without calling each time they have a question. And most of our customers use this scheme.

And sure we never refuse to answer phone calls and help the customers on-line if that is possible.

It is a simple fact that some customers are lazy and don't want to have to put any effort in.

They are the same guys who will send emails to a non existent support email address and complain when they don't get a response. I make it clear as day on my site that they have to open a support ticket to get support, yet a handful of them like to do things how they want to.

After all, they are the customers right?

I have tried the whole billing/sales number only. This is when it gets really annoying. I would say for my billing number, half of the calls are about technical support, even though it clearly says BILLING NUMBER ONLY everywhere the number is listed.

There is nothing you can do, besides continue to tell them they need to open a support ticket.

Also, if you don't require them to login to create one, you will see more use of the ticket systems.

I think what happens is people forget their login info and because of laziness they don't feel like making another account to login again.

What really gets me is when a customer opens up a support ticket like this:

"HELP!!! MY WEBSITE IS BROKEN!!! PLEASE FIX! THX BYE"

What really gets me is when a customer opens up a support ticket like this:

"HELP!!! MY WEBSITE IS BROKEN!!! PLEASE FIX! THX BYE"It wastes time for the support tech to dig which site is it...

Also, if you don't require them to login to create one, you will see more use of the ticket systems.


Yes, you are absolutely correct here. That is why we in our company gave our customers possibility to send e-mail letters that are automatically submitted to customers' accounts (registered e-mail address should be used), in this case customers do not need to login to the system, they can fast send a letter and reply by e-mail also. The feature is really useful. Still, there are some problems - for example, with the customers who have forgot the address they used during registration.

In this case we try to provide customers with all the required information and recover access information.

Anyway, we should not forget that we work for customers.

our company gave our customers possibility to send e-mail letters that are automatically submitted to customers' accounts (registered e-mail address should be used), in this case customers do not need to login to the system, they can fast send a letter and reply by e-mail also. The feature is really useful.


That's a standard feature i.e. WHMCS; which is used by many hosts; when not doing so and letting them use all userid's you should be very careful; it would make it way to easy for someone to impersonate someone.


Anyway, we should not forget that we work for customers.
Yes agree on this; the hosting business is supposed to be service delivery oriented; sadly this seems not always to be taken serious by everyone. Although i find the statement 'The customer is always right' a dangerous one, because this forum shows to often such a statement seems a bit awkward :D.

Yes agree on this; the hosting business is supposed to be service delivery oriented; sadly this seems not always to be taken serious by everyone. Although i find the statement 'The customer is always right' a dangerous one, because this forum shows to often such a statement seems a bit awkward :D.

I am sure any type of business is supposed to treat customers with respect, it is not only about hosting.

Actually it is so simple: when you make a customer happy, he will come back to you and will make you happy :-). However i understand that the rule is difficult to follow when there is large amount of customers in the company. Also, it is not possible to make sure all people working in the company are careful.

I am sure any type of business is supposed to treat customers with respect, it is not only about hosting.

Actually it is so simple: when you make a customer happy, he will come back to you and will make you happy :-). However i understand that the rule is difficult to follow when there is large amount of customers in the company. Also, it is not possible to make sure all people working in the company are careful.

Of course it counts for every company; but even more with service organizations as they deliver a service often 24x7 a day; which is in many ways different from the shop around the corner.

But yes, the larger the company the harder it is to get everyone dealing in the same way with the customer; but that is why larger companies have Quality Control.

I think there are several issues here.

1. Do you want to provide support over the phone?
I understand that phone support is very popular and has great benefits, OK got it. BUT not everyone wants to do support this way and there is nothing wrong with this. If you decide that this is an option for you then implement the infrastructure to handle these.

2. Inappropriate support requests.
You are not their support for anything other then the hosting (etc...). Here this is on you. This is very simple, just say NO. NO I will not fix your PC, NO I will not act as your company's DBA, etc....

3. Doormat
How do you expect your customers to follow your policies when you don't? Whatever advice you take here and final decisions you make, establish policies and STICK TO THEM. Yes you may end up loosing customers b/c of this, but if you don't want to lose them then you've decided to offer phone support (see #1 above) issue solved.

Realistically you're loosing customers that do not want to follow your companies policies and are looking for services that they are not paying for. Call any of the top tier providers here that do not offer support over the phone and ask for support over the phone and see what happens.

And before anyone gets their panties up in a bunch, I'm not saying that you should be unprofessional or interact with your customers with anything other the courtesy and respect.

I have a specific customer who would call 3-4 times per week. He usually needs something simple. Almost every webhosting request will be a new e-mail address, forward, etc. I tell him like this. "Just send an e-mail to support@.... and we will take care of it. I don't want to take this over the phone beause I'll probably screw up the details."

He doesn't need a username or password to open a ticket, kayako will with pipe the support address. Make sure you solve the request quickly, and they will see it's actually easier than picking up the phone.

You might also answer the phone by asking first, what their ticket number is. When they say they don't have one, say "Oh, well in that case, just send an e-mail with your problem/requestto support@... and it will e-mail a response with a ticket a number. It's quick and easy."

This has worked for us. It seems we have had the best of luck by being very friendly and helping them see it's much easier than they think.