Paysite Owners - How do you handle Customer Support?
 

Currently we have a ticket system that works ok but I am looking to employ somebody to handle all of the customer service so it free's us all up to get on with other stuff. Also im really considering getting a toll free number for instant telephone support. Im sure it would help retention and customer satisfaction.

Does anyboy have any advice?

Nick

I try to provide pretty basic information on a "Help" page and I offer a toll-free number they can call.

With memberships total of about 1500 I don't get too many calls. Maybe 1 lost password email a day and maybe 4-5 calls per week max. Some are for basic questions, and once in a while a guy calls thinking the models are here and will be answering the phone... LOL

Because I have my own merchant accounts at the studio I also take memberships by phone. That is another few calls a day. Not sure why they call and not use the CCBIll process, but they don't.

Jimmy

My toll-free number and business number are on my sites, and long-time customers can email me. Newer customers will get the URL to my ticket system.

we use a ticket desk. Since installing it 6 months ago support issues have dropped by 50 %/ becuase of the KB we have which gives possible answers to the most commen qs before a ticket is submitted. Its great for tracking as well as we keep all closed tickets. We have 4 dead hours when theirs no support other than that we respond usually within 15 mins. http://xerotics.com/tt/

Forget telephones and support tickets ..In this is the new world of net communications,offer your members and surfers an instant chat box so that all questions get answered right there and then on your site 24-7 by fully trained staff.
Clients and potential new customers to such sites as www.thexxxhost.com or www.bigmoviestore.com dont have to wait for answers to questions ,they get simple direct answers in real time ,which of course produces more sales=more $$$$$$$$$$.

We offer staff working 24-7 (fully trained in your product) complete with customised software(your logo) to act as your customer service/sales dept.

Given that it would probably cost around $15,000- $20,000 for a site to operate a 24-7 service in house,makes our pricing of $25+ a week totally insane and within the reach of even the smallest site.

Give your surfers confidence that if they need help you will be there,and show that you have online resources that match or beat even the biggest sites out there.

Need l say more ??????.

are we talking site support or site upsell?

YARGH! Ticket system, Knowledge base system (FAQ), live person type support, Toll free # for US and virtual numbers in Europe (Major cities only.)

Hi thinkx...we can provide either....... customer support/service..upsell..sales whatever the requirement :thumbsup

hmm k ill take a look on the site thanks

We have 24/7 support, live chat in our membersarea, they can call and e-mail 24/7 as well, if you are looking for the same solution, feel free to hit me up on icq, for a low fee per month we can take care of this for you as well

Your more than welcome thinkx,if you have any questions or need any further infomation just click one of chat icons and youll get all the answers in real time. :thumbsup .

l forgot to mention ...all chats are recorded and forwarded to you,so that you know whats going on at your site..this is great data to help improve your designs,and when used in a members area you get to discover what members have problems with or like/dislike.....this alone helps retention=more $$$$$$ ...reduces chargebacks=more $$$$$$ the list of benefits are endless.

Its all about the bottom line ...more $$$$ and total customer satisfaction .


:pimp

nicbaauw...just wondering do you also supply the 24-7 staff..as l know a lot of companies supply chat software..but not the staff which can work out expensive for a lot of smaller businesses..






Side Note:All our staff are college educated+ from the Usa/Canada/UK Only. :pimp

We will supply the staff as well, feel free to hit me up on icq anytime :thumbsup

the better support is the less cp and cancellations you gonna have
though I dont think tha tyou need 24 hours support unless you are gettin ga lot of sales and justify it economically

ummmmmmm looks like a new competitor for us,thats good as l think more and more companies will start to see the benefits of using online support......

Due to the size and number of clients we have enables us to consolidate costs,l would be really interested to see if any company could compete against us and provide real trained USA customised 24-7 staff (covering approx 7000+hrs month)for a site and offer a lower monthly fee than that of $25 month(thats our smallest plan)

If anyone can please let me know...as l havent seen one yet. :pimp


my motto is ..would you open a fully stocked store downtown without any staff in it ???,if the answer is No then isnt opening a online site doing just that?. Get Online support Today!!!!!!!!!!!.

We use Netbilling and they handle all of our customer service and phone orders 24/7. Thier staff is really good at member retention and cancellation upsells. I know they do customer service for a bunch of companies, even those that they do not process for.

Z

Ami I,

the cost is so low(see post above) even with almost no sales its still very manageable $$$ wise.
As you pointed out some of the benefits include lower chargebacks and l think the most overlooked benefit is that it gives your customer/potential customer a more safe feeling knowing he can speak to someone anytime if he has a problem...that alone boosts profits/sales $$$ :thumbsup

Main problem with the ticket system is that alot of members think the user and pass to the ticket system is the same as there log in.

Zprogramz

Netbilling may have 24-7 support like a lot of billing companies do ..but do they have a live 24-7 chat box were potential or exsisting customers can just type and ask questions etc LIVE online ???????......I dont believe they do ??????? ...this is a type of support system we offer.

Relish XXX you have hit the nail on the head as they say.

Surfers are not always the smartest bunch at times ,and what seems ok to webmasters doesnt always get across to surfers.

A confused surfer can become a happy surfer if he knows he can ask at any time for live online help :thumbsup

Sales pitch!!!!!! for those without our live online support system ..next time you purchase a tv..or anything thats newish or you dont fully understand try doing it without any live help and see how you wish you had someone near to help with those little questions........ :pimp

They do for us. We find phone support way more important than chat though.

phone support is usefull...but old technology.Surfers who buy memberships or purchase items from online stores etc prefer an instant online reply to questions if such is available thats a fact we have the data......

Phone support is good for webmasters/or surfers getting thier tv fixed type of issues,but for joe bloggs buying porn or having billing issues with porn do you really think he wants to call someone on the telephone..hellllllllllllll NO not for porn.....he would rather speak to someone live online at the porn site he is visiting.(thats a no brainer i think).

Of course if live online chat support is not available then he has to use other methods phone/email,tickets etc or as a last option simply chargeback to avoid the hassle..when maybe his problem could have been delt with in real time at the site via our instant 24-7 customer service program. :thumbsup

We had live chat, we removed it and retention never changed. We did however notice a decrease in the amount of bs support requests..

Currently we have wrote scripts to assist us even more, help when real members type in wrong passwords, redirect users to correct sites, and a solid ticket system. We spent our time correcting problems and making things easier to use. Our support complaints/issues dropped by 95%.. Now we get 2-10 emails a week, mostly just people asking questions and a few cancel requests, maybe one with access problems.

You don't need live chat or phone support, you only need to fix the areas members have common problems with. Starting with your login systems.

You are a bullshit spammer. It is ok to push your chat client but not to discount the most effective ways of communication and support.

There is nothing better than phone support for billing issues. Do you think a wife who is looking at a credit card bill is going to visit a web site and chat to see what the charge is that her husband made on their credit card? HELL NO! She will pickup the phone and call and if nobody answers on the other end, she will call her credit card company and go away.

TheDoc,
Well l disagree ,maybe it didnt work for you ..and as you say you have written scripts and managed to solve your customers issues in another way thats fine and has solved your problems.

But for others read on....

examples.

1.We had a live online support call from a new customer/surfer at www.bigmoviestore.com he wanted to know if he could purchase a one off order of 500 dvds for australia etc ..would that order have been lost ......or would he have emailed ????who knows maybe he would have emailed ..but for the low cost of live support why take the risk of him skipping somewere else...REAL TIME SALES you cant beat them.......

2.We have a client who is very well known on this board (l may reveal if l have too..although l dont want competitors jumping all over him..so l will hold back for now) who has seen his MEMBERSHIP SALES not trials.. rise X3 yes X3 and pays us over $600 a week for live support.....

Can l back that statement up YES of course l can.....So although it may not suit everyone,many sites can benefit greatly from live support.

Trust me l have the figures lol :pimp

Fetish ,what are you getting worked up about ,relax..l am just discussing a issue about what live support can do and its advantages and disadvantages compared to telephone..email..fax and the like.

Spammer???? look when l last posted and look if l started this thread,


Sorry if l upset you.....nothing was meant personal :pimp

Originally Posted by Fetish.

Quote:Do you think a wife who is looking at a credit card bill is going to visit a web site and chat to see what the charge is that her husband made on their credit card? HELL NO! She will pickup the phone and call and if nobody answers on the other end, she will call her credit card company and go away.


I totally agree the wife of a porn surfer finding a debit for xxxhornymilfs on thier credit card is gonna get straight on the phone........we cannot provide solutions to cases such as that....and thats why l,m glad the telephone DOES exsist... :thumbsup

We are a new type of technology for use in most situations ..but of course a telephone can have its uses too. :pimp

All types of cummunication are valid and needed for customer service. The easier it is for a client to reach you, the better. Phonje and email are of course at the top of the list but chat and ticket systems surely compliment as well.

Mitch

I totally agree Mitch,

For a large billing company such as Netbilling,phone,fax and full time office staff are of course the order of the day.


For operators of adult and mainstream sites that cannot afford the $20,000+ a month for full time customer care staff etc ,online live support not only offers a great new way to communicate with customers but it also brings down the price barrier so even the one man operation can offer a professinal service to the masses.

:pimp

I'm not a major player but I get my fair share of sales across my sites. The thing I have found to help the most is a SIMPLE and EASY TO NAVIGATE members area with clear links at the top and bottom of the page for "customer support" or "cancel membership" and that sort of thing.

I also add links outside on all the pages for those with password problems. I direct them to a simple page it it's done. I get maybe 4 or 5 mails a week, mostly cancel mails or wanting me to confirm a cancel. My members can get around with ease inside my sites and I don't try to confuse them or trick them. I hope they do cancel rather than a chargeback.

Though a trouble ticket system would be nice to have.

DirtyWhiteBoy,
Great It seems you have thought out what a surfer needs with links to customer support etc...but some sites dont...

What happens though if someone is half way through a sign up page and needs say help with for example zip code ???as in the uk we call them post codes...and the surfer wishes to know the simple question ..do l leave it blank or put in my postcode ??.
Would he have to close the sign up page down and go email support or somthing like that.?? and would you would have to hope he then returns???? or would he be able to get an instant online answer in real time by a real person in seconds?like our system offers .....and all for about $5 bucks a week...

All l,m trying to do is get webmasters to see the benefits of using instant online chat systems....it doesnt have to be ours ...... simply showing webmasters my experiences in using such a new tool :thumbsup

My State Among Nation's Sickest States! lol
 

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Kentucky ranks among the unhealthiest states ? a plight that's largely self-inflicted due to smoking, eating fatty foods and not exercising enough, The Courier-Journal reported in a special section published Sunday.

Chronic poor health threatens lives and hits all Kentuckians in the pocketbook through taxes and insurance premiums, according to the Louisville newspaper's special report.

On almost every health measure, Kentuckians fare poorly ? second worst nationally for cancer deaths, fifth worst for cardiovascular deaths and seventh worst for obesity, according to the paper, which published a special eight-page section on the state's poor health.

Kentuckians die at a rate of 18 percent above the national average, the newspaper reported. Its report said residents of all income levels are disabled and killed by cardiovascular disease, cancer and diabetes ? chronic illnesses that are linked to smoking, poor eating habits and sedentary lifestyles.

"We don't have to worry about foreign aggressors," said Dr. Baretta Casey, a Hazard physician and University of Kentucky professor. "We are killing ourselves off."

Poverty is at the center of the problem, factoring into nutrition, health habits and medical care that people receive. Minorities in Kentucky's cities, who are disproportionately poor, die from diseases at rates comparable to those in some of the hardest-hit rural areas. And Kentucky has 43 of the nation's 340 persistently poor rural counties.

In Knott County, two brothers and a father share a small house and serious health woes.

James White, 42, weighs 340 pounds and has high blood pressure, but still eats mostly fatty foods, such as fried chicken and pork chops. His older brother Eddie, 46, had a six-way heart bypass last year. He is unemployed and uninsured and so can afford little medical care. He owes thousands of dollars in medical bills.

Their father, Fred "Justin" White, 70, has heart disease, chronic kidney failure and Parkinson's disease. He can't stand for more than 10 minutes at a time, gets around using a cane he carved and needs help with tasks as simple as dressing.

At the White House Clinic in McKee, also in eastern Kentucky, Dr. Sandra Dionisio remembers a patient with cancer so advanced she had a foul-smelling, open wound in her breast.

"I see a lot of illnesses similar to a third-world country," said Dionisio, an internist trained in the Philippines.

The General Assembly took steps this year to deal with the state's health woes, raising the cigarette tax from 3 cents a pack to 30 cents and passing legislation to improve nutrition and physical fitness in schools.

Dr. James Holsinger Jr., secretary of the state Cabinet for Health and Family Services, said he and Gov. Ernie Fletcher, also a physician, view health as a top priority.

"We've got some big mountains to climb," Holsinger said.

Each of the state's major chronic diseases costs the Medicaid program hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars. In the fiscal year ending June 2003, Medicaid spent $611 million for diabetes, $422 million for cancer, $372 million for coronary artery disease and $728 million for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The state and federal program provides health insurance for the poor, disabled and those in nursing homes.

Health-related costs are a concern for Mike Hamrick, a 45-year-old pastor in Lawrenceburg and a father of two teenagers, even though his family is generally healthy. Health insurance takes a large chunk of his salary.

If the state's population were healthier, experts said, government would be able to spend more money on other priorities.

"Any dollar you spend on Medicaid, you don't have to spend on K-12 education, for example, said Jeanne Boeh, chairwoman of the economics department at Augsburg College in Minneapolis.

But the chronic diseases plaguing Kentuckians are linked to behaviors that are woven into the state's culture, making them difficult to change.

Smoking is a prime example. Kentucky, the nation's top producer of burley tobacco, also has the highest percentage of adult smokers. Almost one out of three Kentucky adults light up despite evidence that smoking contributes to heart disease, strokes and lung cancer.

Lung cancer kills Kentuckians at the nation's highest rate.

Carolyn Sue Cheek of Clay County started smoking at age 7. The 51-year-old once quit for more than a year, but started up again under the stress of watching her mother, a former smoker, die of lung cancer.

Cheek, who smokes two or three packs a day, labors to breathe with asthma and emphysema. She tells her grandchildren: "Don't ever take up the smoking habit. You know how Mom-mom struggles with her lungs."

Poor eating and exercise habits also are common.

Many Kentucky meals include fried and fatty foods, part of the traditional Southern diet.

Compounding the problem, research shows that two-thirds of Kentuckians in 2003 didn't meet national recommendations to get at least 30 minutes of moderate physical activity five days a week or 20 minutes of vigorous exercise three times a week.

More than a quarter of all state residents are obese, putting them at risk for heart attack, stroke, Type II diabetes and colorectal cancer.

Unless far more effort and political will is focused on curing the problem, health advocates said, a bad situation will only worsen as obese children, young smokers and baby boomers grow older.

However, experts and advocates said Kentucky's problems are not insurmountable. If the state solves its health crisis, it can show the way for the rest of the nation, which now has a lower life expectancy than such industrialized countries as Canada, Japan and Germany.

"Our state does not have to be the worst health state in the nation," said Casey, the Hazard doctor. "Don't ever take up the smoking habit."

The newspaper plans two more special reports this year on the health of Kentuckians. As part of its series, it also scheduled a free health fair July 26 in conjunction with a television station and a number of health groups.

Link to story as if you give a rats ass about unhealthy rednecks....

ummmmmmmmmmm l wonder if online support would help them? :1orglaugh

Chat support is fine. However, just so you know, we offer phone and email support on a per trasnaction OR pre minute OR per interaction basis. It is relatively inexpensive. We also offer after hours support as some merchants/webmasters like tyo handle their own and just have us take over on nights/weekends/ and holidays. PWe provide this service for hundreds of companies.

Mitch

e-mail & help pages works fine. Might get a live chat in the future.

Dalai lama,

If at any time you decide to try out live chat support,just let me know and l will fix you up with a free trial...

thanks :pimp