Nothing will sink a web hosting company faster than crappy customer service/support. Over the years, I’ve watched a lot of the “big names” sell out, and have their business reputation go to hell almost overnight. You have to stay on top of this!
A customer testimonial is worth 100 new customers! A legitimate pissed customer (not including haters/trolls) has the exact opposite effect!
You can do all the marketing in the world to bring people into your business, but if the majority is not happy, you will not succeed. Even if you’re unsure of the answer to a customer’s problem, be responsive. Always let them know you’re diligently working towards a resolution to their issue.
At NameHero I like to strive for a 15-minute response time. Even if we can’t completely solve the problem in that timeframe, I like to at least let the customer know we’re working on getting them fixed up. Good communication can save you a lot of headaches against negative customer feedback and will also help build your business. It only takes one happy customer to refer their friend and you’ve doubled your ROI on that individual. That’s one of our secrets to massive growth!
If you’re not a technical guru, don’t worry! You can still be a reseller! All of our reseller customers have the option of asking our support team to solve issues for their end-users. Unlike other companies out there, we WANT your business to succeed. Every morning we say in our meetings, “we’re only as successful as our customers” and we believe that with everything! If you business is successful – we’ll be successful. If you’re not successful – you’re not going to be purchasing reseller hosting from us for long!
Phone and live chat support aren’t for everyone, so that’s cool if you don’t offer it. We didn’t for a long time and were plenty successful. However, a support helpdesk is a must. When a customer has a problem, it’s important you’re able to track their account and have a record of their issues, so it will help you with future issues.
Those of you that implement WHMCS, it comes with a nice helpdesk module. There are also a number of other companies that will integrate nicely with it, but just make sure you’re using something. It is an impossible task to try and manage every support issue via email. Questions get lost, contacts get jumbled, and your customer service will be highly unproductive.
In conclusion, communication is key. If your customers are having a problem, communicate with them quickly and work as fast as possible to get the issue resolved. Silence only breeds frustration, as when people are paying, they expect attention!
Ryan Gray is the founder and CEO of NameHero, one of the fastest growing independent web hosts in the United States. Ryan has been working online since 1998 and has over two-decades experience in Internet Entrepreneurship.
Leave a Reply