Newbie sellers

People new to the web is what we actually specalize in. There's a lot of NEW people trying to get websites online and working, and just like we all had to learn (or obtain help), it's up to us to pass that to our clients too when we can.

They do get frustrated, but when you provide all the help they're usually VERY grateful for the assistance.

As far as demands from clients "do this or else" - we usually invite those people to inquire hosting elsewhere, and in 6 months when they're still frustrated, we'll welcome them back. I can't tell you how many people have left our service over the years thinking they can find better elsewhere, and then end back with us a few months or even a few years later.
 
handsonhosting said:
People new to the web is what we actually specalize in. There's a lot of NEW people trying to get websites online and working, and just like we all had to learn (or obtain help), it's up to us to pass that to our clients too when we can.

They do get frustrated, but when you provide all the help they're usually VERY grateful for the assistance.

As far as demands from clients "do this or else" - we usually invite those people to inquire hosting elsewhere, and in 6 months when they're still frustrated, we'll welcome them back. I can't tell you how many people have left our service over the years thinking they can find better elsewhere, and then end back with us a few months or even a few years later.
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I agree 100%. As a web hosting company its your duty to provide support
but if the clients keeps emailing you and not looking at your knowledge base just show him the link to his question and he will understand to look there first and then email the support team.
 
Newbies are some of the best customers that you would like to keep a business relationship with. If they see that you are supporting them through each and every question, they will be one of the most loyal customers that you have. In the end, you could also end up with word of mouth advertising from that same customer. As Blue has stated, you have to differentiate your service from others in this saturated market.
 
cyberworldhost said:
but if the clients keeps emailing you and not looking at your knowledge base
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That is what I was getting it. Its not like we run a bad company or anything that never answers support tickets, its just those few who still even after a couple of hints either do not get it, or think that they do not need to know how to do such simple things.

I actually had someone call up and ask why he could not help his client create new email addresses, come on, seriously, email addresses for your client, IN cpanel :( All this at the same time we had a HD die on us and Im stuck with some noob that can not work cpanel himself and has asked this 3 times before.

It was really just one of those days.... :crash:
 
:) That's part of doing busienss. You get it in any and every field. When you get to the point that you can actually TEACH someone how to do something, you earn their loyalty for a long time (if not for life).

For many years, we were more than happy to deal with people that knew NOTHING about building a web page, FTP or how the internet works. Over the years, they've become some of the nicest people to work with, and appreciate the time that we give to them.

It's nice to have people who are experts but with their creative programming and abilities those people can actually cause more headache than a person new to the internet ;)

I know when I go through our helpdesk I'd much rather than answer the easy questions than have to scratch my head to figure out a "problem" :)
 
You will get those people from time to time, but if you help them in long run they become the most loyal clients in your client base. Their the ones that will tell everyone about you, and if you have a bit of downtime they will not pack up n leave. Being nice to your clients and answering even the weirdest or stupidest (if thats a word) of questions will pay off in the end.
 
This reminds me of callers who when you say 'left click,' hit the right click button and wonder why the correct menu didn't appear. I do agree that the overall level of computer expertise has vastly improved, but there are still those who just don't get it - and need to write every step down verbatim. When they have a problem, they're unable to think through how they got there, where they are, or how to resolve their issue. But you know what - this keeps us in business. Knowledge is powerful. How you convey that knowledge to your client will determine whether they remain long term.
 
handsonhosting said:
People new to the web is what we actually specalize in. ...
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Wish I would have known that a few weeks back - would have had a customer that's perfect for you... :D

Tried to register (hisdomain).dnst - as in the dns template name inside of LXAdmin at his registrar. Put in a few tickets about that. Then tried to register ns1.(hisdomain).com and ns2.(hisdomain).com at the registrar as well... Register them as new domains - not add them as hosts to the existing domain.

Many tickets within hours of signup, each time answering them and pointing him to the docs giving him the necessary info as well. When he became abusive with the language and how he didn't want a full-time job, we showed him the virtual door. Told him plain and simply that 1) we won't be spoken to like that and 2) we're wholesalers - a certain level of understanding is expected. Since we were not going to be able to meet his needs, we refunded the money and gave him 48 hours to find an alternative that was more 'hands-on' (though nothing had really been done with the site as I don't think he ever got the nameservers right). His tune changed real fast, but it was too late. Not much would have made me keep him.

This was a vps account ... as easy as some of the panels have made it, this customer had no business with a vps. He went to a shared account with another provider.


Strangely engouh
 
Bad language is a quick way to get booted from a provider. Our guidelines to our techs is that they don't have to accept it, and can terminate the help, and suspend the account if deemed. Our sales reps follow up to determine if the account should be terminated.
 
Yep, if a client start to bad mouth Me or a staff member of mine I will not hesitate to suspend their account. Being polite will get you far.
 
Many people do start off like that. I've been in the hosting industry in and out. I'd say it I think im a newbie still. I never ran a VPS and is the type of guy that askes alot alot of questions. Im always in the industry but then get bored of it and just leave for a while then come back I never ran a stable host im just a wanabe.
 
Theres a kid on aim that non stops aiming me on help with his reseller and i dont even work for the company i use too.
 
you should look to help your customers but if it is taking up too much of your support staff's time and slowing down the response to other customers' tickets then you need to take action as its unfair on the other customers.
 
One way to reduce such problems is..adding most of support or sales questions answers in knowledgebase of your support section..so that for all basic knowledge they can learn from Knowlegdebase and flash tutuorial articles..this reduces your support staff time to handle basic issues.
 
webhost.uk.com said:
One way to reduce such problems is..adding most of support or sales questions answers in knowledgebase of your support section..so that for all basic knowledge they can learn from Knowlegdebase and flash tutuorial articles..this reduces your support staff time to handle basic issues.
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I don't know about everyone else, but I love flash tutorials. I don't mind helping as long as I don't perceive I'm being used or abused. :)
 
Flash tutorials are a great way to reduce support tickets and a good way to educate your clients.
 
I agree with the suggestion by webhost.uk.com, the knowledgebase will be quite helpful, it will give instant solution for most of the basic questions.
 
We have so many of these, I do help them although sometimes they go a little to far when all it would take them is to read the documentation for what ever they are installing... Chmod 777 normally fix's that, I have SSH open always to chmod when needed.
 
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