Phone Support
- Thread starter WireNine
- Start date
The very first company I ever went with as my web hosting experience had toll-free phone, but I am not sure that was the decisive factor for me. It was their domain name I typed in (webhosting.com) that sold me.
Even still, I don't think phone support is a critical factor for me. Not that I prefer typing, but I think not as many things can be solved over the phone while you are waiting. It is probably great for Level1 support, but are you going to wait 45 minutes on hold for a major issue fix?
Best,
Even still, I don't think phone support is a critical factor for me. Not that I prefer typing, but I think not as many things can be solved over the phone while you are waiting. It is probably great for Level1 support, but are you going to wait 45 minutes on hold for a major issue fix?
Best,
WireNine
Member
In my opinion phone support should be the last option for technical support. However customers still feel more comfortable when they see a toll free number available :agree:
Being able to talk to some one in the company before signing up puts more confidence in a customer I guess.
ldcdc
New member
Phone sales can work great though, if manned properly. The simple knowledge that "someone is there" (even though s/he can't actually to anything for them), gives them the push to order.
As for phone support, back a couple of years ago, I couldn't even make international calls in an easy manner, and it would have cost me about $1/min to call a US number. You can imagine that phone support was just about the last thing I was going to use. Today, at $.12, it is a feasible option though. Still, I don't care much for phone support. It's not a selling point for me.
As for phone support, back a couple of years ago, I couldn't even make international calls in an easy manner, and it would have cost me about $1/min to call a US number. You can imagine that phone support was just about the last thing I was going to use. Today, at $.12, it is a feasible option though. Still, I don't care much for phone support. It's not a selling point for me.
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WickedShark
New member
The first company I ever had hosting with had phone support. No one ever answered the phone though so it was pretty much useless.
I do agree with phone sales support though.
Actual phone support for real support issues the phone is not going to be much of a help most of the time and support tickets will be quicker.
I do agree with phone sales support though.
Actual phone support for real support issues the phone is not going to be much of a help most of the time and support tickets will be quicker.
Most definitely. I think a hosting company would do much better at sales if there was direct phone to company management. A lot more customers would be impressed with the fact they can call and speak with the VP or the owner of a company and see what state the company is in. Certainly not for support issues, but its a great way to connect with customers.WireNine said:
ldcdc
New member
Funny you should say this. Just a couple of days ago I read how a prospective customer was overly impressed to find that Robert from Dotable answered the phone himself and had a chat with him. It is indeed reassuring for a customer to know that someone with decisional power can so easily be reached.
Are you calling me a clown? Funny how? Like "I amuse you"-funny? :smash:ldcdc said:
(from the Casino)
I wasn't aware of that, but there you go - it sets an incredible amount of purchasing confidence in consumers when they are a phone call away from talking to the head of the table.ldcdc said:
I'm on the fence with this one, because it depends on what your project is.
If Artashes say... won Canadian Idol and decided he will open his own official site in which he will create himself and it was DDoS'd heavily by the Runnerup for the sake of it let's say it was ANMMark (He decided to become a Candian Citizen months prior to his entry to CI) I'm sure Art wouldn't need to pick up the phone and badger the provider to get his ++++ing website back up.
However if Artashes won the upcoming world lottery and decides to acquire Warner Bros, Inc. and all their corporate websites gets hit by a DDoS. He should have considered Phone Support to begin with.
If Artashes say... won Canadian Idol and decided he will open his own official site in which he will create himself and it was DDoS'd heavily by the Runnerup for the sake of it let's say it was ANMMark (He decided to become a Candian Citizen months prior to his entry to CI) I'm sure Art wouldn't need to pick up the phone and badger the provider to get his ++++ing website back up.
However if Artashes won the upcoming world lottery and decides to acquire Warner Bros, Inc. and all their corporate websites gets hit by a DDoS. He should have considered Phone Support to begin with.
Well for the most part, the phone support at the larger companies is pretty much used to upsell over provide support.
Depending on what you are dealing with really decides if you need phone support. If you have a server with the web host, you will want a phone number to call just in case the server goes down. Even then you will more than likely want to fall back to ticketing to have an active record of events that occur.
If it is just web hosting, live help and ticketing should be sufficient. If you are with a host that provides horrible and slow live help and ticketing response times then you really have a problem. You can generally expect worse service with phone support. You can then get stuck on the phone listening to advertisements and elevator music for an hour to two.
I do not believe the main reason is "having something to fall back on" that makes people like seeing the phone number of a hosting company. I think it has to deal more along the lines of "if they show their phone number, they wont be out of business in a week or two, and leave me with no website, no hosting and missing files".
The internet can be a scammy place, and people just want that little bit of extra assurance that they wont be tricked out of their money.
Depending on what you are dealing with really decides if you need phone support. If you have a server with the web host, you will want a phone number to call just in case the server goes down. Even then you will more than likely want to fall back to ticketing to have an active record of events that occur.
If it is just web hosting, live help and ticketing should be sufficient. If you are with a host that provides horrible and slow live help and ticketing response times then you really have a problem. You can generally expect worse service with phone support. You can then get stuck on the phone listening to advertisements and elevator music for an hour to two.
I do not believe the main reason is "having something to fall back on" that makes people like seeing the phone number of a hosting company. I think it has to deal more along the lines of "if they show their phone number, they wont be out of business in a week or two, and leave me with no website, no hosting and missing files".
The internet can be a scammy place, and people just want that little bit of extra assurance that they wont be tricked out of their money.
Well phone support is not going to be much helpful if the phone support guys are not well trained but personally I think it is the fastest way of communicating for the problem a webmaster is facing. It may not be a buying point for a person but now-a-days people are looking for companies which have a toll free phone support as small issues can be solved in an instant whereas for more complex issues which take lot of time a customer can always use other means.
ldcdc
New member
Which reminds me. There is a downside to phone support. It can make customers expect instant satisfaction (big surprise huh?). They will expect the issue to be solved right then, and fact is, not everything can be solved like that. The attempt to have the customer open a ticket will be met (thought perhaps not openly) with some resistence. The end result is that the customer can feel he's being brushed off (even though the procedure is for his own benefit).
Yeah I agree with you that many times the customer may feel neglected by the phone support as opening a ticket will be the right way and sometimes they fail to understand that but when the question comes on the smaller issues which can be solved in an instant by the phone support and which doesn’t need a ticket to be opened; that time phone support is quite useful and quick in making the customer satisfied with their service.
Also the load from the online support staff is reduced till a certain extent by solving these issues on the phone itself which would help the online support to concentrate more properly on the other complex issues.
Also the load from the online support staff is reduced till a certain extent by solving these issues on the phone itself which would help the online support to concentrate more properly on the other complex issues.
HQHost.net
New member
I think that phone support is the bes deal to ask pre-salles questions.
Signing up for a host just because they have telephone support seems more of a fiegned imagination. No more are people tempted with those telephone nubmers. A host reachable through telephone is an advantage but not the only criteria that decided which company to host with, atleast not for me.
I am seven seas apart from US where most of the datacenters are situated and if i am to call any host in US, i must be prepared for a bulky telephone bill. Moreover, calling a host becomes a hassle with many of them having a taped IVR before anactual operator answers your call, something that can take at times close to 25mins as happened with me last December. After a healthy waiting period of some 25minutes listening to their promotional schemes and feeling elated to hear how important my call was for them, finally a female voice greeted me. After spending another ten minutes explaining my situation, i soon realized that it was of no use. So, after spending 35mins on telephone and increasing my monthly bill, i concluded, hosting companies which provide a tollfree number that works, is fine but they must have other support modules available.
People usually can confirm existenace or whereabouts of a hosting company if the number provided by them is genuine. I don't see any more use of telephone numbers. Correct me if i am wrong!
I am seven seas apart from US where most of the datacenters are situated and if i am to call any host in US, i must be prepared for a bulky telephone bill. Moreover, calling a host becomes a hassle with many of them having a taped IVR before anactual operator answers your call, something that can take at times close to 25mins as happened with me last December. After a healthy waiting period of some 25minutes listening to their promotional schemes and feeling elated to hear how important my call was for them, finally a female voice greeted me. After spending another ten minutes explaining my situation, i soon realized that it was of no use. So, after spending 35mins on telephone and increasing my monthly bill, i concluded, hosting companies which provide a tollfree number that works, is fine but they must have other support modules available.
People usually can confirm existenace or whereabouts of a hosting company if the number provided by them is genuine. I don't see any more use of telephone numbers. Correct me if i am wrong!
allsux.com
New member
I AM so old-fashioned
Phone support is a must for me - that way I can work online with speakerphone or a headset while talking to them. And I feel more like I'm being treated like a real person
Phone support is a must for me - that way I can work online with speakerphone or a headset while talking to them. And I feel more like I'm being treated like a real person
I'm undecided on this one. Although I would think phone sales and support would be essential, most calls we get are from new clients, meaning new to the Internet clients. We decided a few years back to get a toll free number and have no intention of getting rid of it. Maybe it's just our clients, but most prefer email and ticket support. We even got rid of our live chat for the same reason. It just didn't seem worth it to have someone sit at a computer waiting for a chat to come in when we kept getting emails. Times and people change quickly though and periodically we do start up the live chat again, so far only to stop using it. The phone we will keep though, maybe someday our clients will change.
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