Stupid-proof Support?

purple

purple

New member
I know godaddy's hosting is pretty good about talking people through everything if they need to, but are most hosting companies willing and able to do the same? I'm not and idiot, but I know the minute I buy hosting its going to seem impossible to me.
 
Some hosting companies are, and some aren't. I make sure to keep my support documents incredibly simple and straightforward so that customers can use them to get things set up and maintained...but if someone needs extra help, I give it. I personally know that I've appreciated it when hosting companies and datacenter techs have walked me through the steps of this, that, or the other. I assume that my clients will appreciate the same kind of treatment. Aside from that, if I notice a pattern in customer requests, it helps me zero in on areas where my support documents may need a little more work.

You're absolutely correct - you're *not* an idiot. You're just a newbie in this particular area. We were all newbies at one point or another - and honestly, we're all newbies at *something* every day. (For those of us who work with technology...heck, we're perpetual students in our own field.)
 
This ofcourse should be taken to a limit, if a client gives you his FTP information and says to 'install it for him' is different than one that is willing to learn himself.
 
I agree with vexxhost. A client that wants you to be their outsourced web department should either pay for the privilege, or should find a new host. There's definitely a difference between "walk them through it the first time (or first time in a long, long time)" and "do it for them every time". Looking back now, I don't know if the OP was making that distinction or not...I just assumed that they were.
 
Good faq base and support forums great to help. I think that in any case web hosting provider must be polite with any customer and do ebverything for them. Other side how do they do that ;)
 
purple said:
I know godaddy's hosting is pretty good about talking people through everything if they need to, but are most hosting companies willing and able to do the same? I'm not and idiot, but I know the minute I buy hosting its going to seem impossible to me.
Click to expand...
In my opinion, size of the company and quality of support staff determine how much they'll help newbies in the beginning. Many larger companies have several levels of support, so if you create a help desk ticket it goes to level one, which is many times just a filter and you'll receive only stock answers such as a link to a tutorial or a statement that your inquiry requires paid support. Smaller companies tend to have a smaller staff, so each tech supports all types of requests. In my experience these techs will walk you through a fix or give you pointers to do it yourself.

Sometimes it's a function of cost. Bargain hosts (1 Gb for $1 per year) may not be as likely to spend time with clients as hosts which charge more realistic fee's.
 
It is definitely necessary to walk some customers through things that they do not understand. By giving them personal service and support they are usually very impressed and grateful for this.
 
How big a company should be to smoothly guide a noob thru the process of choosing a suitable type of a hosting package and hosting your site?
 
How big a company should be to smoothly guide a noob thru the process of choosing a suitable type of a hosting package and hosting your site?
Click to expand...
I think that every customer decide that himself. And each customer do have own criteria of the web hosting choice. I think that is very important.
 
I'm not the type to ask someone install something for me, if its not easy or something where I just missed one step I'm more likely to try something else, reasess my goal or find tutorials to help me figure it out than expect support to do it for me (unless I'm paying for just that). But I know I'm going to go to do something and not see the link/button/panel view I need and drive myself nuts. I know GoDaddy has helped friends who host/register through them without causing too much issue. I'm hoping I can find somewhere similar.
 
It is definitely good that you want to learn and I've found that you can get a better level of support when they know up front that you want to learn. They figure if they help you get everything set up, answer your questions that there is a better chance of you having much fewer problems than someone who comes to them and asks them to set it up. I hope your first experience is a good one.

Chris
 
for me, I made sure that my customers have access to all the support documentations there are as well as making stupid proof onces. That way I dont have a lot of work to do that way
 
quick lesson. Dont buy hosting from domain registrars. They are good at registering domains not managing hosting.
 
also be aware of the various web hosting plans available. Some better hosts offer 24/7 live chat support, while others only provide 9/5 email support. So understand the plan before you pay them your money!
 
I agree with the statement that hosting companies should provide such support at hand. I always try to help my clients whenever they need it. Again when someone ask's you to just do the work for them then its not the same, I will do some things in the hope that they are learning from it. To be honest I sometimes feel it's good to have customers asking for extra support, gives me a good idea of what people have trouble with in general therefore allows me to expand my FAQ's help. Most of all I think that if someone is paying you for your services the least you could do is offer good support.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Supporters

Back
Top