Any service provider that considers itself a master of its domain will always make sure that its customers have all the help they can get regarding the products or services they have to offer. It has, in fact, become an expected part of a business.
Today, we can’t imagine a product or service in the real world that doesn’t come with a telephone number people can call when they have questions regarding their utilization. Online companies too, have made it their top priority to establish a strong customer support system that helps their clients and users as much as possible.
When it comes to web hosting providers, the effort needs to be doubly concentrated as the livelihoods of their clients – who mostly use their websites to generate incomes directly or indirectly – depend on their ability to have their issues resolved in a timely and accurate manner.
And so, if you own a website, we would like to recommend some customer service features that you can’t – or shouldn’t – do without.
They are:
- The accessibility and the high availability of customer service. You shouldn’t have to search high and low when looking for someone to help you with your problem. A tech support staff should be a click and a few minutes away.
- Round the clock availability is a must. No website hosting company can assume its clients are all located in the same time zone as it is. In fact, a competitive one would assume that its clients are spread out across the world and would have a support system – and staff – that doesn’t go to sleep.
- A selection of languages. This is the age of globalization and maybe the “working language” of the internet could be taken to be English. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t people who don’t have a fluent understanding of the language. That number of people decreases when you have to include technical and technological terms in the conversation. At least one other widely spoken language should be added to any hosting provider’s customer support services.
- Great communications skills help solve issues quickly. Having a person at the other end that takes the time to gather the required information from you and then puts it all into perspective will be able to pinpoint your problem faster.
- Willingness to help is critical. No amount of language fluency and sharpened communications skills will get you to the bottom of the problem – and thence to its resolution – if you have to deal with a tech person that simply doesn’t care about you. It could be laziness, it could be being unmotivated, it could be ignorance – if they don’t want to help you, they won’t. You will either realize that straight up when they tell you directly that they can’t or won’t help you, or you will soon realize it after they have given you the run-around for a while.
- Overall expertise and professionalism should be the norm of the day. Tech staff should be trained and allowed to take refresher courses to keep them updated on their day-to-day tasks. It will cut down the time spent on resolving issues.
- A “Higher Up” needs to be present to take it to the next level. When the first level of support that sits at the front can’t handle the issue or resolve the problem, they should be able to pass it on to more experienced or senior staff members. A hosting provider that depends on one line of defense is really not up to par.
- Every provider should have a complaint system that works. Businesses shouldn’t be afraid of receiving complaints from their customers. Studies show that for every client that voices – or keys – a complaint, there are 12 others that keep silent. That’s a lot of people to ignore. Therefore, hosting providers should have way of accepting and gathering complaints from their users that isn’t a bottomless pit: they should actually act on those complaints and try to make their clients happy.
- The flip side: a rewards system. You, the client, should be rewarded for your loyalty. No company – hosting provider or otherwise – should be too proud to acknowledge that it is the customer that allows them make – and continue to make – money. They should present free stuff, awards and rewards to their deserving clients.
- A robust customer support hierarchy/network needs to be implemented. Any business that knows anything about customer support services will also know that it is not a simple process that is left to a couple, or even a handful, of people. Everyone that works at the hosting company should be its support staff: they can all contribute to making their customers’ lives a little easier. Answering phones when a colleague isn’t around, transferring calls or issues to the appropriate or concerned staff, giving out relevant and accurate information… are all things anyone can do. The people that sit at the top should make sure this culture, of helping the customer as best as possible, is well cultivated.
If you think you are being cheated out of any of these features, then you should probably start looking for a new web hosting provider.
