4 Easy Steps to Better Online Customer Support

Customer support is very important when you're running a business, whether your business is on or off the net. If your customer support is hopeless, you'll soon find your customers running away from you and worse, telling others to stay away too.

If you're like many of us out there, the last thing you want to do is to spend the whole day replying to customer support emails. Here are 4 easy steps to help improve your customer support and at the same time reduce the time you spend replying to queries. The trick here is to help your customers help themselves before you help them.

- Step 1: Start with a Knowledge base / FAQs

The first step to your support system is to set up a knowledge base or, if you have a quite straight forward product, a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) section. This will save you a lot of time. Your customers will also be happier since they can find answers to their questions immediately. If you're just starting out, it is still a good idea to set up a knowledge base/FAQs. Just sit down and think of all the possible questions that your customer would ask. Maybe not all. Start with a few and you can always add more to it as time goes by.

- Step 2: Set up a Forum

A forum is a great addition to your customer support system. The forum should be the second place your customer would turn to for help. A lot of people associate a forum to discussions, moderating, a lot of work and a headache to maintain. This is only true if you use a forum as a discussion area.

Instead, you should use it as a customer support tool. Just create different forum categories for eg., pre sale questions, member questions, one category for each product. A forum is an excellent way to provide customer support because:

• There is a search function for the customer to find related posts

• You could easily set up a forum for free. Most good web hosts now has a one click forum installation function.

• You don't have to worry about your replies being caught by your customers' email filters

• If you get a question you've answered before, just give them a link to the answer in another post.

• Usually, other forum members are willing to answer a question that they've managed to solve ... for free.

• Hiring extra help is as easy as adding a new moderator.

- Step 3: Install a Ticket help desk

Not all queries can be handled via a knowledge base and a forum. Sometimes there is a need for your customers to send you private information such as usernames and passwords.

When a situation like this arises, you will need a way for your customers to send you the information without others being able to see it. One of the best ways to handle this is to set up an online ticket help desk.

A ticket help desk system will allow your customers to create a user account and log a ticket into your system. They can then send whatever information they need to send. You can even allow them to attach files. Most good help desks will also allow you to prepare pre-written responses for repetitive queries.

Again, a good web host would also have some kind of help desk script installation available at a click.

- Step 4: Use a good email software

And finally, you have the good ole e-mail. Which should be the last thing your customers resort to. After implementing the above three systems, you will find a remarkably reduced amount of e-mails you need to reply to. Customers are getting wiser. Most know that e-mails are seldom replied to. So, they would only resort to this as a last resort.

Don't make a mistake of putting your email address on your web site. Use a form. With email filters rampant on the net, also remember to inform your customers that your e-mail may be trapped by their email filter.

There you go. Just set these up and you'll find your customer support a lot easier to handle.

© 2004 Bina Omar

About The Author

Bina runs the WebSite Workshop that provides tools & training to help newbies build web sites. Subscribe to Bina's ezine 'WebBriefcase!' & get your free course on "How to Make Your Own Web Site in 7 Easy Steps" mailto:subscribe@website-workshop.com

---

Five Tips to Calm Cranky Customers

1. Tis the SeasonRecognize that everyone is frazzled during the holidays- you and your customers. Give everyone, including you, the benefit of the doubt when it comes... Read More

Identify Your Silent Customer Service Message

With the growing number of people in every business sector, doing business requires creativity and ingenuity. The entrepreneur that understands the importance of thinking differently is the... Read More

How To Build a Profitable Business

It's never too soon to start saying thanks to your clients, vendors and referral sources for what they contribute to your business. Everyone loves to be appreciated... Read More

Learn to Anticipate Your Customers Needs

This morning I was having breakfast with my good friend Diane at one of my favorite breakfast nooks. I enjoy the atmosphere there although I've been less... Read More

Customer Service Has Moved Toward Customer Care

As I waited for an answer to my VCR inquiry from a stereo company, the recording stated a "customer care" representative would be available shortly. At that... Read More

Sorry, No Customer Service After 4:00 P.M.

A few months ago, I wrote about ingenious styles of customer service that every business should know about, mostly because their employees were inflicting them on their... Read More

Create Win-Win Deals With Your Competitors

In the competitive world of the 20th century, we generally viewed competitors as the enemy. And a competitor was anyone who sold to the same target audience... Read More

Customer Loyalty

Loyal customers are the foundation of almost every business. Going the extra mile to provide outstanding customer service is the first step to customer loyalty. But there... Read More

CEM Can Improve Customer Loyalty

'A 5 percent increase in customer retention increases profits by 25 to 95 percent.''The greater the loyalty of customers, employees, suppliers, and shareholders, the greater the profits... Read More

What Every Manager Should Know About Seeing the World from Where the Customer Is Standing

It is important to remember that the customer doesn't necessarily see things in the same way we do. This point was brought home to me one day... Read More

A White Paper: Profiting with Kindness

In 2002, there wasn't much interest for Kindness in business, and some business people would question, "What does kindness have to do with business, anyway?" Is this... Read More

Complaining Consumers

The salesman's job is to be well informed; extremely well informed. For this information is how he earns his bread. At a car dealership the commission over... Read More

What Every Employee Should Know About How to Prevent Customer Service Conflicts

There are five techniques that have been proven to be effective in resolving, minimizing, and preventing conflicts. And by conflicts I am referring to any of the... Read More

Making The Most Of Newsletters

Newsletters can be wonderful tools for communicating with your customers or prospects. Because of their format, they're often infused with more credibility than traditional brochures. If your... Read More

Customer Service and Marketing that Works

Go into many businesses today and try and get service, its sometimes impossible! The customer service officer is on the phone talking about personal issues, there is... Read More

Raising The Bar For Online Magazine Subscription Services And Customer Service

After years of flying below the radar in the magazine subscription service arena online, MagMall.com is gaining traction real fast. In December, the subscription retailer relaunched it's... Read More

Customer Service Consultants

When all else fails in your company to meet the needs of your customer consider a customer service consultant. If you find that agents in your company... Read More

Sending Mixed Signals Can Send Your Clients Away

I call it the "wave and roll."You walk up to an intersection. You look both ways before you cross when you make eye contact with an oncoming... Read More

Managing Your Business When One Client Takes Alot of Your Time

How often has your schedule been thrown out of whack because of a client's needs?I try to live by the 80/20 rule: working from my home office... Read More

Whats The Customer Service Buzz About Your Business?

If you're a regular reader of my column you know that my number one pet peeve is bad customer service. Nothing chaps my backside more than paying... Read More

Dont Eliminate The Middle Man - Add One

Today, there are situations when we actually add a "middle person" instead of eliminating one for increased service efficiency. If it's cost-effective and demand is high, then... Read More

Improving Customer Service

Improving customer service starts at the top - with us owners and managers. We need to be living pictures of how we want our staff to treat... Read More

Saying Thank You to Your Clients

"Thanking your customers" - Why you should do it and how...Your customers make up 100% of your sales and 100% of your profits. Yet we spend a... Read More

How to Keep Customers

Who was it that said - "The customer is always right"? Well for those of you who can't get through the day without knowing, it was H... Read More

Say It With Humor

When you own a business, you may find yourself in situations that may be a little tricky to handle. Dealing with customers who steal is one of... Read More

DONT Give Your Customers What They Want!

One of the mantras we hear repeatedly in business is "The customer is always right." I'm here to tell you that if you want to build a... Read More