17296136 the ISPs Guide to Customer Service

8/6/2019 17296136 the ISPs Guide to Customer Service

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The ISP’s Guide to Customer Service


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1

contents

The ISP's Guide to Customer Service, An Internet.com ISP eBook. © 2008, Jupitermedia Corp.

2 Keeping Your CustomersJason Zigmont

4 Taking Care of CLECCustomersJim Marsh

6 Spit HappensJason Zigmont

8 Pamper Your Customers

Nelson King

10 Chatting Your Way to Successwith Live SupportMichelle Megna

The ISP's Guide to Customer Service[ ]

4 6

8 10

This content was adapted from Internet.com'sISP-Planet and eCommerce-Guide Web sites.Contributors: Jason Zigmont, Jim Marsh, NelsonKing, Michelle Megna, and Kevin Beauchamp.

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orny as it may sound, as an ISP, your middle name is"service." Good service is critical to retaining cus-

tomers — which, in turn, are critical to attracting newones. It's a fact: Most ISPs report that the largest number of new users comes from referrals — and only happy customerswill refer new ones to you.

The term "Quality of Service"(QoS), has undergone an evolu-tion — from a descriptivephrase, to a quantifiable attrib-ute of what you, as an ISP, sellto your customers. QoS is usual-ly expressed in a percentage of uptime, such as 99.9 percent, oras "How many nines?" Manybusiness customers are lookingfor Service Level Agreements(SLAs) that commit you to aspecified QoS level — andoften mandate a monetaryrefund for your failing to meetthat commitment. Do you knowwhat your QoS level is?

Even if your customers don't demand one, you shouldmake a SLA with yourself. That is, commit yourself to

providing a certain level of service. It should cover

uptime, busy signals, throughput, and many other tech-nical issues.

Keep Yourself HonestThe hardest part of providing technically superior serv-

ice is in measuring it — a pre-requisite to figuring out whatneeds to be changed.

• Do you know how many busysignals you have?• What is your user-to-modemratio?• Do you know how many

dropped calls you have duringbusy times?• Do you know what youruptime is?• Do you know what yourInternet access capacity usageis?

Once you develop answers to these questions, thenyou can use them to improve your service. In turn, theimprovements become central to your marketing. If youcan prove your QoS commitment to yourself, it should-

n't be hard to convince customers to use your service.

2 The ISP's Guide to Customer Service, An Internet.com ISP eBook. © 2008, Jupitermedia Corp.


Keeping Your Customers

By Jason Zigmont

Even if your customers don’t demand one, you should makea SLA with yourself. That is, commit yourself to providing a

certain level of service.

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To Outsource or NotCustomer service — both technical and on the billingside — is an area that is often overlooked. Many ISPsthese days are turning to outsourced technical support— mostly for the wrong reason: cost. In my opinion,customer service is an area where cost should never bea determining factor. A dollar saved on customer serv-ice can cost you hundreds in the end. Remember: Theaverage disgruntled customer tells 10 people about it,while the satisfied one tells only four.

If you are considering outsourcing, keep in mind thatby doing so you will relinquish something approaching50 percent of control over the quality of your cus-tomers' experience. Customers will now have two

points of contact, in separate locations and with differ-ent organizations. You'll need to make sure that youroutsourcing provider represents your company in a waythat reflects favorably on you. Check up. Call your out-sourcing provider posing as a user. Do it a number of times, at different times of day; see how they handleyou. Think about it from a customer's standpoint. Doyou want the person answering the telephone to repre-sent your company?

Speed Matters

If you keep customer service in house (as I'd urge youto do), keep an eye on average call times and — moreimportantly — hold times. Users seem to deal prettywell with hold times in the five-minute range, but ashold times stretch to 10 minutes, they become increas-ingly upset. Average technical support calls are aroundseven minutes. I'd recommend making pretty darnedsure you don't exceed this.

One customer-service aid well worth implementing is acall tracking system. First of all, compiling a permanenthistory of all interactions you've had with each cus-tomer helps your staff personalize service. Second,keeping comprehensive records of problems that comeup helps you proactively improve your operations,resulting in happier customers overall. And — to say itone last time — happy customers refer new customersto you… and you profit.

Building Relationships with YourCustomersEvery ISP has to deal with churn. Churn is the number

of users that terminate service with you on a monthlybasis. Most ISPs admit to a churn rate of two to threepercent per month — or between 25 and 33 percent

per year. If your churn rate is typical, then, you've gotto bring in more than two percent of new businessevery month just to stay in the same place. To actuallygrow your business, you need to do significantly more.In addition to the Quality of Service we discussed earli-er, you can also lower your churn rate by cultivating anactive relationship with subscribers.

One key to lowering your churn is to offer services orcontent that your users can only get from your ISPs.Many ISPs have taken the first step in this, which is tolocalize their home page. You should never look to con-

tent as a moneymaker. The content is there as a serviceto users; any extra revenue it provides is a bonus.

As great as localized content is, I never recommendputting it on your company's main index page. Localcontent has a way of taking over the page, and newusers coming there to sign up often have to spend con-siderable time hunting around amid the local contentbefore finding your subscription form.

A better idea is a 'Members Only' section. This canhouse local content, plus many other things that userswill find useful. Members Only sections can and shouldinclude items such as; a member's forum, specials orcoupons, a system update page, and any other infor-mation you feel you can give to your users. I've seenISPs post employee bios, employee-of-the-month fea-tures, pictures, and many other little items that give theISP a personal feel.

Communicate RegularlyAnother way to maintain a relationship with subscribers— one that's met with a high level of success — is topublish a newsletter, either via e-mail or via postal mail.

E-mail is of course cheaper, but you can easily put aprint newsletter in with your paper invoices and have amuch better impact with your users.

When all is said and done, the bottom line is to be cre-ative. For example, one time I organized a customer-appreciation party at a local Cyber Café, which was oneof our customers. The local radio station (another of ourcustomers) sent some folks over. The customersabsolutely loved it! I





Obtaining a customer is much like working with a

jewel in the rough. Some precious stones are dulland unassuming when located in their natural envi-

ronment. It is only after careful extraction and time-con-suming polishing that they shine with that glimmer that weall enjoy.

Obtaining beauty from a pre-cious stone requires a dedica-tion and patience. A diamonddoes not spring from theground completely faceted andin a perfect shape. Even a

lowly opal must be handledproperly to have that gleamthat inspires a customer to pur-chase it.

The same is true for a telepho-ny customer. He may be soldon your services, but onlythrough diligent efforts will thatcustomer truly be a gem inyour company's treasure chest.Picture your customers as treasures and think about

how you would handle a treasure of immense value.

Every step of the customer sale, install, and support is

similar to the development of that precious stone. Theorder taking, the order interpretation, the obtainmentof services, the installation of services, the assignmentof a number, the actual turn-up of those services, theentering of the services and billing information, theretrieval of call records, the rating and billing and the

processing of payments aresteps required to turn the roughcustomer into a polished, pre-cious customer.

I have often seen orders for

customers viewed only as paperto be stacked around an office.No concern about the treat-ment of the order, other than apassing reference. I have seenthe inability of a company toknow where an order is. I haveseen the lack of reverence forthe timely action on an order. Ihave seen disrespect toward acustomer because they have

the audacity to ask about the status of an order.

I have posed a question to departments who handle



Taking Care of CLEC Customers

By Jim Marsh

I have often seen orders for customers viewed only as paper to bestacked around an office. No concern about the treatment of the

order, other than a passing reference.

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orders in the past. Would they throw a diamond on theground or leave one lying about? In every case theanswer is a resounding no! But, these same depart-

ments do so with one of the most precious gems acompany has, the customer order.

Whether it's an initial order or a change order, theinability to maintain control on an order is a failure of amazing magnitude. When processing a gem, thestone cutter will extract the gem from the rough stone,carefully hand the rough stone to a polisher who willperform the initial polish, pass the polished stone to acutter who will carefully cut the stone into its shape andsize, then pass it on to a jeweler who will set the stoneinto an appropriate setting. During these steps, great

care is taken to assure that every stone is counted andrecounted. After all who in their right mind wants tolose a diamond?

An order is just as important as a diamond. If control isnot maintained on the flow of the order, you might aswell be throwing diamonds away. Order counts anddates are key to maintaining levels of control. When anorder is delivered from the salesperson or obtainedfrom the customer it must be considered precious tothe lifeblood of the company. Another analogy is thatof a tomato. If the tomato does not reach its destina-tion in a timely matter, it will grow soft and turn rotten.Many of us have seen a rotten customer because of failures to meet service installation in a timely manner.So how do we protect our gems and keep our toma-toes from rotting? The process is actually very simple.

Responsibility and HandshakingResponsibility is easy, if you own the process or func-tion, you are responsible. If you are a provisioner ororder taker, you have a responsibility. If you are a man-ager, you are responsible for the actions of your depart-ment. If you shirk responsibility you do not deserve the

title or the job.

First of all, understand the effort and time required towork an order within your area of responsibility.Second, track and measure every action within yourcontrol. If you don't take on the responsibility to controlthat which you are responsible for, then what good areyou to the company?

If you are not taking measurements, start taking them.

Many times I see managers waiting for the right metricto spring from the ground and solve their problemsautomatically. If you don't have industry metrics, create

one. Never wait for someone else to solve your prob-lems for you. That is why responsibility is a key.

Handshaking is as simple as two friends agreeing towork together. There are two forms of handshaking, anintermediate hand-off, where an order is passed toanother group knowing that it will return to be finishedand the final, where the order is completed within yourresponsibility and passed to the process next in line.

The intermediate handshake requires one to maintain alevel of control more from timing than in an ownership

role. If an order is passed to another group to performa sub task, you must maintain control to assure the taskis not only completed, but it is completed within yourexpected timeframe. If it is not your responsibility thenmake it so. Do not pass the buck and do not pass go.Accept the responsibility.

The final handshake is where you have completed yourtasks and are now ready to pass responsibility. In thefinal hand-off, you maintain control on what to pass onand when it was passed. If you are responsible, makesure you cover your responsibility. It's too easy forhandshaking groups to say the other hand was dirty.Every group has the responsibility to keep their handsclean at all times and not place their fellows is a dirtysituation.

Managing the flow of orders is not a difficult task. Butviewing customer orders as gems takes a little imagina-tion and much determination to assure that everyone inthe organization has the same viewpoint and considersthe impact of throwing diamonds on the floor or lettingtomatoes rot from inaction. The failure to minimize lossresults in loss revenue, but more importantly lost repu-tation. The carrier that can't maintain their treasure will

fail. I





As I walked through the streets of my hometown

one day, I saw a baby with a bib that boldlyproclaimed "Spit Happens."

Corny, I know, but the phrase it'splaying off comes up all too fre-quently around many ISP shops.Most of us have Murphy on ourpayroll whether we want him ornot.

The ISP industry — and its "cut-ting edge" technology — tends

to have good and bad days.We've all had those days whenthe server goes south at 3 a.m.,or our favorite telco is attackedby a backhoe. It's the way youhandle the problems that arisemakes all the difference in thebusiness consequences.

The Best PolicyThe key is to be honest. When disaster strikes,remember that it's not the end of the world, and eventhe biggest providers have problems. If you are hon-

est and up front with your customers, you'll most like-

ly discover that they are willing to accommodate a lotof the spit that happens.

Many moons ago when I was firstgetting my feet wet in this ISPstuff, the ISP I was working atdecided to move from our pile of USR Sportsters to a niceMicrocomm ISPorte that hadgreat blinky lights. (They reallydid. An ISPorte on top of aXyplex Network 9000, which was

black with more blinky lights,looked very impressive.)

We decided it would be noproblem to switch modems at 3p.m. — a slow time for us — oneby one. And so we did. (Thishappened to be our largest POP

— more than 750 users calling into it — which in 1996was sizable in Connecticut.)

Things looked good until about 6:00 p.m. when

everyone started to call in and the ISPorte decided toloose its NVRAM settings one by one. The short and



Spit Happens

By Jason Zigmont

The key is to be honest. When disaster strikes, remember that it’s notthe end of the world, and even the biggest providers have problems.

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sweet of the story is that during our peak time, for sixhours at our biggest POP, we had zero dial-up con-nectivity.

I have to say that while I use this ISP to illustrate manyof my what-not-to-do stories, the organization showedgrace under pressure on this occasion. They placed amessage about the outage on our "hold" music, gavea realistic time-to-repair estimate, and took people'snumbers, promising to notify them when the POP wasback up. When it did come back up, we called everycustomer who left a contact number and sent out anexplanatory e-mail.

And to our amazement, we didn't lose a single cus-tomer.

The moral of the story is that when spit happens, youneed to face the music (sorry for the mixedmetaphors): Be up front and honest with your cus-tomers. Nine times out of 10, they will understand.But people hate being lied to and treated like kids.

We all have bad days. We just need hope they arefew and far between — and fix things as fast as possi-ble. I





Y

ou can only do so much. Resources like time, money,and staff are always limited. Some details fall throughthe cracks. I understand this reality for ISPs.

But guess what: I don't care— especially when it comesto the details of customer service.

I call ISP-A for technical support(I needed a massive messageremoved from the queue). WhatI get is a telephone answeringsystem with a menu that I followthree levels deep before I findout that I've got the wrongnumber for technical support. I

dial technical support and, of course, get the answering sys-tem again. This time I need onlygo two levels into the menu,but they want my customer ID.After I hunt down a recent billto get the number, I struggle toenter the mix of alpha and numeric characters. Oncethe ID is entered, I'm informed that the tech supportdepartment is "not available" and would I please leavea message and phone number.

At ISP-B, I get a real live person on the phone at thefirst try. She tells me the name of the tech support per-

son on duty and makes the connection.

ISP-A has a Web site that changes some content about

every six months. ISP-B has a Web site where content ischanged more often than a baby's diaper. While Iwouldn't call its coverage deep, at least it's updated

with current services and tendsto offer useful information.

Speaking of Web sites, ISP-Aallows 5MB for a subscriber'sWeb site, while B allows 6MB.No big difference. HoweverISP-A will send you instructions(yes, on paper) on how to

upload files to your Web site.ISP-B has an online tutorial.Neither is fancy compared toproviders with online softwareto help customers create aWeb site.

ISP-A sends me a monthly bill. It's a crudely formatted8.5 x 11 sheet that doesn't even have the companylogo and phone number on it. That's all I ever see of this ISP. ISP-B, on the other hand, makes it possible tohave the monthly charge placed on a credit card. Theyalso send a monthly newsletter, usually running four orsix pages, which keeps me about as informed as I'd



Pamper Your Customers

By Nelson King

ISP-A sends me a monthly bill. It's a crudely formatted 8.5 x 11 sheetthat doesn't even have the company logo and phone number on it.

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care to be.

ISP-A seems to believe that no subscriber will ever

show up in person. It's one thing not to be rich andtherefore have offices in an older building, but it'sanother to have offices that look like a slum. It alsohelps to have somebody greet the occasional visitorwho can form complete sentences. ISP-B has a fewsmall rooms in an old Victorian house. The officeslooked well lived in but organized, and the staff wasdownright loquacious.

That's enough of the litany. Every subscriber can makehis or her own list of comparisons — and they do.Neither of the two ISPs I dealt with is large. Both have

staffs of fewer than eight and subscriber lists that runless than 15,000. Neither is low-balling their rates oroffering a wide range of other services. Needless to

say, only one of them got my permanent business.

Why haven't I touched on reliable, fast service? I want

that, of course. But let's face it; these days, just aboutevery ISP delivers good service — within a very narrowrange of prices. In this climate, customer-orienteddetails loom very large.

For me, loyalty to an ISP is based mostly on the brief,ephemeral contacts I have in dealing with the organiza-tion. Small outfits often have a lot of good will fromtheir initial subscribers, but it won't withstand muchabuse. Part of that good will lies in the expectation of more personal attention and a "we try harder" attitude.It's probably worth whatever trouble it takes to remove

the small rocks and smooth the little hard places. Thereare just too many other providers your customers canturn to. I





"Hi, my name is Lisa, is there anything I can help you

with today?"

While customers have come to expect this type of greeting when shopping at a brick-and-mortarstore, Internet customers are also being offered a

similar experience when doing busi-ness online, albeit World Wide Webstyle. Using live customer supporttechnology (also called live chat orlive help), businesses are able to offerimmediate, real-time assistance toWeb site visitors through text-based

chat or voice applications.

Live support is all about connect-ing Internet businesses with theircustomers by using a one-on-one,real-time communication tool. Thisallows businesses to engage in avirtual hand-holding process,whereby they can walk prospec-tive customers through their pur-chase or provide technical supportand answer general inquiries. Live support allows mer-

chants to do this at a time that matters most -- whencustomers are on a Web site looking at products or

services, not at a later time when their e-mail inquiry

makes its way to a merchant's inbox and the shoppingcart has already been abandoned.

Some of the largest businesses on the Web are usinglive support solutions, but even a small business with

only a few employees (or smallernumbers of sales) can takeadvantage of real-time interac-tion with Web site visitors. Infact, many live support vendorshave packages designed for andpricing affordable to the small

business.

There are three main functionsthat can be served by using livesupport applications, saidPhilippe Lang, vice president of LivePerson Inc.

"Some businesses may be usinglive chat purely for online sales,where the live support applica-

tion provides leads or as way to initiate a pro-active

engagement with the customer," Lang said. "Othersmay be looking for a way to assist with fielding cus-



Chatting Your Way toSuccess with Live Support

By Michelle Megna

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Some of the largest businesses on the Web are using live support solutions, buteven a small business with only a few employees (or smaller numbers of sales)

can take advantage of real-time interaction with Web site visitors.

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tomer service inquiries such as billing or shipping ques-tions, and we also businesses using this application toprovide immediate technical support. It can also be a

mixture of all three."

How Does It Work?A live support application can be used to managemany types of customer inquiries. Exact features andcapabilities will differ depending on the vendor, but theend result is similar. On a Web site, visitors can chooseto click a "Live Help" button if they need assistance, oryou can use a proactive method of engagement by ini-tiating a live chat window and asking if assistance isneeded.

From the user's point of view, the process is simple.They click an icon on the Web site to initiate a chatsession with support personnel. While one can easilysee the direct communication benefits of using a livesupport system, another benefit comes in the form of the user's analytical data, which is available to the livesupport operator.

Live support operators are able to monitor the activitiesof a user and access data such as geographical infor-mation, page views, product selections, shopping his-tory, previous chat sessions, or even what search terms

were used in which search engine to bring that personto your Web site. Pages where users exit the Web siteor check out process can be the perfect place to initi-ate proactive live support or to place live supporticons. Not only do merchants open a live communica-tion channel with their customers, live support applica-tions also provide them with important data about thatcustomer.

Many live support applications, such as the LivePersonPro and Click-to-Chat are fully hosted ASP solutions,which means small businesses do not need to invest in

additional hardware or IT resources to provide live sup-port. Additionally, these products can offer businessesstandard security features. eStara's solutions, for exam-ple, boast secure multi-party conferencing, profanity fil-tering, SSL secure data transfer, and IP address blocking.

Type vs. TalkWhile live support sounds like a positive solution forboth businesses and Web site visitors, it is not without


The ISP's Guide to Customer Service[ ]Catering to CommunitiesBy Kevin Beauchamp

Localizing is a marketing approach that can do

more than just add local flavor: It can instill tremen-

dous customer loyalty.

Localizing is when a company molds itself to fit into

a specific community of customers. In many cases,

this involves translating their Web site into another

language. But to localize effectively, a company

must communicate with the targeted community in

ways that go beyond just presenting their company

Web site in a particular language.

Localizing can be expensive — which is why many

ISP have a difficult time making the effort — but like

everything else to do with marketing, it need not be.

There may well be an ethnic or socially focused

Chamber of Commerce in your area that would be

more than willing to help you out in reaching the

Chamber's focus community.

Extend Your Family You should definitely consider hiring an ethnic con-

sultant or employee capable of reading and writing

in the local language and assisting you in designing

or collecting content that will appeal to the commu-

nity you're addressing. This should be someone who

can do more than simply speak and read the appro-

priate language, though: Make sure he or she can

really communicate well in this language. A "local-

ized" company brochure or Web site that looks as if

it was written by a five-year-old just learning the lan-

guage will not be an effective marketing tool.

Furthermore, language is only the beginning. Your

consultant or employee should also be steeped in

the culture you're attempting to target. He or she

should be knowledgeable about the community's

ethnic or cultural interests and the programs, con-

tent, and marketing that should most appeal to com-

munity members. You don't want to promote your

ISP with a barbecue rib picnic when your target

audience is vegetarians. While this example is

rather glaring, understanding and reflecting the

subtle cultural nuances of specific groups will defi-

nitely help your cause.

Include, Don't ExcludeKeep in mind also that while niche marketing pro-

grams — including localizing your company's servic-

es — can be effective, they can also backfire. In

going the localizing route, you must be careful not

to alienate the rest of your potential market.continued



issues. One problem is that a text-based chat just isn'tappropriate for all types of business.

eStara's flagship product is its Click to Call. Instead of users clicking to text chat via the Web site, clients canchoose to "click-to-call" by entering in their phonenumber. The call request is routed through eStara'sdata center, which instantly places phone calls to boththe customer and the merchant's call center. To thecustomer it appears as if they are requesting a simplephone call, but analytics come into play as the cus-tomer's data and history (based on the Web site's pri-vacy policy) is also transferred to the attending agent.

eStara's Marketing Communications Manager, Dan

Obregon, stresses the power of voice and the need forbusinesses to offer the right form of communication atthe right time. "For more complex or high-value trans-actions, voice is often the most comfortable form of communication for client," he said.

Using live chat can help improve customer relations,and sales, and is becoming more common, but mostbusinesses have it located in the wrong place, accord-ing to a study, and many are not using it effectively.

A survey commissioned by inQ, a ChatCommerce com-pany, with the e-tailing group assessed how 31 onlinebusinesses that offered chat on their respective Websites use the technology to sell.

"We determined key dimensions of human interactionswith online shoppers that are critical to inQ's cus-tomers' or live chat's success. We wanted to measureto what degree these dimensions have been adoptedacross the industry, and commissioned the e-tailinggroup to conduct a survey," said Christophe Cremault,senior vice president of marketing at inQ, which offersa Human Interaction Metrics tool.

Here are the key findings from the e-tailing group:

• Chat is not located to sell. Eighty-eight percenthave chat on customer service pages while only 42percent offer it on product pages.• Too-low usage of proactive chat. Only 15 percentleverage this technology.• Offering alternative or better products occurs tooinfrequently. Average rating 2.7 out of 5.

• Insufficient encouragement to buy. The 2.7 out of 5score means a substantial number of potential salesare ignored.• Unacceptable response time. Thirty-nine secondsaverage is below par, especially when half the sitessurveyed connect in three seconds or less.• Near-perfect customer service. With one exception,everybody did a great or excellent job at answeringthe initial question.• Technology works (mostly): With a couple of excep-tions that required (unsuccessful) downloads, thetechnology does not seem to be an issue. I


The ISP's Guide to Customer Service[ ]Customers come from all walks of life; maintaining

a site that panders to one specific group to the

exclusion of all others can keep you from really

growing. Mass-media advertising a site at yourcom-pany.com to everyone in your market is great, but if

the site is available exclusively in Spanish, you've

wasted those dollars on a majority of English-speak-

ing potential customers.

Creating alliances with niche groups can be a very

compelling marketing strategy and one that can

reduce churn and spread the word about your com-

pany quickly. Doing it right means bringing in the

right people who can really create the right cultural

nuances that attract your target market; but at the

same time, do not alienate other potential cus-

tomers. I

17296136 the ISPs Guide to Customer Service

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