Support is there for the Lazy People
by AmyLynnI used to work for Tech Support and while working there, I realized several things. One, I hated my job. Two, there are a lot of stupid people out there. And three, there were a lot of lazy people who didn’t realize the majority of the information they were calling about was already listed somewhere on the website.
Border7 is currently working on our support pages and because of my earlier realizations I’ve noticed a trend in the work we are doing. We are trying to come up with as many questions as possible, so that we can ensure that they’re covered. We have phone support, but I’m debating on how prominent it will be mentioned. Personally, I feel that people should look up information before immediately seeking assistance, but some people do not feel the same.
We have several walk-throughs for the various processes that our clients would go through. We have a phone number, that if they called into, we’d provide assistance. There is a FAQ page that people can refer to, and should the need ever arise, we will add a Knowledge Base at moments notice.
We do something similar for all our side projects as well. We make sure that there is explanations for everything (including the obvious). We include the FAQ, if needed a KB, and also a support email, and phone number when applicable.
What are your thoughts? Are you the kind of person to immediately call in when you have the slightest problem? Or do you research it as much until you throw in the towel?
Tags: support


September 15th, 2008 at 10:58 am
One alternative to listing your phone number is to have a “Support By Phone” or “Phone Support” link that takes the customer to a quick form asking for their name, number, and what they are calling about. Explain to them you will have someone call them right away, and explain that this system helps prevent them from having to wait on hold.
Then you can call them back when you have time, know what they are asking ahead of time so you can decide who should call them (Sales, tech intern or tech lead), and prevent them from having to wait on hold. We’ve had some great success with this, and Amazon.com also employs a similar method.
September 15th, 2008 at 11:28 pm
This is a good idea. I’d much rather have good reference materials.