In real-life retail there is the legend told of the polite customer. The polite customer buys your product, doesn't complain about the price and on occasion asks a few questions about the item. The problem is the polite customer actually hated the product, thought the price was too expensive and was ignored when they asked questions of the salesman. The polite customer is far too polite to demand a refund or an exchange. The polite customer punishes the merchant by never returning to their store.
The moral of this tale is that as a merchant, the easy customer may not always be the best customer. Expect and appreciate complaints and questions from your potential paysite members. By providing competent customer support for the people paying you money, you give your patrons an opportunity to help you improve your service.
Unlike the polite invisible customer, an inquisitive subscriber to your paysite becomes more inclined to buy with every positive reply from your support desk. Their inquiries about terms of service or error messages can clue you to hidden bugs in your system or rules. If you are running an adult paysite and are receiving zero customer complaints or emails then it's quite possible you provide no support link at all on your web.
What kind of customer support should you provide for your paysite members? The answer to that question is every kind you feasibly can provide. You will have members with questions, problems and concerns. You want them to be able to contact you in a timely and helpful fashion. Below is a list of items you should implement into the fabric of your paysite in order to furnish your present and future customers the assistance they need when they need it:
While probably every adult webmaster who knows how to write an email link tag will add one to their site, the email tags on your paysite need to be prominent, easy to see/use and repeated on every page of your web as conceivable. You might want to delineate different email boxes to receive certain types of predictable support inquiries.
For instance, questions about billing could be linked to billing@yourpaysite.com. Complaint letters could be sent to help@yourpaysite.com, etc. You may want to build a whole form page that allows to the surfer to send their missives to you without opening their own email program. You may prefer to just use a simple email tag that opens the surfer's mail program. Either way, email will probably be the most oft-used way your paysite customers will contact you.
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Email protects you and your members because it's more tangible than phone conversations. Give your members an email link and you've taken the first step to supplying quality customer support.
Are the terms of service for membership to your paysite posted on your web? Is there a link to some form of question and answer copy for your members to learn from? If your subscriber loses
their password or decides to upgrade their subscription, will they know what to do? What if the videos on your site demand a special plug-in that's not compatible with a certain member's browser? Will you have a bit of text on your paysite that explains a possible solution for them? You're going to encounter questions from your clients that are repeatedly asked. Wouldn't you save a great deal of time by posting answers to those questions on some sort of help page? Give your members a clickable place they can read and be informed from at their leisure. Text takes very little server space and can save YOU time.
Everyone pretty much hates talking to machines, especially when they are frustrated or confused. Email is nice but it's very impersonal. Forms are warmer, but still not cuddly. Q & A pages will answer many predictable questions but there are some problems and queries your patrons will have that just can't be dealt with through such impersonal means.
The Internet has made instant communication possible throughout the world through a personal computer. Surfers are beginning to expect instant results when they ask for help or inquire about a purchase when they are dealing with online services. They figure you've got it on the net so it must all be well programmed out. Waiting for an email to arrive when your member has his member in his hand is not going to sell a renewal subscription.
Offering some sort of live support will keep your customers happy and help retain them for months to come. Whether you choose to add a live help chat, an instant message support service or simply provide a 1-800 phone number on your information page, you will take care of many client problems with live support. Of course, you will either have to man live support yourself or hire a knowledgeable employee to do the job. However you choose to provide real-time help for members, know that you'll be giving the utmost in service which can only spread the word about the quality of your paysite.
Customer support can be tiresome and youre going to hear a lot of silly stuff from your members. In spite of that, a responsible vendor makes themselves available to their patrons. Customer support is not just an afterthought for your adult paysite; it's an obligation.