Customers who want "too much" support, incessant support tickets

Problem about FAQ is most people don't even look at them.

I don't. Most of the time, the questions in there are so stupid I wonder if ANY customer has ever asked them. Instead, I'd build help elements into places where the person could find them while using the product. In other words, if the login info was a common issue, I would put a "lost my login info" near the login form on my site.

...and I'd hire someone asap to answer those tickets.

"I've bought your book but it doesn't go out of the CDROM".

"I'm poor, I have four kids and I'd love to buy your book but I can't afford it" (book about a popular online game).

"I've uploaded the copy, why don't I have any sales?
- What is your daily traffic?
- My WHAT?"

"While I was reading your eBook (it was a PDF) my computer broke down and I want compensations to fix my computer". (TOS, disclaimers and legal are actually good from time to time)

'nuff said ... only product owners or self-employees can understand the absurdity of some situations.

To answer your question: refund them or stop answering their emails. You should have some hard limits for how much time a single person can get from you. I personally prefer to refund $50, $100, $200 instead of investing 100 - 200 - 300% more time with one person than with any other one in the system. Or you can always outsource this which is not such a bad idea.

Someone sent me a support message last week saying they signed up for a product a few years ago and although they have not yet tried their log in, they wanted to know if it still worked.

Of course, no indication of what their log in is. I was expected to try and figure it out.

I didn't waste my time responding.

It's one thing to provide great customer support. Quite another to be run ragged by idiots who don't care about your time. Ken, don't let them do that to you.

I'll give bad buyers their money back and terminate the relationship before allowing them to abusively suck the fun out of my business and valuable time out of my life. On the other hand, I'll do what it takes spend whatever time is necessary to help out good customers. I love my customers.

Those who continually ask for the same thing, or want support well beyond the nature of the product, or who can't be bothered to use time-saving automated support like a FAQ, aren't really customers in my book.

While we're ranting here, this falls in the same category. In a recent post I had suggested setting up a Google Alert to get notices about a topic. Someone sent me a private message asking where they could get more information about Google Alerts. Come on. Instead of asking me to spend my time - do a search. I did provide a pleasant response and tried to convert the request into a positive experience with friendly advice so perhaps they will be my customer in the future - but I don't get the mindset of asking someone a question like that.

Anyway Ken, enough of my thoughts. Why don't you just skip your product and need for customer service and tell me what stocks to buy and when to do so?

.

great points, thanks - makes sense; refund/get rid of bad customers is a great solution, especially since they're so thankfully rare (just 2 really time-wasting ones this last few months; but they Really wasted my time). Brian your phrase "Quite another to be run ragged by idiots who don't care about your time" applies 110% perfectly to these two people, who didn't follow rules, read directions or make an effort to be responsible.

one thing I do is blacklist any troublemakers in 1SC so they can't order ever again, so that helps. i wish paypal had a manual blacklist feature, to ward off /prevent time-leeching bad customers.

the good news is that bad customers, dishonest/time vampires usually 'show their colors' soon, so I'll probably try and 'nip it in the bud' by letting them know (or make a FAQ/guidelines/TOS/rule) that it's their responsibility to do what they're supposed to

There are people in the world - no matter how much guidance you give them - that will never get it. It's the nature of people - like the one guy in every neighborhood who doesn't know he's a loud pain in the ass.

Be firm and direct. If they don't approve or have issue with that - refund their money and move on. And, never take it personal. You can't make everyone happy, all the time.

Ken,

Put their login and password in an autoresponder message set to be delivered on the first day of every month.

If that doesn't work, set up a 900 number where you get paid each time someone calls it - say $10/minute. Send this to the time wasters as your customer care number.

Steve

That's a good idea, Michelle, thanks. Having some kind of boundaries, also clearly posted in the TOS and near the order button, like "By ordering, you agree:

a) to limit support tickets to no more than (1) per month (included); additional support tickets may be purchased for $__ per incident.
b) to read the FAQ prior to contacting us; questions that are already answered there cannot be individually answered due to the volume of emails we get, etc
c)

I find it's best to refund/disassociate with bad/dishonest/lazy customers sooner rather than later... it never gets better; the bad ones are who they are. Maybe they're bored and lonely. Or just difficult. As long as they're a tiny percentage, which they are, showing them the door, politely but firmly, is good.

It's good to be able to a) prevent problem customers from causing problems in the first place by having rules/TOS that are clear and visible, so you can point to them later and say "sorry but you're not following our guidelines, should I go ahead and cancel/refund your service?" and b) be able to identify early warning signs, to head trouble off proactively.

Support is always a two-sided discussion; in a perfect world everyone wants instant world-class service with a smile... til a few troublemaking "time vampires" waste your valuable time; they're best gently but firmly shown the front door. At least I've blacklisted the few bad folks in my shopping cart, so that helps. And creating how-to videos for "how to login to your site" to explain things, is helpful.

Just do the support courteously. Nuts tend to move on after a few exchanges. It's a part of life.

Been there done that. As you said, thankfully it is rare. Many of my customers are newbies, so I get all kinds of questions. Surprising how many folks don't know what a zip file is or what to do with it.

I don't know if this would work for you, but I make short reports, PDF's explaining how to do something. Usually come from being asked the same question several times. I then point people to those reports. Has worked well for me.

While most people don't read the FAQs page, least with a good FAQs page, you have a place to send people to, instead of taking your time to answer their questions. Like, "This page explains everything. Let me know if it helps."

For me personally, I can't see telling some one I won't help them any more, or to not reply to their emails or support requests. That one person who might be a pain, could turn into a repeat long term customer that spends alot of money. I know I've seen many people I've helped come back to buy again and again. Or they could tell others and bring in new customers.

Let's be honest, some IMer's or Guru's don't help their customers.I've had people resell my products (some well know) they don't support the customers and the customers come to me. So if your that one person that went out of your way to help them, you could be the hero and you could create some raving fans and long term buyers. They might even ask about something else, you give them an affiliate link and you make a sale. They trust you now and like you, so they are more likely to purchase on your recommendation.

Course this is my opinion. As said, they are rare, so it's not like your spending a ton of time on many people. I just push through helping that one person, be nice and hopefully they are taken care of. Some times I even let emails or support tickets sit for a little bit, to calm down, regain my composure, get in a better frame of mind, ect.

I can only remember one person who I stopped helping, was for very good reasons.

Just my thoughts

Great points; makes sense... thanks for the insights. right re not knowing what a zip file is, or how to Right click on a link to download something...amazing how many (elderly/aol) people have no tech savvy... and agree Michelle re wording to not turn off potential customers is smart.

question is who do you want as customers -- in the 2 hours it takes me to do a lot of service/support for the one occasional time vampire, I could've created a video/special report/article that could've benefitted hundreds of others... and made 35x the sales income vs the one person's too-much customer service needs.

from star trek, the needs of the many outweigh needs of the one.

devils' advocate, agree sometimes it pays off, by bending over backwards you get a lot of repeat business; I try to do that all the time, within reason though

from my corporate consulting days, I remember having posted "effective meeting guidelines' helped a lot; I'll work on a short list of "I agree that: a) b) c)" in the area before order links, to have well-defined rules/TOS; eg "by ordering, I agree that...." so we're all clear ahead of time.

eventually i'll do a friendly video, eg "to help things run smoothly, here's a few guidelines I ask that you follow when ordering...first...second..." etc posted near order forms.

It's helpful to remember there are dishonest or drunk/high or toxic or just lonely-have-nothing-better-to-do-than-repeatedly-ask-for-support-they-don't-really-need people out there, who generally may not be good customers longterm; their behavior indicates what kind of person they are; repeated bad behavior I suppose is a warning sign.

While I don't have any customers. I experience a lot of similar situations when helping out friends and family.
In my opinion, the big difference is whether they want to learn or not.
It can be mind blowing how out of touch some people are - I once had to show a 24 year old how to open a salt jar and how to put the salt in cooking water. But that guy never had to be told twice. Other people just start to abuse your relationship. Always asking, never learning.

Disassociating like you are already doing seems the best course of action to me, even when you hire helping hands for the number of support tickets you get. That sounds to me like a generous and efficient way to deal with it. It doesn't give off "I wanna get rid of you" vibes, it's rather saying "at your service!".

Sounds like the old 80/20 rule…20% of your customers will take up 80% of your time. You're lucky that in your case it's just 2% of your customers!

So many great suggestions here. If they are just clueless, then I personally wouldn't cut off support unless your price point is really low. If you sense they are being manipulative or disrespectful of your time, then I would refund them.

Bottom line is do what feels right to you. Don't let a couple of bad and/or clueless customers suck all the fun out of your business.

Kim

premium products should help eliminate riff raff

true about premium products, I have a ladder from 'free' up to much higher, it's Always problems w/riff raff at lowest price points, attracts marginal customers

I guess it's part of online selling.

I sell on eBay, and used to sell a particular physical product that was pretty technical and not for the technically inept. I would get question after question on eBay about setting the thing up. In the end, I decided to stop selling the damn thing.

As for digital products and 'support'. it is especially annoying when a support question comes in, and it asks a really basic question that is answered in the product they have bought.

A video and eBook course I used to sell - had free templates for eBay. I had numerous questions - how do I upload the template and edit it. It would have been a fair question, though there was a 6 page guide that answered this in the eBook, as well as a 15 minute video that walked them through it.

But this is something that you probably could improve. On almost all logins there is a link to click if you lost your password. Don't you have that or is it not visible enough?
Also, in the e-mail sent update it with a "Save this e-mail" because alot of people probably delete out of habit.

I too rarely read the faq because I usually don't find the answer anyway. And alot of faq's are not searchable or have a collapsed menu and you have to go through a looong page with random Q's and A's...

There are stupid people and there are tire kickers. I hate both. Get rid of the ASAP and move on. They can affect your positive energy with continuous nagging.

For me I don't have an endless supply of traffic or customers. So I am going to do my best to keep what I do have, happy and coming back. If that means taking 15 minutes to write an email, that's what I do. I don't think twice about it.

Many people talk about great customer service, but few back it up. It's a part of business and should be a part of business.

To me, this also goes back to personal branding. I go out of my way to help some one, they may not buy from me again tomorrow, next work or next month. But maybe they will see my forum post and click my signature links. Or maybe they see my WSO, recognize the name and buy. They also might be more apt to share my content on social media. Who knows.

Do you want to be the person that blew them off, or the one with patience that helped them?

For me, I think about the number of products I sell compared to how many people I end up helping. It's a reminder that in the big picture, I don't really have to help that many.

Personally I don't agree with the thought that low priced items bring in riff-raff. I sell low ticket items all day long and I don't get the riff-raff. For me, even if they spend only $1.99, they are a a proven buyer with the ability to pay. That $1.99 customer could spend $100 or more next time.

Funny, the low ticket products bring in the bad folks talk is coming up. Just about any good marketing product, email marketing product or sales funnel product, the big key is to get your prospects to buy something as soon as possible, even if it's a buck. Proves they are a buyer, have the ability to pay and are put on your buyers list. Would this not be attracting the riff raff?

Marketers don't want low ticket buyers, no problem. I'll take them all day long

Then again, maybe my experience has been different.

Just my opinions.

Just set clear boundaries and if they continue with the bad behavior, give them their money back and tell them you can't help them.

Your business is there to serve not just your customers but your health, finances and relationships.

Bottom-line: Only take money from great customers!

Rainee

P.S. Never ignore people who have invested money in your products or services. They can buy from anyone, yet they chose you.

great post, Mike, very sincere and makes sense... true Rainee, it's All about boundaries, and good point about not ignoring people who've bought (especially in this economy!).

Happy ending to the recent issue that caused me to post this in the first place; I communicated with a 4-paragraph thoughtful email to the latest troublesome/multi-ticket customer, about why I could'nt keep going on with him like this...(for the last 6 months, before every webinar he sends me help how do i login to a webinar questions, and i answered every time, getting ever-more-frustrated) and after a day he got back to me with a long apologetic email, explaining why he thought he was having initial problems (logging into websites), and promised to not send in support tickets anymore.

so the lesson learned from this latest exchange (and it bothered me, because a) I want to help everyone to the best of my ability, within reason, and b) I like to find solutions together), are:

a) proactively have detailed FAQ sections, with pictures and/or video, and 'dumb it down' so a "little new grandma who just got her first computer could understand it" level instructions

b) have clearly defined boundaries and rules/Terms of Service near the order form and also in the FAQ area, that sets the tone for what's included, what's not

c) when a rare troublemaking customer comes along, resist the temptation to 'fire them' right off the bat (that used to be hard for me), and instead gently explain whys, reasons, and ask them for what they'd like to do

d) if a great resolution, that's a win. if they persist on being difficult, if they're rude or not respectful at least, then disengage/refund/cancel them and move on.

it can very challenging, dealing with people who don't RTFM, or follow instructions with pictures, but their business is also appreciated within reason..

to customer service with a smile,

k

p.s. as a side note, I didn't get the apologetic "sorry for bothering you from now on I'll read the directions" email from this customer until After I cancelled/refunded him; then he sent in the email promising no more troublesome repetitive support tickets, if I'd let him rejoin. So I had to show him I was serious; merely asking him to stop didn't do it, I had to 'fire' him first, before he realized the error of his ways. what a waste of my valuable time. but at least customer relationship rebuilt w/boundaries, so it's a win

A few options for ya:

1) Unsubscribe them from your list
2) Refund them
3) Blacklist them from future products
4) Don't respond
5) Explain that your support isn't 1 on 1 coaching
6) Hire someone to respond to support questions

Not exactly some of the 'friendliest' responses one can receive...

But just like 'negative nancies' out there...

There will be some customers who will need your help putting sunblock on their back when they go to the beach...

Which you'll know because they will email you while it's 3 AM your time.

Anyway, I don't prefer having customers like this (for obvious reasons).

But many times you simply need to fire them.

The extra stress, annoyance, and wasting of time just isn't worth it.

When people submit questions have the form look in your FAQ and say, "do ones of these help" before it's submitted. Most bigger companies do this now.

Some forums do to when someone creates a thread. Wish this one did. That's a different topic though.

-g

Hi Marcia, I understand your points. I'm not talking about occasional rare disruptive or annoying customers; I'm referring to those who send weekly or more often support tickets, over a course of months, asking things which are already answered clearly in FAQ/video help, which is clearly outside the scope of what most of us consider normal and typical support. Agree re VAs would help, as business grows. Right Garrie, good idea about in the help ticket system perhaps remind them even more obviously to "please check the FAQ first".

In this instance, my customer said he finally read the FAQ and it answered his questions. I call my FAQ areas, FAQ, or "Help Center" or "Resource Center", in big obvious easy-to-read letters. Any ideas, anyone on other ways to get customers to check the FAQ Before sending in constant support tickets?

Occasional questions are fine, what we're referring to here is customers who over a course of months still send in repeated questions (which are answered in depth in FAQ sections), mostly because they want access to me personally, or may be bored and want to talk / chat, the truth is not that they actually needed help, as that was already provided, repeatedly. That's a challenge as one becomes more famous in one's niche, is if you still do all support yourself, as I do, the reasons for customers reaching out are often for more personal/human contact with the guru/teacher they like, not actually because they need help. So agree, a VA would make sense; thanks - that would solve that issue.

I've got a ton of "great customer service" testimonials on my sites (I often have reached out to personally call customers on the phone to help them, in addition to near-instant support ticket answering); that may be a dual-edged sword as people want to experience that level of service...again a VA would help solve that, too. Thanks, Marcia, good ideas as usual. The neat thing is that it builds a ton of customer loyalty, since most of my competitors are much slower or ignore customers; I try to do it world-class, hyper-responsive... but that doesn't work well for the rare people who take advantage of/over-use it.

There's no getting away from them unfortunately. Your best bet is to employ a VA who handles all of your support tickets so you don't have to.

Simple. 2 options.

1) Charge them for additional support.

Free support should be basic.

Hire someone to do customer service with the money you make.

2) Charge more for all of your products.

Hire someone to do customer service with the money you make.