Outsourcing Your Support to Cyberspace: Going too Far?

Last night, while perusing a popular Internet marketing forum, I was a little surprised to discover that two Internet marketers claiming, "I don't answer emails."

I don't feel I should point to this thread because it's original topic was from someone complaining they didn't receive their digital download and I don't feel like "outing" anyone on that because these things do happen and my comments have nothing to do with the original intent of the thread. My comments were on the topic of: "I don't answer emails."

The marketers said they have set up customer support systems, so they see no need to answer emails. It is a more efficient way to deal with support as emails get filtered by ISPs and most companies are inundated with spam in their inboxes, leaving many customer emails unnoticed.

I absolutely can empathize with that and that is very much part of the reason I have my own ticket system set up, but what I was getting from these two people was that they simply don't answer emails - they allow everything to get lost in cyberspace.

Now, I have to admit, I wasn't sure if they were saying they, as individuals, don't answer emails. OR if they were saying, their company didn't answer emails...but in the end, I think the message was the same.

And that message is:

Someone who didn't follow the rules of going through a ticket system (whether intentionally or as a result of being unaware of the rules) - wasn't worth their time.

Even though I actually have had a business relationship with both these guys and am generally supportive of what they do - I was pretty shocked by these comments and had to speak up.

I wrote:

Hi - hope all is well, but I have a comment if you don't mind.

I think that is the biggest cop out ever. If I get an email from a customer in my inbox, I forward it to my appropriate staff member to deal with. Ignoring people is worse than email getting filtered, IMHO.

Same comment to XXX - who says he never responds to email. FORWARD it on...seriously guys...it's customer service 101.

To that, the marketer replied and said that it was just impossible. He had a membership base of 400,000 and the email address received tens of thousands emails per day. Although, I don't have to deal with that kind of volume, I can absolutely sympathize with the overwhelm on a smaller scale. But still, to let email go completely ignored is baffling to me.

We all know that when we email eBay, we get an autoresponse telling us nobody answers this address, submit a support ticket at XXX. And most of their emails come with the disclaimer that we should not reply as no one answers that address.

Well, annoying as that is...at least it's clear. We know what hoops we have to jump through to get in touch with a human being.

I don't know who is giving outsourcing advice to say it's okay not to answer email, but if you're dealing with too much volume, lost emails and generally overwhelmed - please don't outsource to cyberspace.

Here's how we deal with email:

1. I personally don't answer support requests. I am busy managing the business and making sure I provide the best resources possible...and making sure my business is as profitable as possible. It's nothing personal against my customers or potential customers, but I have very qualified help on my side that handles support issues much more quickly and efficiently than I could. However, if a support email sneaks into my personal inbox, you bet it gets forward to the appropriate person to attend to it.

2. We change email addresses to reduce spam volume. If you're still using the same email from 2002, do yourself a favor and clean things up. If spam is making it hard to distinguish between legitimate and garbage email, clean it up. Simply cancel the email address and put up an autoresponder that explains that a new address or support ticket system has been created for improved service. Apologize for the inconvenience, etc...etc...but in the long-run this will be better for you, your customers and prospects.

(And no...I don't recommend things like Spam Arrest...but that's a whole other blog entry for another day)

3. We use a support ticket system, but we don't leave people guessing. I agree a ticket system is a more efficient way of dealing with support and if there is any email address we don't answer, an autoresponse is always created, directing them to the ticket system.

Now, I'm not saying we're perfect...and there are bumps in the road when trying to provide support online. I just think that it is very POSSIBLE to do everything that we can to ensure we make things as straightforward as possible.