New Support Portal and System

Dealing with support requests, including requests for minor amendments to existing websites, takes up quite a lot of my time - an an ever increasing amount as I take on more new projects.

Working out how best to deal with these requests has been difficult. I know that my clients appreciate my (generally) quick response time - dealing with support requests honestly and as quickly as possible.

However, I cannot forecast accurately how many support queries I am going to receive in any given week - and their scope can vary dramatically. This means that providing an efficient support service can be difficult, especially when I may have multiple projects to juggle at the same time.

Zendesk Support Portal

In an effort to reduce the number of requests I receive, I am now starting to use Zendesk to create a support portal - containing answers to regularly asked questions, and hints and tips around running websites and so on.

This is a work in progress, but you can see how far I've got by visitin this link:

http://jackbarberltd.zendesk.com

or by clicking 'Support' in the navigation bar at the top of the page.

Dedicated Support Email

At the same time, I have setup a dedicated support email account - support@jackbarber.co.uk. I'd love it if clients new and old could get used to using this when submitting a support request.

When an email gets sent to this address you will receive an automated response to let you know that the email has been received, any responses will come from my Zendesk account, which will allow me to deal with your request much more efficiently.

Zendesk will tell me how many open 'support' enquiries I have, when they were submitted and who by and ensure that all the relevant information is contained in the same place.

Why is this Better?

I hope that using this support portal will be better for both me and my clients - it should:

• Ensure all requests get seen promptly and answered efficiently
• Allow me to 'close' requests when they're dealt with so both my clients and me know that an issue has been resolved
• Enable me to see how many support requests I receive and better determine what needs billing for etc.

Need Support?

So, if you need support, please see http://jackbarberltd.zendesk.com first, and then email support@jackbarber.co.uk with your request and then let me know if the new system works well, or not!