by Zima

Last month we’ve successfully launched a new section of the SkaDate Dating Software blog, introducing members of the SkaDate team to our readers. This way the community can learn about real people who make the product successful, and see that the team behind SkaDate dating script really cares about every single client.

This time we’ve got someone familiar to anyone who’s ever asked for help on the forum. Meet Jane, the recently promoted Support Department Head. Isn’t it nice to finally put the face to a name?

Give us a short introduction

I’m Jane, and I run the Support Department. Basically, I oversee the day-to-day operation of the entire support team. Of course, this involves a lot of supervision work, so I volunteered to keep moderating the forum, as a way to stay in touch with clients, and directly communicate with them.

In general, I’m in charge of all the support operators, and if time allows, I also review some of the tickets sent to the Customer Service. Among other things, client feedback allows me to add fixes to encountered bugs, create new manuals, or improve existing FAQs.

Tell us more about the Support Team and its place within the company

Quite honestly, I’m very happy with the setup we run here. Our company is completely independent, which has its benefits. For instance, the Support Department is comparatively small, and that means teamwork and trust is essential. Luckily, we are all friends here, so we discuss all the reported client issues together, looking for the best possible solution.

The Support Team is also an important link between other departments. Our interaction with clients makes us experts in what people want to see the most when discussing future development of the product. We share compiled information with members of Sales, Marketing, Design, Development and Quality Assurance teams. But at the same time, we enjoy a great deal of independence while dealing directly with specific client issues.

Why is there no 24/7 online chat support at SkaDate?

The short answer is that we had to learn the hard way that 24/7 support was not really effective. We used it for a while, but had to replace it with a ticket system for improved efficiency. Currently we provide support 9 AM to 6 PM GMT+6 (Monday – Friday), with a guaranteed response time of 3 hours.

Now the long answer.  Our experience shows that the real time allocated to dealing with a single client issue through online chat or phone conversation, can be spent more effectively completely resolving up to 4 reports submitted as tickets. On top of that, when clients are faced with the necessity of filing tickets, they usually gather all the available information about the issue at hand. Needless to say, this greatly speeds up the resolution of the problem, unlike during emotional outbursts in chat sessions, when a lot of vital data is simply forgotten.

So, what is the most frequently asked question you have to answer?

There are a few, and most of them come up when clients attempt to setup their websites for the first time. But the question we see every single day is how to replace the welcome text on the front page. I have the answer right here!

1. Go to your Admin Area/Languages section;
2. Type ‘Welcome to’ into the Search Box in the Admin Area/Languages/Search, select ‘values’ and click Go button;
3. Find the following language key: promo_index_your template name;
4. Click the text below this keyname;
5. Click the Edit Values button;
6. Edit the text to your liking;
7. Click Save;

And finally, is there a way to setup a client request (or communication) to receive the best possible and most competent answer?

First of all, we have two ways of solving problems – through a ticket system or the Customer Support Forum. The latter is accessible via the software Customer Area, where clients can create topics with reports on the issue.

As for the ticket system, it is vitally important to include all the necessary data about the problem. The more client tells us – the better we understand what is going on – the quicker we solve it.

It is best to include a detailed descriptions of the issue, step-by-step actions that led to its appearance, a screenshot of the error, all access details for the server and admin panel (especially if the customer changed those since the last support communication).

All of that will save everyone, including the client, a lot of time, since we will not have to ask for additional information, and could approach the problem directly. Good luck, everyone!