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By Sean Valant, PR Manager
Welcome to part 2 of our Customer Service series, please see part 1 right here.
Literally the entire HostGator staff is at the service of our Customers and available to personally assist, from our Jr. Admins up to our CEO. I have seen, with my own eyes, our CEO call a Customer to assist with an issue they were experiencing that required a lot of time and attention to resolve. That is not a run-of-the-mill situation, but it is an example of the lengths to which we, as a Company, will go to ensure the satisfaction of our Customers.
That degree of engagement is something in which we very much take pride. Virtually regardless of the issue at hand, any time that a Customer is not completely comfortable with the individual presently assisting them, they can request to speak to someone with whom they will feel more comfortable: a Level 2 Jr. Admin, a Supervisor, a member of the Customer Service Dept., or even myself. We want any given Customer to communicate directly with whomever can best resolve the given issue in that moment.
Our Customer Service Department is the keystone upon which much of this rests. They stay engaged on the front lines as well as instituting new policies related to these matters in a dynamic manner with the focus always being on the Customer experience. We have already succeeded as a web host, we have nothing to lose by going that extra mile in order to ensure that your experience with us is extraordinary.
Clearly the Golden Rule sets the foundation. We certainly treat our Customers how we would want to be treated, but then we kick it up that proverbial notch to treating Customers in a way that would exceed our own expectations were the roles reversed.
A recent issue comes to mind whereby there was a very short (approximately 25 minutes) outage related to one of our services. As we monitored and responded to Customers in realtime via Twitter, most of the tweets we received were along the lines of “when will this be resolved?” There was one Customer who stood out during that short outage, they simply said “these things happen, thank you for being the best hosting company.” Once all services were restored and everything returned to normal, we contacted that Customer and gave them a free month of hosting.
I don’t use the above example to encourage people to say nice things about us during less than ideal situations, nor to pat ourselves on the back for having done something nice, but I did want to illustrate one example whereby we exceeded one person’s expectations. Every single time you contact us is an opportunity for us to attempt to exceed your expectations. That, to us, is Customer Service.
I mentioned Twitter previously, you can follow us @HostGator. You can also find us on FaceBook, Instagram, Tumblr & Pinterest. Speaking of Pinterest, we have a specific pinboard that highlights our various awards over the years. Think of it as an online trophy case; many of these awards are a direct result of our Customer Service.
Social media is becoming more and more vital in providing thorough Customer Service. We are active on virtually all major social networks. For a full list of HostGator’s social media presence, see this link from our KnowledgeBase. Please follow or like us on your preferred social media platforms.
I could wax philosophic about Customer Service all day, but really what matters is the input from you, our loyal Customers. How do you think we’re doing? Would you like to contribute to this blog by sharing a story of when we were able to go above and beyond for you? Please email feedback@hostgator.com ATTN: Blog with your thoughts, suggestions and stories about how HostGator has served you over the years. We want to hear from you!
(This article originally appeared in Gator Crossing, The Official HostGator Blog.)
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By Sean Valant, PR Manager
What unquestionably sets HostGator apart from other web hosts is, and will always be, our Customer Service. Customer Service is a dynamic term, and arguably a dying art form; I thought it might be interesting to discuss what it means in it’s various forms. Being a fundamentally abstract concept, it’s defined and interpreted in multiple (and sometimes even conflicting) ways, even redefined at a moments notice. In other words, Customer Service can mean different things to different people… at different times. What does Customer Service mean to you?
I suppose the most well worn phrase pertaining to this topic would simply be: “The Customer Is Always Right.”
For this blog post, I’m going theorize that HostGator has the level of Customer Service that we do simply because the Customer isn’t necessarily always right; that fact being key to what keeps us so closely engaged with our Customers. If our Customers knew everything all of the time, then what use would they have for us? In a way, our jobs depend on the Customer being wrong, at least some of the time. Fortunately, we Gators are a helpful kind and truly enjoy working with you.
I feel like I should quantify the statement “the Customer isn’t necessarily always right” with at least one quick, specific example: WordPress plugins. Plugins are fun and easy to install, but they come with a price. It’s not an uncommon occurrence for an overly-plugin’d WordPress install on our Shared environment to be consuming an inordinate amount of system resources, particularly when coupled with a large surge in traffic. Many plugins are doing significantly more behind the scenes than one may realize, with regard to system resources. This circumstance can, in extreme cases, even result in an account becoming automatically suspended on the server for exceeding the maximum allowed resources for the given cPanel, completely due to excessive plugins. When this happens, the Customer can become understandably upset regarding the suspension, though once we explain the cause and assist with scaling back the installed plugins, then all is well. It’s more or less a case of us fundamentally correcting an improper course of action taken by our Customer. While we’re on this subject, remember: the fewer plugins, the better.
I cannot stress enough the fact that we enjoy assisting our Customers. The vast majority of our staff eagerly awaits troublesome issues, because those issues are an opportunity for us to learn, ourselves. We don’t always immediately know everything, all the time; no one does. But our ingrained Customer Service values will result in us never letting you see us sweat, even if we’re poring through Google and querying any gurus throughout the office on a quest to answer your question, or fix your problem as quickly as humanly possible.
We pride ourselves on this aspect of our business and it truly sets the tone for our daily operations. For us, Customer Service isn’t necessarily the Customer always being “right,” but it is an ever-expanding process of serving our Customers in such a way as to always exceed their expectations, in every way possible.
Our Customer Service Department sets the proverbial bar in this industry, constantly going above and beyond to better serve you. When we next speak on this topic, I’ll discuss some of the things those folks do and some more points on exactly how our entire company is built upon a foundation of Customer Service.
In the meantime, we’d like to hear from you. Leave us a comment letting us know what Customer Service means to you.
(This article originally appeared in Gator Crossing, The Official HostGator Blog.)
