I've never understood per ticket pay? A $7/month client could create 5 tickets, 5 tickets at $2, BAM goes your profit.
[Industry Question] How Do You Pay Support Staff?
- Thread starter ComputerTrophy
- Start date
Only profit from that client however, if they're paying $7month it's more likely that the first ticket has wiped out the profit.
However, multiply that up over 100 clients. If 5 of them submit a ticket...you can see the figures are more favourable.
However, multiply that up over 100 clients. If 5 of them submit a ticket...you can see the figures are more favourable.
@MartinD - it is indeed over here!
In regards to my response earlier, I wouldn't be paying someone £7+ a hour unless I had a very defined market and level of support which is required. More so for managed clients whom own there own businesses rather than most LEB host's who offer unmanaged services.
You pay for what you get. I don't expect any support from a $3 a month VPS, maybe a bit of help with questions but technical support no. All that matters in this case is that the rented H/W actually works with being able to use it.
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I get paid mostly in servers, but I average ~$30 per week. Then again, I work only a couple of hours every week. Like 2 or 3. I have no idea how ANY student could run a VPS hosting business during the summer. I'm WAAAAY too busy!
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I thought you're one of the owners? Where are you from? Do you only do support there?
And a verified provider..
We have a 24/7 shop so 3 techs a day with 8 hours shifts, 5 days a week, paid bi-weekly
There's no short answer to that question. The pay fluctuates with experience, benefits, technical skills, customer service skills, and that certain je ne sais quoi that is important in all jobs. Toss in that you're asking specifically about small hosting companies and all the numbers change a little for that, too. For the sake of this post I'll assume that all compensation is cash. Adjust these numbers if you're giving equity, benefits, flexible hours, pizza, or liquor. So with the numbers below, if the guy should be at $20/hour and you pay him $10/hour + profit sharing, ideally that adds up to the equivalent of $20/hour, on average.
You can pull in a decent out-of-market employee for about $10/hour, but don't expect to keep them unless they see the job (and their pay!) going somewhere. Think of this as a warm body picking up the phone and weeding out password reset tickets. Some of the best employees I've ever seen in the hosting industry have been hired out of sandwich shops. Guys who have an aptitude for computers but were just flipping burgers tend to be motivated not to go back to flipping burgers.
$8-$11 per hour - This is the $10/hour employee after he knows what hosting is and some basic technical aspects about it. Expect the employee to be able to follow simple, well defined processes. Simple problem solving and basic customer service should be needed, but at this pay rate many tickets will likely need to be escalated. If your $8-$11/hour employee doesn't seem to have a desire to increase his skill set, he probably won't pan out in the long run.
$12-$20/hour - These employees should be able to handle about 80%-90% of what's thrown at them, especially things that happen regularly. They should have the talent level necessary to only escalate tickets that are above their permission levels. This is the pay scale where you stop using the word "job" and start using the word "career." If your employee at this pay rate is calling this a "job" as if it's not going to be his career, this is probably as high in your food chain as he'll get.
$21-$39/hour - At this pay rate they should be able to handle the top escalations of tickets. These employees often grow frustrated of entry-level tickets, so if they're the only cowboy in your rodeo you might need to pick one with the right persona. If they're still willing to do password resets with a smile, you have a keeper. Treat him well.
$40+/hour - Employees asking for this pay rate should be beyond the simple fray of clocking in and clocking out. They should understand the business from top to bottom and their skill set should be exemplary in one or more crucial areas. They are "company men." They have a deep, intimate understanding of what the business needs.
Before I get shredded in typical forum fashion, yes, there are plenty of examples that fall outside the rules of thumb that I have listed.
In my opinion, the most sucessful small hosts that make the jump from being a one man show to a full 24/7 staff cycle do so by paying less cash per hour and offering profit sharing and/or equity. That tends to work great during growth stages when the employee can see a future for himself, but expect difficulty with retention if the company is just treading water and you want to compensate with equity or profit sharing.
You can pull in a decent out-of-market employee for about $10/hour, but don't expect to keep them unless they see the job (and their pay!) going somewhere. Think of this as a warm body picking up the phone and weeding out password reset tickets. Some of the best employees I've ever seen in the hosting industry have been hired out of sandwich shops. Guys who have an aptitude for computers but were just flipping burgers tend to be motivated not to go back to flipping burgers.
$8-$11 per hour - This is the $10/hour employee after he knows what hosting is and some basic technical aspects about it. Expect the employee to be able to follow simple, well defined processes. Simple problem solving and basic customer service should be needed, but at this pay rate many tickets will likely need to be escalated. If your $8-$11/hour employee doesn't seem to have a desire to increase his skill set, he probably won't pan out in the long run.
$12-$20/hour - These employees should be able to handle about 80%-90% of what's thrown at them, especially things that happen regularly. They should have the talent level necessary to only escalate tickets that are above their permission levels. This is the pay scale where you stop using the word "job" and start using the word "career." If your employee at this pay rate is calling this a "job" as if it's not going to be his career, this is probably as high in your food chain as he'll get.
$21-$39/hour - At this pay rate they should be able to handle the top escalations of tickets. These employees often grow frustrated of entry-level tickets, so if they're the only cowboy in your rodeo you might need to pick one with the right persona. If they're still willing to do password resets with a smile, you have a keeper. Treat him well.
$40+/hour - Employees asking for this pay rate should be beyond the simple fray of clocking in and clocking out. They should understand the business from top to bottom and their skill set should be exemplary in one or more crucial areas. They are "company men." They have a deep, intimate understanding of what the business needs.
Before I get shredded in typical forum fashion, yes, there are plenty of examples that fall outside the rules of thumb that I have listed.
In my opinion, the most sucessful small hosts that make the jump from being a one man show to a full 24/7 staff cycle do so by paying less cash per hour and offering profit sharing and/or equity. That tends to work great during growth stages when the employee can see a future for himself, but expect difficulty with retention if the company is just treading water and you want to compensate with equity or profit sharing.
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Anyone who is actually good will likely want to be paid salary.
Hourly work is also nice. 40 hour a week job, over that, overtime. Salary sounds nice, sounds like big boy pay, but you may take home less and work more hours.
Aldryic C'boas
The Pony
Actually, my condition for coming off a delivery route and taking the IT spot at Coke was that they move the IT job from salary to hourly pay. I want my damn overtime >_>
I'm amazed that in some places salaried means no overtime pay. While I'm not in the tech field, I'm on salary and get overtime pay (or time off in-lieu) at 1.5x my effective hourly rate based on what my expected work hours for salary are.
Is it really that common otherwise?
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It depends on the contract. Some say that "reasonable" overtime is a part of your job, which generally means no overtime except disasters but can be abused etc.
shawn_ky
Member
I have never had this option... Don't know anyone around me that does either.. Would be happy to have such a contract tho.
LOL I wish. I'm what's called "Level 1 Support". I don't do much.
If you pay per ticket it's likely they will skim up all the easy tickets to make money and rarely touch hard tickets.
FWIW it's no secret that many hosts outsource, WebbyCart, WebHostRepo (Supposed to mean repository lol), and many others exist in this space and do a pretty good job with the L1/L2 tickets. Some even have phone support, US or Overseas, specialize in languages for those who have many foreign customers.
Some companies insource minimum wage employees in the US setting up call farms in rural areas where cost of living is dirt cheap as well.
Didnt Wendys outsource the drive through window to India in a experiment? Might of been another fast food chain, but that was a eye roller if there ever was one.
FWIW it's no secret that many hosts outsource, WebbyCart, WebHostRepo (Supposed to mean repository lol), and many others exist in this space and do a pretty good job with the L1/L2 tickets. Some even have phone support, US or Overseas, specialize in languages for those who have many foreign customers.
Some companies insource minimum wage employees in the US setting up call farms in rural areas where cost of living is dirt cheap as well.
Didnt Wendys outsource the drive through window to India in a experiment? Might of been another fast food chain, but that was a eye roller if there ever was one.
shawn_ky
Member
Outsourced drive-thru windows: http://news.foodfacts.info/2006/11/outsourcing-drive-thru-window.html
Not a fan of outsourcing for big companies, but definitely see the value. AT&T continues to hire workers in my area for the call center. A decent wage for this area that wouldn't fly in the bigger cities...
Not a fan of outsourcing for big companies, but definitely see the value. AT&T continues to hire workers in my area for the call center. A decent wage for this area that wouldn't fly in the bigger cities...
Regarding overtime, to the best of my knowledge our field is exempt from overtime laws in most US jurisdictions. If the employer chooses to provide overtime pay, that's (legally speaking) going above and beyond. I'm not a lawyer and not well-read on law, just the answer I've seen in each jurisdiction in which I've looked.
For a small company like the OP is asking about, you may find a better solution is comp time. So if your man works all night unexpectedly, perhaps you give him an equal number of regularly scheduled hours off from work. Financially it flows better for you and for him well, whether or not he's entitled to it, he deserves it.
Or just give him beer. I think a man working on servers feels more like a man if he can have a bottle of suds.
For a small company like the OP is asking about, you may find a better solution is comp time. So if your man works all night unexpectedly, perhaps you give him an equal number of regularly scheduled hours off from work. Financially it flows better for you and for him well, whether or not he's entitled to it, he deserves it.
Or just give him beer. I think a man working on servers feels more like a man if he can have a bottle of suds.