Thoughts on Provider -> Customer notification

[splitice]

I have been thinking about this for a few days and would like to get the enlightened members of VPSB on this.

Sometimes users create services and struggle to find the resources necessary to set them up, or have trouble doing so. Support can always help but not everyone asks for it. Its rare but I do occasionally see cancellation requests referencing a difficulty with a very simple setup. While improving the KnowledgeBase resources and UI is always an ongoing process which aids in this area I had the idea of possibly contacting new users who appear to be having difficulty (semi-automated).

TL;DR - the questions:

• As a user how would you feel about being contacted out of the blue, within the first 'few' days from your provider/host with instructions that may help you with your usage of services? Of course we wont be doing this if every is detected as A-OK or for long time users.
• Would this make you feel rushed? Or annoyed to put in effort to respond / close ticket?
• Providers / Hosts - Have you ever contacted your users in situations where they have misunderstood instructions or made simple mistakes (where they have not contacted you first) and how did it turn out?
• Taking it to the next level (not planned currently) - but what about suggestions for configuration improvements? Too pushy?

Of course these responses (based off templates) will be written to be a suggestion, and an ignorable (no response required, although is possible) offer to help - hopefully not forceful or time consuming. Thoughts?

 

[MCH-Phil]

Bottom line, if you know something your client does not and it may help or assist them.  Tell them.  

I don't understand most of your post, how do you know something is wrong with their service?  It's early for me :/

 

[D. Strout]

Generally I would say don't open a ticket to them unless you know that you can help them. Thing is, then I'm worried you're snooping in to my stuff. Don't look at your user's VPS contents without permission or suspicion of abuse! I think where the action should come is on the cancellation page. Above the form, add a message to the effect of "Having troubles with your VPS? See our knowledgebase for help with some basic tasks, or open a ticket and we'll be glad to help you out!" See this blog post by Jeff Atwood for more on this idea.

P.S. 13th post!

 

[splitice]

@MCH-Phil:

Some simple algorithms could detect alot of difficulties e.g:

1. services without any ports, ranges or a DMZ configured (e.g after a day)
2. a HTTPS port on port 80, or a HTTP port on port 443 (although I am considering validating this)
3. a port for domain "www.example.com" but no port for "example.com" (and no catch all "*" port).
4. Load Balancing enabled with no backends enabled
5. etc

My primary concern is coming off as pushy, or annoying. There is also a chance that its a valid configuration (e.g a redirection service could be in use for #3). I've never seen any other host implement a system in this way, and I know I dont like those "personalized manager" contact emails and the types you get from alot of professional services (they always come off as spammy).

There is also the fact that we are looking at their configuration without a support ticket requesting it (and no abuse report or anything to even remotely justify it), could be a bit icky.

 

[MCH-Phil]

@MCH-Phil:

Some simple algorithms could detect alot of difficulties e.g:

1. services without any ports, ranges or a DMZ configured (e.g after a day)
2. a HTTPS port on port 80, or a HTTP port on port 443 (although I am considering validating this)
3. a port for domain "www.example.com" but no port for "example.com" (and no catch all "*" port).
4. Load Balancing enabled with no backends enabled
5. etc

My primary concern is coming off as pushy, or annoying. There is also a chance that its a valid configuration (e.g a redirection service could be in use for #3). I've never seen any other host implement a system in this way, and I know I dont like those "personalized manager" contact emails and the types you get from alot of professional services (they always come off as spammy).

There is also the fact that we are looking at their configuration without a support ticket requesting it (and no abuse report or anything to even remotely justify it), could be a bit icky.

I would cancel service with any provider doing these things without explicitly asking them for this type of "service".

 

[splitice]

@D. Strout Hmm that gives me an idea on how to combat #2 without restricting functionality. Thanks.

Just to clarify we are not talking about looking into a VPS service, we are talking about looking at the configuration of a panel. Probably its similar to looking at the customers panel configuration (e.g virtio is disabled - making a recommendation based on OS being Linux to enable it).

 

[TruvisT]

The only early e-mail we send out is after 3 days and it is a simple welcome and if you need any help with your service to contact us and to checkout the knowledge base. Other then that, we normally will never contact a client out of the blue.

 

[Schultz]

I'm glad the Australian law is very nice on this; provider cannot touch or look into client data regardless of reason unless client has granted written authorization. - If a said client is abusing resources, the provider can send out a email or attempt to reach the client; if that fails, they can then terminate the service.

Can't be doing things like sniffing ports, checking running processes etc.. - all breach of privacy laws.

I think running automated scripts to check ports & malicious processes is a different ballgame than a human checking them - I'd see this as ethical only if it was outlined before purchase of the service.

Furthermore, a frontline of defense would be MindMax on WHMCS mixed with strict fraud & checking policies prior to a client ever sitting foot on the node, your last defense should be node-based scripts.

 

[Aldryic C'boas]

There is also the fact that we are looking at their configuration without a support ticket requesting it (and no abuse report or anything to even remotely justify it), could be a bit icky.

The answer to that conundrum is, don't look at their configs.  Rather, have your software set to display certain flags when specific combinations of settings are applied ("Port 25 is not for httpd - would you like assistance in setting you your service?").  You can make your offer of assistance without having to deal with the sticky business of intruding on someone's data.

 

[splitice]

I'm glad the Australian law is very nice on this; provider cannot touch or look into client data regardless of reason unless client has granted written authorization. - If a said client is abusing resources, the provider can send out a email or attempt to reach the client; if that fails, they can then terminate the service.

I would not classify this as "client data" - more like "service configuration". And this has nothing to do with fraudulent activities or looking into backend servers (of course).

Furthermore the claim that you make is a big one, I would like to see that law quoted as I can think of many businesses who perform manual (or semi-automated) actions on "client data" in contacting customers. Ill give you an example:

My 3d print consumable supplier semi-regularly contacts me asking what I thought of my most recent purchase (this is not automated, its often via phone) and recommends new materials, even offers advice on materials for projects etc. To do this he is obviously looking at my purchase history, this is probably more invasive then a semi-automated system for detecting configuration mishaps. Ive never felt my privacy invaded, and until your post never even considered it to be illegal - I have a business relationship with the shop and while not strictly their responsibility, its useful and a value add. Ive even received a call recently in response to an order made (without request) recommending a new material not yet listed for sale (yes, you can print in brass - its shiny!).

I can also think of examples in the service letters sent out from my old mechanic (before I moved to the city) or any number of small-medium businesses. So yeah, I think you might be reading too much into the law, or misunderstanding it.

Anyway thank you everyone for your input, I am going to try a different approach. Ill do some user experience testing with automated "hints / notices" although personally based on experiences with other projects I don't think they will work sufficiently.

BTW, it is quite different the opinion of users of this forum and the combination of people polled on this locally - which makes me glad I poll people from different walks of life.

 

[SGC-Hosting]

Here's what we do

1) Send an e-mail thanking them for ordering and ask them a simple question about your service (ie, how easy was it to place your order, or if they're happy with the service)

2) Finish the e-mail with something along the lines of "if there is anything we can help you with, feel free to e-mail me at [email protected]"

A lot of support requests are now handled by direct e-mails for non-urgent matters, but I also build a much better relationship with my clients.

 

[Gaiacom_LC]

Yeah, I think you're correct in thinking that this is an important phase where new signups often need assistance. 

I think timed emails can be of great use. Try signing up for Mailchimp...or practically any good SaaS company...and note the emails they send you in the first 5-10 days. They will probably send a "Getting Started" series of emails highlighting key service concepts, features, and how-tos. 

It's a bit annoying, in my opinion (I wouldn't read them), but I don't think anyone really minds a few extra emails from a service they signed up for. 

If you offer a free trial of greater length than 1 day, this could be especially helpful to potential customers. 

Another solution is simply to have very well-thought-out service setup emails that anticipate the most common needs and questions.

 

[iClickAndHost]

We don't and we wouldn't. 
From experience i have learned that people don't like being told what to do. Customers usually have an idea of something they want to do or they have red tutorials and are trying to do something on their own and even if it is an unexperienced customer he is trying to learn something, do something etc. If i open a ticket to a customer and tell him "hey, you missed a comma in your syntax and your DNS is not set correctly" custom may feel his privacy intruded. Maybe he set it that way on purpose (in his mind) to prepare it for a next step or something. Customers don't like companies sniffing in their accounts. Don't offer "help" unless you are asked to. Don't look into a customer's node, scripts or files or anything. 

 

[24/7/365]

I think it's great you'd like to provide these services.

What you'll find in any customer-base is that there are those that want this, those that don't want this and those that don't care.

To make this work, you need to add an option to enable this service otherwise you risk antagonising people who don't want it.

For those that don't want it, it might feel as if they're being watched. For those that DO want it, you need to make the option easy to find. Making an option easy to find is an art-form in itself.

SGC-Hosting - a lot of customers don't read things. We have a control panel that allows customers to choose whether their service auto-renews by creating an invoice for them at the end of every month or (for those that want a little less commitment) you can manually renew every month.

Without fail, every month, we'll get customers asking one way or another:

a) I thought the service just stopped - why am I still getting invoices?

b) Why did my service stop? I didn't cancel.

Getting customers to read things is an art.

 

[hostinghouston]

As a customer:

I've seen this very practice, new customer followup emails asking if everything is going alright and lettimg me know that support is only a click / call away. I don't feel pushed by it, unless it's like one certain provider I tried a while ago who sent me a bunch of information that was overwhelming and kept asking for feedback and communication - it was too much. From a customer standpoint, it's nice to receive followup communications. I personally feel that it should be in the form of a support ticket, because you then know it's not an automated email (even from a providers prospective, it most likely is). It adds a personal touch "oh this company cares because they bothered to open a ticket to check on me".

As a provider:

Communication is everything, but there is such a thing as too much of it. With new clients, I usually follow up with them based on certain criterea. I like to know how my dedicated server and cloud customres are doing and if the server they got from me is meeting or exceeding their expectations. I reach out by ticket and personally intorduce myself and ask how it's going and if we can be of any assistance. 9 times out of 10, I find that customers reply, even if it's a simply "thanks". Some do reply and say "well actually, yes......" and go on to be long standing customers.