…Suddenly, a cockroach flew from somewhere and sat on her. I wondered if this was the cockroach’s response to all the glory that was spoken about it! She started screaming out of fear. With panic stricken face and trembling voice, she started doing stationary jumping, with both her hands desperately trying to get rid of the cockroach. Her reaction was contagious, as everyone in her group got cranky to what was happening. The lady finally managed to push the cockroach to another lady in the group.

Now, it was the turn of the other lady in the group to continue the drama. The waiter rushed forward to their rescue. In the relay of throwing, the cockroach next fell upon the waiter. The waiter stood firm, composed himself and observed the behavior of the cockroach on his shirt. When he was confident enough, he grabbed and threw it out with his fingers.

Sipping my coffee and watching the amusement, the antenna of my mind picked up a few thoughts and started wondering, “was the cockroach responsible for their histrionic behavior? If so, then why was the waiter not disturbed? He handled it near to perfection, without any chaos. It is not the cockroach, but the inability of the ladies to handle the disturbance caused by the cockroach that disturbed the ladies.” I realized even in my case then , it is not the shouting of my father or my boss that disturbs me, but it’s my inability to handle the disturbances caused by their shouting that disturbs me. It’s not the traffic jams on the road that disturbs me, but my inability to handle the disturbance caused by the traffic jam that disturbs me. More than the problem, it’s my reaction to the problem that hurts me.

Lessons learnt from the story:

” We should not react in life. We should always respond. ” The women reacted, whereas the waiter responded. Reactions are always instinctive whereas responses are always intellectual !

Though this is just a story but the gesture of the little protagonist in the story is really thought provoking.

Once there was this little boy who went to a telephone booth which was at the cash counter of a store and dialed a number. The store-owner observed and listened to the conversation:

Boy: “Lady, Can you give me the job of cutting your lawn?
Woman: (at the other end of the phone line) “I already have someone to cut my lawn.”

Boy: “Lady, I will cut your lawn for half the price than the person who cuts your lawn now.”
Woman: I’m very satisfied with the person who is presently cutting my lawn.

Boy: (with more perseverance) “Lady, I’ll even sweep the floor and the stairs of your house for free.
Woman: No, thank you.

With a smile on his face, the little boy replaced the receiver. The store-owner, who was listening to all this, walked over to the boy.

Store Owner: “Son… I like your attitude; I like that positive spirit and would like to offer you a job.”
Boy: “No thanks,

Store Owner: But you were really pleading for one.
Boy: No Sir, I was just checking my performance at the job I already have. I am the one who is working for that lady I was talking to!!!”

Now that is really something we should all think about. Isn’t it ? Do share your thoughts on this.

There was this giant ship whose engine failed. The ship’s owners tried one expert after another, but none of them could figure out how to fix the engine. Then they brought in an old man who had been fixing ships since he was a youngster. He carried a large bag of tools with him, and when he arrived, he immediately went to work. He inspected the engine very carefully, top to bottom.

Two of the ship’s owners were there, watching this man, hoping he would know what to do. After looking things over, the old man reached into his bag and pulled out a small hammer. He gently tapped something. Instantly, the engine lurched into life. He carefully put his hammer away. The engine was fixed! A week later, the owners received a bill from the old man for ten thousand dollars.

“What!”, the owners exclaimed, “He hardly did anything!”

So they wrote to the old man saying, “Please send us an itemized bill.”

The man sent a bill that read:

Tapping with a hammer -                         $       2.00
Knowing where to tap    –                         $  9998.00

Total                            –                         $ 10,000.00

Effort is important, but knowing where to make an effort in your life makes all the difference.

Why Managed Support is better than Staffing ?

InstaCarma prefers providing outsourced and fully managed support to its clients rather than pure staffing. There are several reasons for favoring a fully managed support solution. The two most important factors being lesser management headache and increased efficiency.

Before talking further on this, let us see what do we mean by these terms in the context of web hosting technical support and server management.

Staffing :

Pure staffing means hiring individual people with the required skill set and experience to fill up the vacancies in the web hosting company or the datacenter. Usually, the employees would be working remotely from their own geographic locations because in the hosting industry, it is difficult to work from a physical office as we need 24/7 coverage across all time zones. The employees are managed directly by the organizational or departmental heads.

Managed Support Solutions :

This is an alternative solution where you outsource an entire support process to a company rather than an individual. You just have to let them know what your requirements and expectations are. Based on the nature and volume of the work involved, the company deploys appropriate people and manages them for the smooth running of the process

Advantages of Managed Support over Staffing

1. No management headache : Once you have struck a deal with a company and conveyed your requirements and expectations to them, you can just sit back and see the results. Absolutely no management headache for you. All you have to do is see how your support team is performing and give regular feedbacks in order to improve the performance. Usually, the support company would have robust processes and efficient people in place to manage everything. You can concentrate on other areas of the business.

2. Increased efficiency : There is no doubt that the efficiency would be higher when your support technicians are located at the same place instead of being scattered all around. There would be better communication and co-ordination amongst the team members than people working individually. It is easier to manage them as well. No confusions or misunderstandings either. This would result in increased efficiency.

3. Higher reliability : You do not have to worry about people quitting, going on leave, falling sick etc. More often that not, the support company will have adequate backup to deal with such situations. Hence, you get an un-interrupted and consistent service.

4. Cost effective : If you go for a pure staffing solution, you have to spend money on their wages, perks, other benefits etc. You would also have to spend on recruitment, training, redundancy (backup staff) and attrition costs (maintaining bench staff). Moreover, you also have to spend a considerable amount on having people and systems in place to manage the entire process. It is likely that you would end up spending much more than what you had to pay for a managed support solution.

There are several myths about a managed support solution, especially, if it is outsourced. The most common being that you do not have any control over your support team and that will result in unsatisfactory performance. This is not true. With support companies like InstaCarma, you have full authority and access to your support team who works closely with you, just like your in-house employees, to achieve better results and greater customer satisfaction.

InstaCarma has been providing server management services to the web-hosting industry for 6 years now. Server management is the operation and maintenance of a server. For efficient management, a proper methodology should be in place and strictly adhered to. The methodology differs depending up on the type of server. The basic idea behind server management is uptime and security .
Here are a few things that we follow in order to ensure a predictable and stable performance from the server which in turn translates into greater customer satisfaction and business growth. While these are the standard practices at InstaCarma, these might need modifications depending up on the server’s role.

- Do not overload the server

The server should not be overloaded with too many accounts on it. On a shared server, this might create serious problems. The optimum number of accounts on a server depends upon several factors like the hardware configuration, how resource intensive the sites are etc. An overloaded server will give you and your customers problems consistently. So, either upgrade the hardware as per requirement or optimize the number of accounts on the server.

- Monitoring the server

The servers need to be monitored 24/7. Especially during the peak hours. Having a monitoring tool ( like Nagios ) would be of immense help and it is a must if you have a large number of servers to monitor. While these tools can give you the status of services and few other things, you still need to dig deeper for effective server management.

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Bandwidth needs to be monitored regularly. You might also want o consider bandwidth throttling if the server is co-located. You should have a plan of action ready in case of a DoS/DDoS attack. There are various tools available in order to collect information about the server or network.

Another important thing is checking the logs. You need to dig into the logs on a consistent basis to find the cause of a problem and to detect potential issues. You might also want to rotate the logs manually or archive them to another box on the network.

Crtical patches need to be done in time. You should be aware about the release of patches applicable to your system. Failure to do this can run in to dire consequences.

Periodic server audits are mandatory in pro-active server management. Same applies for scans and security updates.

- Do not kill/restart services unnecessarily

This is a very common practice amongst system administrators. As soon as they find that the load is going high or the server is not as responsive as desired, they kill/restart services like httpd/mysql etc. Some smart people even issue a reboot. These should be avoided and used only as a last resort. We ask our techs to try and figure out the cause of the problem and eliminate it.

- Always take a back-up

This is one of the most important things. Updates and changes are inevitable. But before going ahead with any of those, it is always a good idea to have a backup of the current working configuration. Mistakes can happen and things can go wrong anytime. It is better to be on the safer side. It is also necessary to have regular periodic backups of the entire system.

- Upgrades during off-peak hours

As we all now, all upgrades, transfers etc should be done during the off-peak hours . This might not be practical always but you should adhere to it as far as possible.

- Avoid personal disasters

There is always a scope for error due to the human factor. Well, the best and only way to avoid them is being careful. For example, we do not allow the techs to keep their cell phones with them during work. If you are not careful then it is easy to screw things up!
Being careful becomes more important when you are working remotely. Also, it is recommended to have multiple people doing the task as two is better than one. It is easy for somebody to miss something but hopefully the other would catch it.

Conclusion

The best way to approach effective server management is to make a checklists of the tasks that need to be done on daily/weekly/monthly basis. Also, make a list of potential problems that may arise. This way it is near impossible that you would miss out on something.

InstaCarma has been providing technical support to the web-hosting industry for over 6 years now. If you have ever been working in the support department (phone,email,chat etc) then more often than not , you might have come across an abusive customer at some point. How would you deal with such a situation ? Yell back ? Discontinue the conversation abruptly? Just let the customer continue bashing ? Handling an abusive customer is a skill in itself.
Well, here are a few tips that we train our techs on, to deal with such scenarios.

* Understand the situation

Do not discontinue the conversation immediately. Talk to the customer and try to understand the situation. For example, he might be frustrated because he has been kicked around without any resolution to the problem. Another scenario is that he doesn’t have a genuine problem. Instead, he is harassing you just for the fun of it or may be, he is drunk . For you to understand the exact problem, you need to talk.

* Do not use scripts

Instead of using scripts which might irritate the customer further, try and add a personal touch to the conversation. Addressing the customer by name and letting him know that you want to help are some ways to achieve this.

* Keep your calm

Remember that the customer is not mad at you but the situation. Do not take it personally. If you have had a bad day , try out some stress management techniques. Counting from 1 to 10 , keeping a photo of your loved one on your desk are some ways to reduce stress. If nothing works and you have to get your feelings out then put the call on ‘mute’ and take out your frustration. And if it is an email/chat then you do not even have to bother

* Convey your intent and limitations

Let the customer know that your intention is  to help him and for you to do that , he needs to co-operate. You and your company wants  to keep him satisfied. If that doesn’t do any good then let him know that it is difficult for you to take the conversation further. Remind him of your limitations.

* Transfer it to another person

If things get out of control then let him know and transfer the call/chat to your supervisor or colleague. This would give him little time to re-group and there’s every possibility that he will behave when he talks to the next person. If it is an email then you can always forward it.

* Discontinue the conversation

If there’s nobody to transfer to or your the person dealing with the transferred session, make your intention clear once again that you are there to help him. If he still doesn’t co-operate then rather than being rude , let him know that this kind of behaviour is unacceptable. Reiterate your company policy regarding employee abuse and discontinue the session.

We  at InstaCarma provide LiveChat support to many of our web-hosting clients. There are certain things that needs to be taken care of while handling  live support chat . One of the main advantages of  LiveChat  is that it adds that personal touch to the website which can result in increased customer interest which in turn will result into increased sales.  So, it is very important that it is handled with utmost sincerety rather than having it on your website just for the sake of it!

Conveying warmth to the customer

‘Friendliness’  is the key while interacting with customers.  Even though we are working in a business environment, there is no harm if you take the customer’s name a few times during the conversation. That helps in conveying the warmth to the customer. A ‘Please’ or ‘Thank You’ is worth it.

For example, if a customer asks a difficult question which you cannot answer instantly, instead of writing something like, “Tough one!” , you can always put in a little more effort to write “Good one, Chris. Please hold on for a few while I check it out”

Do not make the customer repeat

Try your best not to make the customer repeat. It might give a feeling that you are not being attentive. However, if the need be then make sure that you mention your apologies for making him repeat.

Conveying verbal communication using emoticons

LiveChat is purely text and the customer is not face-to-face with you.  So, you need to express and emphasize what you want to convey as words can easily be misunderstood for their literal meaning an context. Emoticons can be used in order to achieve this wherever appropriate.  Sometimes, the customer might also misinterpret your words and think that you were rude.

For example, a customer is happy with your service and appreciates you ” You rock . James” .  And you reply like “Thank you”,  might send out a feeling that you are hardly interested or acknowledging the appreciation . You can always add an emoticon “Thank you , Peter “. It makes a huge difference.

Being well spoken

Your words and attitude depict your knowledge, intelligence and personality. So, it is always nice to be well spoken. Make sure that you frame the sentences properly, avoid spelling mistakes and use the right words. These things might not matter too much when you are having a talk but they do matter a lot in verbal communication. Being polite doesn’t hurt either.

Usage of canned messages

Having pre-defined replies for common questions can save you a lot of time. But make sure that they are relevant, framed properly and answers the query completely. Otherwise, the customer will easily figure out that you are sending him canned messages. Do remember that they are there on Live chat because they need a humane response .  Even if you are using canned messages, make sure that you do not repeat them. If you have to use the same canned messages time and again , then that means that there is something wrong. Please try and rectify the problem.

Keep it short and simple

Chat as you talk. Use simple language. Nobody is judging your vocabulary skills . Do not engage customers in long , unnecessary details. They are not here for a manual . Communicate through short sentences but make sure that the complete message is conveyed.

Be quick

Be quick in your responses. Nobody likes to wait for ages to get a response. Use of canned messages might be handy here but be intelligent in using them.

Keep the customer informed

Do inform the customer about what is happening. Sometimes, you might need a while to figure out the problem or the solution. Let the customer know what you are working on.

Do not use one-word replies or Internet language

Refrain from giving one word responses. It shows how uninterested you are. Also, avoid using words as we do over the internet or while test-messaging. Take the pain to write the complete word.

Know your product

The people  handling chat should have sound knowledge of their product. They should be able to answer the questions fielded by the customer or worst case, suggest and guide them to an alternative way to get to the solution of the problem.

Solve the problem

Most importantly, try your best to solve the problem quickly and effectively.  If at all, you cannot do it then make sure that you guide them to the right channel as mentioned above rather than fooling around and pushing them to various support levels. After all, they are here to get the problem solved.  As long as you can do that, small mistakes are acceptable.

Be calm and patient

Customers can get impatient at times. Try and understand their frustration when they are facing a persistent problem or being kicked around through various support levels. Be calm and patient. Remember that there is no business without customers. But that doesn’t mean that they can be abusive. If things start going over the roof then you can always end the session politely. Also, you might not be in a great mood due to personal problems while handling the chat but never let that show in your conversation.

Parting message

Last but not the least, it is good to have a nice canned message which you can say at the end. Not every customer would be interested in prolonging the conversation with you as they might have other things to do. In such cases, you can use this quick canned reply so that they have a good impression before they leave the site. In other cases, you can take the time and write messages as per the situation before the customer leaves.

These are certain things that we train our techs on . If you have any more suggestions then do mention them.

The Article
Companies have to ensure that their trainees assimilate lessons fast and imbibe them deeply. A long training phase results in a lot of revenue loss, and an incomplete understanding of lessons will result in the trainee having to spend a lot of time retraining himself on the job, or wasting his co-worker’s time by asking for help, or in the worst case, making mistakes which could affect business.

As a trainer, you need to first keep in mind a few basic techniques and formulate a training methodology. The process is independent of what you teach. You could be teaching apache, DNS or walking them through the features of cpanel. But a common teaching methodology is applicable for each of these topics. The following points try to capture the essentials of a training methodology :

1) GETTING STARTED :

a) Organize study material – You need to make sure the trainees are actually using the material prepared for them. They should also find the material convenient to use.

Make the material as modular as possible, and email them the modules, one at a time. This is a far better approach than asking them to use your online tutorials. Most students don’t prefer using online study material. You need to hand it to them directly, and give them only what is required at the time. Don’t email them the entire course manual, as they would simply get lost in a sea of information. There is also a risk of them skimming through all the topics without really focusing on them one at a time.

b) Make them understand the business – Before getting into the technical topics, it is extremely important to make them understand how the hosting business works.

All the components of a hosting operation need to be listed out and connected, preferably using diagrams and examples. They need to be familiarized with the various vendors, contractors and service providers that your company uses, and the relationship and significance of each of these entities.

2) LAYING THE FOUNDATION:

a) Get their basics right – Start with the basic topics and make them understand it thoroughly. Specifics can be taught later.

For instance, it is important to first make sure they understand the basics, such as how apache and DNS works, before teaching them how to compile stuff. Explain how a domain name resolves to IP, how webservers serve pages and how email works. Lay a strong foundation, and build on it.

b) Enter topics quickly – Don’t waste time with introducing the topic and giving prefaces. Keep increasing the “detail level” gradually. Make it easy for the students to enter. Once they’re in, turn up the heat.

While explaining DNS for example, first explain to them that it acts like a database which associates domain names to their corresponding IP addresses. You could then explain the series of events that happen outside a DNS server, during the process of domain name resolution. Next, the structure of a DNS server can be explained. Specific details such as TTL can come much later, after the trainee has understood what DNS is all about.

3) THE PRACTICAL APPROACH:

a) Talk less, do more – Demonstrate how things work.

Your training process should mostly consist of lab sessions. Once you’re done explaining how an email is delivered, show them what actually happens on the server. Try sending email and showing them the complete verbose output, with all the handshakes and transactions that take place. Show them the relevant files that come into play, show them log messages, open the inbox and show them the email itself, walk them through the headers for the complete picture.

b) Make them lose their inhibitions and gain confidence – Set up prototypes for them to work on.

One of your most important objectives as a trainer, is to make your trainees lose their fears. You may find that your trainees are just too inhibited, while working on your servers or while using the admin tools and control panels You may often find them taking too much time doing simple tasks, because they’re too unsure and are low on confidence. Just like you probably were, the first time you entered a live server or tried to modify a real account.

The solution to this is to constantly engage them in practical exercises on prototypes. Avoid using live servers. Instead set up a local server farm in your intranet, complete with domain names (that resolve locally within your intranet), accounts and control panels. Set up as many exercises as possible, so that they become comfortable with the type of work, gain confidence and lose inhibitions. The trainees evolve into productive, efficient employees in quick time through this.

4) TEACHING TIPS

a) Always draw a real life parallel – A real life association helps them understand the subject and ignites interest. For example, instead of spending 10 minutes explaining what Mailman is, tell them it is a sofware that works similar to yahoo groups.

b) Never “lecture” continously for long – Talk in short, crisp sentences, interspersed with questions and similar interactive sessions.

c) Drill it in – Repeat what you said over and over again, in differently packaged sentences and actions. Our memory seems to absorb data more effectively when we encounter it repeatedly.

d) Be passionate about the subjects – The excitement and interest that you arouse in the trainees is directly proportional to what you have towards the subjects.

e) Teach through stories – While explaining a flow of events, package it in the form of a story.

Though a cliched teaching technique, it is also one of the most underestimated ones. Stories bring about an element of liveliness, curiosity and enthusiasm in the teaching sessions. Besides, it also helps memorize information very well because the stories greatly improve association and recall.

5) EXERCISING THE BRAIN

a) Give their brain a tough workout – Devise methods which will ensure that their brains get a lot of exercise.

It is a well known fact that our brain gets more exercise when you throw things at it that don’t meet expectations, as opposed to those that do. So set up as many twisted and unpredictable problems as possible. Don’t help them a lot. Let them wrack their brains and arrive at solutions. Refrain from spoonfeeding.

b) Set up interactive exercises – Organize quizzes, seminars, competitions. Make the whole training programme look like one big tournament. Conventional oral examinations are also highly recommended, preferably on a daily basis. Let there be prizes and trophies, to add the vital elements of appreciation and achievement.

Your organization’s employees are its jewels. But it is not possible to create a jewel without first mining and polishing the gold. All the best with your training efforts!