Originally Posted by NETbilling

Excellent topic points Shap and its great to see you still around here even though you are not in the biz so much anymore. Mucho respect for the business you built, the decisions you made and the interest you still take in the state of the industry.

I love seeing some good business threads here on GFY.

Treating the customers well are points that I always preach in seminars that we speak on at shows. Customer interaction is important and when the customers get to see the human interaction behind these sites it makes for better member retention. That mixed with honest billing and great content are the 3 keys for success.

However, I don't agree with your point about handling your own customer service and not to outsource it. While it is important to have member interaction and provide 24/7 customer support, small-med sized programs don't have the staff of ability to effectively provide it alone. A mixture of using an outsourced company that handles billing support, cancellation and retention offers, order fulfillment questions and password help etc, and the program owners provided support, is a very viable solution, if you are working with a call center/support team that can provide custom support features.

Mitch