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ASPonline.com >
Reports >
Managing Support Forums
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Managing Support Forums
Publication date: 12/04
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Executive summary
According to survey data compiled by ServiceXRG, 45% of software companies
offer some kind of support-related forum or bulletin board. Some generate
literally hundreds of thousands of postings by knowledgeable users and
outside product experts, creating a valuable and influential community (and
deflecting many hard-to-answer support queries). But other forums are far
less successful. "Our usage has been dismal," a services manager told us.
“Only two clients have posted to the forum, even though we’ve notified
everyone by fax, newsletter, and even an insert in their quarterly support
bills.”
Why do some forums work brilliantly—and others fizzle out? As support
organizations try to migrate users toward self-serve, Web-based solutions,
this question has become increasingly important. Not surprisingly, there’s no
silver bullet that instantly makes a support forum successful. Instead, there
seems to be a long list of success factors: the right focus, design, traffic
promotion, incentives for contributors, moderators, metrics, and much more.
If you handle most of these details well, chances are your forum will soon
take on a life of its own.
To get a sense of what support forum producers have learned about these
success factors, the ASP recently polled members and friends for their best
forum management tips. This report reflects a compilation of the most
valuable ideas we found, plus some useful metrics and resources for further
guidance.
- On Getting Started
- How to Build Traffic
- The Call Deflection Question
- On Rewarding Top Contributors
- The Role of the Moderator
- Meaningful Metrics
- Selected Resources
Copies of the survey are free to ASP members in the
members-only area.
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