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ASP Research Reports

The ASP publishes a series of quarterly monographs on support-related topics, all of which are provided to members at no cost.

Image 2013 Technical Support Salary Survey
The ASP's annual salary survey tracks pay trends for seven categories of support employee—senior support executive, department manager, analyst/project manager, senior support technician, field support technician, support technician, and customer service rep. Data is broken out by skill level, company size, organization size, and product price.
Image Pricing Support & Services
Survey-based data on pricing trends for support contracts and related services. This report also explores the relative importance of major discounting factors, and recommends best practices for price negotiation.
Image Maintenance & Services Ratios/2012
Support-related services now contribute more than half of total revenues for most B2B software companies and generate an even larger share total profits. This new annually-updated report provides benchmarks based on 100 individual public companies, plus expert advice on revenue recognition, services accounting, and other financial issues.
Image A Guide to Implementing Live Chat
A look at chat, one of the fastest-growing and most promising new channels for delivering support. Survey data, best practices, case studies—this research report will answer many of your implementation questions and give you new insights even if you're already hosting an active chat channel.
Image Successful Support Communities
This ASP research report explores factors that contribute to the success of customer support communities, both online and real-world. Topics include growth trends, metrics, value propositions, and best practices in community building.
Image Front-Line Support Incentives
Do support agents respond to performance incentives? This ASP research report draws on data from 153 respondents to identify best practices, success criteria, and potential problem areas for various types of incentive plans.
Image A Guide to 7x24 Support Plans
ASP survey research explores current industry practices in setting service levels, pricing models, and service delivery for after-hours technical support. In addition, the report offers suggestions for handling key implementation and management issues.
Image Setting Limits on Unlimited Support
A provocative new ASP report explores the question whether the best way to deliver high-quality support is to answer every question that customers ask.
Image A Guide to Better Tech Notes
Useful tips and strategies from ASP members on how to create, maintain, and measure the most basic component of any Web knowledgebase.
Image The Great Customer Experience
As support quality becomes a point of competitive differentiation, defining "great" support becomes a key issue. This report looks at how various experts and support managers define the Wow! experience.
Image Trends in Fee-Based Support (2008)
A new ASP research report on "Trends in Fee-Based Support" identifies six primary business models that technology companies have adopted to deliver support and premium services. The report draws on data from 141 survey respondents and looks at how each group plans to enhance revenues and customer satisfaction.
Image Management Performance Benchmarks
Support managers are expected to be competent in a variety of performance areas, but which of these areas are the most (and least) important? Drawing on data from 136 technology companies, this report provides hard data on ten different corporate priorities and shows how managers rank their own effectiveness in each of these areas.
Image Customer Satisfaction Benchmarking
Current response rates for customer satisfaction surveys, as well as best practices for follow-up actions, incentive pay, and peer-to-peer benchmarking.
Image Web Support Assessment Techniques
What's the best way to measure your support site? This new report from the ASP describes a multi-dimensional approach to identifying problems and setting priorities for improvements.
Image Tech Support Turnover Rates
Employee turnover is a notorious problem in the support world. This ASP report offers data on how many departures are "normal" for various sizes of organization and experience levels.
Image How to Grow Professional Services
This research report looks at innovative ideas for building a larger, more lucrative business from support-related professional services.
Image Product Support Blogs
This report explores how a few pioneering companies are using blogs to encourage an ongoing dialog with support customers.
Image Managing Emerging Technologies
Confused by vendor claims and media hype about technology "breakthroughs"? The ASP polled 131 support managers about new technologies they've actually adopted or are currently researching.
Image Maintenance Renewal Rates
Renewals are where the money is in maintenance contracts. A new ASP research report offers industry benchmarks for renewal rates and explores the impact of key variables like product price and sales models.
Image Tech Support Reporting Channels
Some support orgs (and top managers) are finally gaining influence and access to resources in their companies, often now reporting directly to a CEO or COO. Drawing on survey data from 214 support managers, this report explores prevailing org chart models and offers expert advice on how to make support more influential in the corporate pecking order.
Image Managing Support Forums
This collection of tips from members offers insights into how to develop an effective self-service support forum where users contribute most of the solutions.
Image Training Salary Survey
Survey data from the ASP identifies compensation benchmarks for instructor/trainers and content developers.
Image 2004 Tech Support Cost Ratios Survey
Benchmark data for revenue and headcount ratios, labor and overhead costs, productivity, escalation, fee-based support, and other useful metrics.
Image CAN-SPAM Guidelines for Tech Support E-mail
This report offers a detailed look at what support organizations must do to comply with the new federal anti-spam law.
Image Technical Support Training Metrics
Based on data from 136 support organizations, this report provides benchmarks and guidance for "best practices" in in-house training.
Image Support Pricing & Negotiating Strategies
This report, authored by veteran support consultant Françoise Tourniaire, takes an in-depth look at ten key areas of the contract pricing and negotiation process.
Image Doing More With Less
Advice from support managers and other experts on how to improve support efficiency and cut costs.
Image Tech Support Outsourcing
A look at outsourcing costs and performance metrics, with advice on how to negotiate better contracts.
Image The Economics of Online Support
Survey data on site maintenance costs, transaction cost benchmarks, e-mail productivity, and knowledgebase resolution rates.
Image Customer Satisfaction Survey Metrics
A look at response rates and other benchmarks for customer satisfaction surveys, along with practical advice and metrics for such issues as survey design, timing, use of premiums, and other key methodology factors.
Image Service Marketing: The Relationship Factor
As support organizations expand their portfolios of fee-based services, they need new marketing methods to win customers. This report suggests the importance of "relationship marketing" factors. Free download.
Image Technical Support Newsletters
E-mail newsletters have proven to be an effective way to build customer relationships and attract Web traffic. Drawing on advice from support managers and e-mail experts, this report suggests ways to build larger mailing lists and create more compelling editorial content.
Image After-Hours Support Compensation
On-site and off-site compensation models and trends, based on data from 296 support organizations.
Image Certification and Support Salaries
Is passing a certification exam a sure-fire way to get a raise? Not according to an ASP survey of company pay and promotion practices. Free download
Image 1999 Economics of Web-Based Support
A survey that identifies benchmarks for online support maintenance costs, productivity, site maintenance and transaction costs, salary levels for Web support staff, e-mail productivity and turnaround time, knowledgebase metrics and vendor satisfaction ratings. Free download
Image Tech Support Hours
Survey data on trends in weekday, weekend, and 7x24 coverage, both onsite and offsite. Free download
Image The Year's Ten Best Web Support Sites
A behind-the-scenes look at how leading software companies developed their award-winning Web support sites. Current edition: $95 non-member price, $60 members. Previous editions: $24 each.