Ask HN: What kind of support do you offer for your web app?

I mostly sell downloadable software but as of a week ago it is a web application if you squint at it.<p>Support is via email, and my general promise about it is "I do my level best to get back to you within 24 hours", which I achieve with approximately 98% regularity. (My price point just doesn't support phone calls. Happily I'm overseas from most of my customers, which is a great way to convince them to play ball on that issue.)<p>I love talking to customers but I hate doing support, because that means someone is having a less than optimal experience. Well, two someones, since writing email is no more optimal use of my time than waiting for my email is optimal use of theirs.<p>Accordingly, I spend a lot of time stopping support incidents before they start. This means writing and rewriting and re-re-rewriting copy in the web and application to be more comprehensible, illustrating things with pictures, and providing people with self-help options.<p>Example: a fairly key issue with downloadable software is getting people their registration key. It gets emailed when they purchase. But some people don't get it (spam filters, customer error, etc). So I displayed it after checkout, with instructions on what to do. But some people won't get it (failure to click through to last page, customer error, Internet failures, etc). So I provided instructions before the event (to check the spam folder) and provided a registration key lookup feature. I also made the app sniff registration keys off of the clipboard, which squashes many copy/paste issues before they start. (There are NUMEROUS ways for an unsophisticated user to fail at copy/paste.)<p>I keep categorized records of what causes issues and how many I get. (I worked in Customer Support a long time ago, and old habits die hard.) Relative to the number of sales, its down about 90% compared to my first year in business. I still have lots of room for improvement -- I'm thinking of a way to totally eliminate registration key entry for most users in the next version, for example. (It is fairly easy after you have web connectivity baked in.)

I use zendesk for direct support and get satisfaction for everything else. My email, telephone and skype are on all emails sent from me and I openly encourage users to contact me however for help.<p>I think the key to support is to be <i>lightening</i> quick. If its taken over 4 hours you're failing

We are looking at Zendesk. Heard good things about it and think it might just be the ticket. I have used the "Free" version, but the $19/month one agent might work for us instead. You get the flexibility of your own email address (your domain).