Good customer service is an important part of any successful business enterprise. And it’s no different no matter what product you’re selling, including porn. Providing a good customer service experience can:Enhance the likelihood of repeat business. Think of it this way. Since porn is so abundant on the Web these days, you need to separate yourself from the pack. That means more than just expecting your customer will automatically renew because you have such great content. Remember, there are always plenty of other faces out there who can provide the same thing. If a user has a bad experience, he or she may be more likely to go somewhere else and get similar content.

As a case in point, I once subscribed to an adult website and wrote the webmaster for some help with getting my user password. It took him 3 days to respond. Needless to say I was frustrated and decided to cancel at the end of the month. If he would have gotten back to me earlier, I would certainly have extended my subscription by a few months. So they lost out on another $50 in membership fees. Their loss and the other website’s gain.

Improve the user experience. Even the most well thought-out design has a few wrinkles once it’s been up and running. That’s why it’s important to give users all the tools necessary for them to get the answers they need quickly. By having a way for customers to communicate with you, you’re improving their experience. Remember the user experience is more than just showing pictures.

Here are some suggestions on how to provide your customers with a good customer service experience:

Provide a feedback mechanism. At a minimum, you can have a link on the home page that is labeled something like “Contact.” When the user clicks the link, the default email program opens. I personally don’t like this approach, however, since a user may prefer to send an email from another account. Let’s face it, they may want to keep the membership hidden and write it from another account.

Also, it requires the user to type all the information necessary to resolve the problem. That can cause problems since you’re expecting the user will give you all the required information. However, that may not be the case. In my experience with handling user feedback on various websites, I’ve seen instances where you may need to follow up with the user multiple times before the issue is resolved. That can lead to frustration as well as delays.

When I sent an email to one adult site recently for help with my user access, I presumed they could look up my account info with my email address and name. However, I got back an angry reply from the Web admin who told me that he needed my user ID. “What they hell are you talking about, what’s your user ID?” he wrote. (So much for customer service.) Instead, a simple Web form that contains all the appropriate information needed to fulfill a response is a better way to handle this. A good example is the http://www.germangoogirls.com website. When you click “Customer Support” link, then the “Submit A Ticket” button, a form appears. This form shows all the information needed to help get an answer to a question.

Password access issues can also be handled quickly by having the user enter his or her information. A great example is www.colorclimax.com, which uses a Web-based form that allows the user to enter appropriate information. That way users are able to receive their user ID and password in a timely manner.

Provide feedback. You should communicate to your users at several different levels. First, during the initial process when they first send feedback. For example, after they send you feedback, users should either receive an email or a Web page message that clearly states what the next step will be, and an expected time frame. That way they’ll understand what to expect from you. This will help avoid repeat emails and frustration by the user who doesn’t know what to expect.

Feedback also instills the user with a sense of importance and that their opinion counts. As an example, I recently sent an email to a “goth erotica” site suggesting several picture ideas, and never got back a response. I felt that at a minimum I could have received a thank you – especially considering that I was trying to help them develop new content. Needless to say I don’t subscribe to that site and even tell my friends about the crappy customer service. But not all sites are like that. One Dutch porn website emailed me back personally with thanks for the picture ideas. Even though I had wet my whistle of the site’s content, I chose to renew after getting such a good response from the site.

Create FAQs. This is a great way to give users another way to get help. Some sites may be reluctant since they may feel that the site is so well designed that a user will never need it. Or perhaps the site is too small for such a thing. This is short sighted, since it’s impossible that every task users perform will be so clear that they’ll never need additional information. This should be easy to find and updated on a regular basis. Some examples of well done FAQs can be found at www.germangoogirls.com, support.eurorevenue.com and www.teensforcash.com.

Ask why you are getting email in the first place. If you are receiving feedback, you must analyze it to determine why you are getting it. Perhaps there are usability problems which cause the users to send in the feedback.

As an example, I once subscribed to a web site that didn’t make it clear as to whether or not my subscription would repeat. So, I sent an email to the site and then found out it would cancel at the end of the month. I’m sure that other users asked the same thing since it wasn’t clear on the site what its membership policy was. If the site received this response, its owners should have looked at it to determine if there was a usability issue. That way it could be corrected immediately. You should review this information on a regular basis, then take appropriate action if necessary.