What do you think of flash tutorials? E.g demodemo.com

I visited demodemo.com a while back, incase you don't know they offer a unique service where by you purchase custom flash tutorials for your hosting business. The idea in principal is to cut down the amount of support time you have to spend on clients by providing the video tutorials.

Does anyone use them here? Anyone thinking about using them? What are your opinions on them?

I personally don't like them one bit. I find them really cheesy and annoying! See for yourself, check out the demos on the website below.

http://www.demodemo.com

Actually they do make life a litle easier for us webhosts. For example, I sell reseller accounts and as such I always get ppl asking me how to register personalized nameservers...each time I would have to sit and explain the process. I subsequently bought a set of flash tutorials from http://cheapdemos.com, now each time they ask that question, I just point them to the demos. Simple as that. I think they are an excellent idea.

Im curious though as to why you think they are so annoying Robson?

I would prefer to deal with a real person than a video. I would prefer for the actual staff/owner to take the time to explain something to me than having to watch a recorded presentation. I also find the actors/actresses used very cheesy and annoying and just end up laughing rather than learning.

You can't beat a standard f.a.q or knowledge base....infact you can't beat a personal response.

Originally Posted by Robson You can't beat a standard f.a.q or knowledge base....infact you can't beat a personal response.

Of course, you're correct, but if a web host is to minimize the number of support tickets received, and in doing so minimize costs, then flash tutorials are the next best thing.

It all depends on who's perspective its being looked at from.

It all depends on who's perspective its being looked at from.

The paying customer

Originally Posted by Robson The paying customer

Funny enough, most of these paying customers actually like and appreciate these flash tutorials.

Do you offer both forms of help? E.g tutorials and f.a.q/helpdesk etc.

EDIT - Check out this article i found http://www.webhostgear.com/165.html

Originally Posted by Robson Do you offer both forms of help? E.g tutorials and f.a.q/helpdesk etc. EDIT - Check out this article i found http://www.webhostgear.com/165.html

I have the standard faq/knowledgebase section, and I also offer support via helpdesk. Ive recently started adding flash tutorials for the REALLY frequently asked questions, I plan to be adding a few more of those soon.

As a hosting cusomer, they are great.

No matter how good support is, visual aids always work best.

Visuals are great - they help our customers a ton. We're considering getting into the business of Flash tutorials ourselves with dubbed commentary that helps the user understand exactly what they are doing.

Roj