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Automated Customer Support Solution First to Integrate Into eBay's 'Ask the Seller a Question'

HostedSupport.com, a leading provider of affordable automated online customer support solutions for web businesses, today announced ezSupport for eBay, its new automated customer support solution customized specifically to the needs of eBay sellers. ezSupport for eBay helps sellers deal with the overwhelming volume of repetitive email questions from buyers by automatically answering 80 percent of incoming questions.

With 135 million users worldwide, eBay has become the standard in online auctions and the vehicle for millions of entrepreneurs looking to build their own businesses. HostedSupport.com has established a unique partnership with the online auction company and is the only developer of automated customer support that has integrated into the eBay API to support 'Ask the Seller a Question.'

ezSupport for eBay is a web-based, hosted solution with no special software or hardware to purchase. Targeted to eBay sellers and ecommerce companies that sell on eBay, ezSupport for eBay enables sellers to focus on increasing sales rather than dealing with redundant customer emails.

"eBay sellers deal with hundreds, and in some cases thousands, of email questions on a daily basis that are redundant and easy to answer," said Steve Hartert, vice president of marketing. "As the volume of email grows, the time devoted to responding to these repetitive questions hinders the sellers' ability to focus on the needs of the business. ezSupport for eBay is proven to respond to a very high percentage of these repetitive emails faster than would be possible manually by the seller."

Typical questions received by sellers include inquiries on shipping policies, and specifics about products like size, weight and color. Through a set up wizard, sellers develop their own list of questions and answers and ezSupport for eBay can be up and running in less than 20 minutes.

One example of an eBay seller that found himself bogged down in the volumes of buyer emails is Bob Allen, co-founder of MyGolfBallStore.com. MyGolfBallStore.com is an online retailer of sporting goods and an eBay platinum power seller. Allen and his customer support team utilized email, spreadsheets and paper files to attempt to track customer issues. As the business grew, this manual process became too time-consuming, complex and costly. Allen turned to HostedSupport.com to automate his customer support process and adopted ezSupport for eBay.

According to Allen, "HostedSupport.com was the answer to my prayers. We were suffering severe growing pains trying to keep up with our customer support workload. Since using ezSupport for eBay, 70 percent of our workload has been eliminated by the system, and our customer relationships have never been better."

Allen now uses two HostedSupport.com products - ezSupport for eBay and ezSupport Pro for his stand alone website, and has realized the following results: - Less than 10 emails per day require manual review and response - 75 percent reduction in buyer phone calls - 70 percent reduction in overall customer support tasks - No need to hire additional support staff to manage high volumes of emails - Improved customer communications channels resulting in greater customer retention. - 90% of buyer emails automatically answered.

ezSupport for eBay is priced at $9.95 per seat per month and is available on a month-to-month subscription basis. ezSupport for eBay supports Windows and Macintosh and is compatible with Internet Explorer, Mozilla, Firefox, Opera and Safari web browsers.

HostedSupport.com offers two products customized to eBay - ezSupport for eBay and ezSupport Lite for eBay, a free introductory solution that also integrates with 'Ask the Seller a Question.' HostedSupport.com also offers ezSupport and ezSupport Pro, their automated online customer support solutions for any online business. ezSupport and ezSupport Pro feature auto-answer email, FAQs, ticket tracking, live chat, advanced reporting and POP email importing, as well as free training and set-up assistance. Pricing is $49.95 per seat per month for ezSupport and $79.95 per seat per month for ezSupport Pro.

About HostedSupport.com HostedSupport.com is a leading provider of affordable customer support automation for web businesses. Its easy-to-use system can be set up in 20 minutes and eliminates many of the support "pains" involved in answering and tracking customer questions and problem tickets. Businesses using HostedSupport.com's products automate most customer support tasks while improving customer retention. HostedSupport.com is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. Its clients and partners include: eBay, PCMall, E! Online, TicketWeb, NetMagazines.com, Salesnet, Yahoo! Search Marketing, BrandMuscle, MyGolfBallStore, eBoz, Roving, Bravenet, and ePublicEye.

About the author: Steve has more than 20 years of marketing management experience. His professional background includes running his own marketing consulting firm, where he worked with clients such as The Walt Disney Company, Blue Cross of CA, and ABC Television. He recently served as the marketing director for an electronic cash card project in Sydney, Australia. Steve has a BS in Communications from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, and an MBA in M