[quote=lottoboy:1218132618]
One suggestion: Could you invite a person to take the Customer Service
such as answering so many questions from members everyday by you only? If so, you can focus on the improvement of Filters in EL with all your might.
[/quote]
that would be really nice but expert lotto is just our evening hobby. our living comes from our day-time jobs and we certainly cannot afford an extra person dedicated to customer support.
customer support
6 posts
• Page 1 of 1
The Crucible
by Willie » Tue Aug 12, 2008 8:44 am
Quote by lottoboy on 08-07-2008, 20:10:
One suggestion: Could you invite a person to take the Customer Service
such as answering so many questions from members everyday by you only? If so, you can focus on the improvement of Filters in EL with all your might.
that would be really nice but expert lotto is just our evening hobby. our living comes from our day-time jobs and we certainly cannot afford an extra person dedicated to customer support.
As old-timers and active contributors may deduce from recent threads/posts, I am not particularly computer literate. I rely on software as a tool — a means to an end. I am not capable of nor interested in software that requires technical expertise to get it running, and keep it running. For me, I purchase software to do a job; it is enough to learn how to operate a program; time consumed by finding and fixing conflicts is time not spent using the software for intended purpose(s).
I began my search for a suitable lottery software program after getting burned twice, big-time. EL was recommended by a poster on another forum; and without doubt, I am very happy he did.
The first programs purchased with hard earned money were long on advertisement, fantastic claims, and guarantees.... Of course, there were the testimonials, shareware website reviews, seals and stamps of approval, guarantees, and assurances on OS compatibilities. Horse pucky.
I had been looking for a program that would allow me to concentrate on lottery games - not on spending days learning Excel, or how to download, install, and keep the applications patched together. Unfortunately, that is exactly what happened; my best description of the experience is, a lesson in mediocrity and fraud.
After getting the big picture and expressing disbelief that one particular lottery software vendor could be approachable and responsive to customer service queries — a nice guy — regarding a lousy product. A lottery professional acquaintance emailed, advising as follows:
“It's very hard for me to know what's in people's hearts. When I know what they are selling is a scam or is not what they are saying it is, then I know what they are doing. Why wouldn't someone taking your money be as nice and polite as possible for as long as the money keeps coming in and write you off quick when you catch on?
“There are people who set out to write a lottery program for themselves and when it doesn't work decide to recover their losses by selling it.
“There are people who set out to write a lottery program for themselves and it works somewhat, here and there, now and then, so they decide to sell it. Maybe a customer will suggest a way to make it work.
“There are people who set out to write a lottery program for the single purpose of making quick money off suckers.
“There are people who started out to write a lottery program for suckers and when it kept selling became interested in customer relations.
“And so on. In my opinion [name omitted] lies about what the program is and how well it does. When sales are down he claims a win. This is not a real win for money by him or a customer. No, it is a win on paper he finds by running the program again and again with a routine or macro until it hits or he simply fakes the result, who's gonna know? Can't be duplicated as it is a weighted random number picker, a rip off….â€
It is my opinion, when it comes to business, the first rule is: either you’re in, or not.
In a world where customer instant gratification is norm, the fledgling independent businessman (gender not implied) is faced with making decisions, setting priorities — business practice standards. Ideally, it is not unreasonable for customer expectations to include that out-of-the box, the program properly installs, downloads, and functions without issues — without a hidden vendor philosophy like, “My problems are your problems.â€
I have met decent people along the way… not all has been disheartening. Eventually, three lottery programs were highly recommended: ExpertLotto, LotWin, and Gail Howard. Currently, I am running EL and LotWin — both are excellent. I intend to buy Gail Howard, and after a time with each and all, I will begin writing about the experience.
Stan and Team are outstanding because they give the customer direct inside access to R&D… Most software companies keep their authors/designers/engineers far away from customers. More recently, I have noticed that companies are beginning to recognize the value of feedback; but usually, comments and recommendations are filtered thru customer support who are in fact, actually subcontractors — much is lost in translation. Reading thru forum threads and posts, Stan and Team provide outstanding support — surprisingly attentive to details — all out in the open giving other users information essential to keeping EL tuned-up.
I certainly do not speak for everyone, but if it would help the newbie, I am more than willing to join other users and pay a reasonable periodic license assessment toward hiring a customer service tech. I wasn’t aware that EL was an “evening hobby,†could have fooled me — remarkable achievement! I really like ExpertLotto — believe in it — EL is logically designed…. Help and Tips are well written and easy to understand. It would be well worth a bit extra to help those who haven’t been living with EL long enough to, get it yet.
Regarding 5: The only recommendation that I offer at this time is adding an Intro to Help > Intro advising, “Words mean things. Please read the Help Section and Homepage information before contacting Customer Service. Thank you.â€
PS: Can anyone give me the Homepage link to plugins? I have downloaded Joe’s, but haven’t been able to relocate the others. Thx.
- Willie
- Posts: 21
- Joined: Sat Aug 02, 2008 10:21 pm
by stan » Fri Aug 15, 2008 9:06 am
[quote=Willie:1218523459]
I certainly do not speak for everyone, but if it would help the newbie, I am more than willing to join other users and pay a reasonable periodic license assessment toward hiring a customer service tech. I wasn’t aware that EL was an “evening hobby,†could have fooled me — remarkable achievement! I really like ExpertLotto — believe in it — EL is logically designed…. Help and Tips are well written and easy to understand. It would be well worth a bit extra to help those who haven’t been living with EL long enough to, get it yet.
[/quote]
it would be nice to have more free time for the actual development of expert lotto instead of 'wasting' it on resending lost license files and responding to questions that can be answered in application's manual. but hiring a dedicated customer support person (even if we could raise enough money to afford it) would push expert lotto from an evening hobby to some sort of serious business. and that means much bigger commitment and stress associated with it.
I certainly do not speak for everyone, but if it would help the newbie, I am more than willing to join other users and pay a reasonable periodic license assessment toward hiring a customer service tech. I wasn’t aware that EL was an “evening hobby,†could have fooled me — remarkable achievement! I really like ExpertLotto — believe in it — EL is logically designed…. Help and Tips are well written and easy to understand. It would be well worth a bit extra to help those who haven’t been living with EL long enough to, get it yet.
[/quote]
it would be nice to have more free time for the actual development of expert lotto instead of 'wasting' it on resending lost license files and responding to questions that can be answered in application's manual. but hiring a dedicated customer support person (even if we could raise enough money to afford it) would push expert lotto from an evening hobby to some sort of serious business. and that means much bigger commitment and stress associated with it.
Expert Lotto Team
-
stan - Site Admin
- Posts: 6338
- Joined: Thu Sep 23, 2004 1:01 pm
All problems are management problems....
by Willie » Fri Aug 15, 2008 10:22 am
I owned and operated two construction companies. When starting out, the first mistake was when I presumed it was an easy transition from the tools to management.
Fingers and toes x 100 to the 10th pwr would be fair analogy to dramatize my memories on how the hits just kept on comin'.
I began to recognize what I had to cut-loose, and what to keep. One valuable lesson was that all problems are management problems. When you're the boss, issues are learning opportunities. Yeah, I know what you mean: you're dealing with people.
Daddy used to say, "every fool’s got his own way of dancin.' Of course this was the message he was trying to drill into the heart and soul of a recalcitrant young man who had his own way of learning. And that's it: everyone has their own way of learning.
For some (like me), it's hard as hell to get my brain wrapped around structured, logical concepts - especially high math. And, it can be a burden on others because I have to get it in my brain, my way to understand - comprehend. I recall all most all my teachers in high school rolling eyeballs - finally giving up and passing me on just to rid themselves of the dunce.
I finally figured out that some people just gotta work harder for what they get. They used to tell me I did the work of two men; and it was true - I did. So it seems everyone is blessed one and/or another way, with a gift. Before I had my own small businesses, there were many times on the job I had to carry workers who the boss would have fired, otherwise. The guys I helped out would buy me beer after work - so what goes around, comes around.
Yes, some of us are management intensive. You/team have taken EL deep into what I see as the mystical side of it; to the guys w/ the math gene - fits like a glove. And it's gotta be BIG distraction when we fumble around and stumble over obvious information and instruction. But hey, what is simply obvious to a mathematician is not going to be the same to the ordinary Joe. Same owning a small construction company: it got to a point where I had to be ready to tell the customer what I was going to tell them, then tell them what I was telling them, then tell them what I told them. All problems are management problems.
What do you do with someone who wants you to do their thinking for them? You know, the customer who needs their hand held every step of the way. All I know is that first, you gotta determine sincerity... if they are already trying their best, then either get 'em to where they can carry the ball, or, like Daddy also liked to say, "Some people need to get hit in the head with a 2x4 to make their ears work." If they are failing to study Help section material and taking advantage of good will - being lazy - then it goes to Plan B.
Tell ya what. I see there are loyalists on board who really go the extra kilometer to help newbie’s, and each other. I am amazed at the high trust and dedication of believers. Would it be possible to setup a mutual admiration society where we all chip-in a little each month; take the money and invest it in a lottery with shares promised on win(s); but the side deal would be, you/team will publish a step-by-step EL process of numbers selection that we can all follow up to the time of lottery draw? It would be a hands-on learning tool using EL with all the excitement of possibly hitting a jackpot, together - incentive.
I've been trying LotWin, It appears that's what Dimitris (The Guru) is doing. His entry level membership (all levels actually) includes the opportunity to join in - selecting numbers on games with a % of the action if one of the lotteries hit(s). It looks like he's taking small part of the money from monthly membership revenues, and buying a few tickets generated off LotWin as incentive for customers to remain enrolled. Of course, he probably puts most of it in the bank, or puts it to use as capitalization for his business: ergo, (in EL's situation) extra revenues for a part-time CS rep.
I dunno - just an idea to get cash flow going.
Fingers and toes x 100 to the 10th pwr would be fair analogy to dramatize my memories on how the hits just kept on comin'.
I began to recognize what I had to cut-loose, and what to keep. One valuable lesson was that all problems are management problems. When you're the boss, issues are learning opportunities. Yeah, I know what you mean: you're dealing with people.
Daddy used to say, "every fool’s got his own way of dancin.' Of course this was the message he was trying to drill into the heart and soul of a recalcitrant young man who had his own way of learning. And that's it: everyone has their own way of learning.
For some (like me), it's hard as hell to get my brain wrapped around structured, logical concepts - especially high math. And, it can be a burden on others because I have to get it in my brain, my way to understand - comprehend. I recall all most all my teachers in high school rolling eyeballs - finally giving up and passing me on just to rid themselves of the dunce.
I finally figured out that some people just gotta work harder for what they get. They used to tell me I did the work of two men; and it was true - I did. So it seems everyone is blessed one and/or another way, with a gift. Before I had my own small businesses, there were many times on the job I had to carry workers who the boss would have fired, otherwise. The guys I helped out would buy me beer after work - so what goes around, comes around.
Yes, some of us are management intensive. You/team have taken EL deep into what I see as the mystical side of it; to the guys w/ the math gene - fits like a glove. And it's gotta be BIG distraction when we fumble around and stumble over obvious information and instruction. But hey, what is simply obvious to a mathematician is not going to be the same to the ordinary Joe. Same owning a small construction company: it got to a point where I had to be ready to tell the customer what I was going to tell them, then tell them what I was telling them, then tell them what I told them. All problems are management problems.
What do you do with someone who wants you to do their thinking for them? You know, the customer who needs their hand held every step of the way. All I know is that first, you gotta determine sincerity... if they are already trying their best, then either get 'em to where they can carry the ball, or, like Daddy also liked to say, "Some people need to get hit in the head with a 2x4 to make their ears work." If they are failing to study Help section material and taking advantage of good will - being lazy - then it goes to Plan B.
Tell ya what. I see there are loyalists on board who really go the extra kilometer to help newbie’s, and each other. I am amazed at the high trust and dedication of believers. Would it be possible to setup a mutual admiration society where we all chip-in a little each month; take the money and invest it in a lottery with shares promised on win(s); but the side deal would be, you/team will publish a step-by-step EL process of numbers selection that we can all follow up to the time of lottery draw? It would be a hands-on learning tool using EL with all the excitement of possibly hitting a jackpot, together - incentive.
I've been trying LotWin, It appears that's what Dimitris (The Guru) is doing. His entry level membership (all levels actually) includes the opportunity to join in - selecting numbers on games with a % of the action if one of the lotteries hit(s). It looks like he's taking small part of the money from monthly membership revenues, and buying a few tickets generated off LotWin as incentive for customers to remain enrolled. Of course, he probably puts most of it in the bank, or puts it to use as capitalization for his business: ergo, (in EL's situation) extra revenues for a part-time CS rep.
I dunno - just an idea to get cash flow going.
- Willie
- Posts: 21
- Joined: Sat Aug 02, 2008 10:21 pm
by Da80th » Fri Aug 15, 2008 7:09 pm
[quote=stan]
[quote=Willie:1218523459]
I certainly do not speak for everyone, but if it would help the newbie, I am more than willing to join other users and pay a reasonable periodic license assessment toward hiring a customer service tech. I wasn’t aware that EL was an “evening hobby,†could have fooled me — remarkable achievement! I really like ExpertLotto — believe in it — EL is logically designed…. Help and Tips are well written and easy to understand. It would be well worth a bit extra to help those who haven’t been living with EL long enough to, get it yet.
[/quote]
it would be nice to have more free time for the actual development of expert lotto instead of 'wasting' it on resending lost license files and responding to questions that can be answered in application's manual. but hiring a dedicated customer support person (even if we could raise enough money to afford it) would push expert lotto from an evening hobby to some sort of serious business. and that means much bigger commitment and stress associated with it.
[/quote]
hi Stan,
I am thinking it would be nice if we have a Java programmer (beside you and Joe) to help out with the plugins. Some time I have new ideas in mind but not comfortable to ask you to do this and that, I know you very busy with your new born son and your fulll time job so I do most of the testing with Excel, but Excel only can only do so much. So my question is do you know someone at your work who may want to do some plugins for us for extra part time incomes, I don't mind pay for his/her time.
Da80th
[quote=Willie:1218523459]
I certainly do not speak for everyone, but if it would help the newbie, I am more than willing to join other users and pay a reasonable periodic license assessment toward hiring a customer service tech. I wasn’t aware that EL was an “evening hobby,†could have fooled me — remarkable achievement! I really like ExpertLotto — believe in it — EL is logically designed…. Help and Tips are well written and easy to understand. It would be well worth a bit extra to help those who haven’t been living with EL long enough to, get it yet.
[/quote]
it would be nice to have more free time for the actual development of expert lotto instead of 'wasting' it on resending lost license files and responding to questions that can be answered in application's manual. but hiring a dedicated customer support person (even if we could raise enough money to afford it) would push expert lotto from an evening hobby to some sort of serious business. and that means much bigger commitment and stress associated with it.
[/quote]
hi Stan,
I am thinking it would be nice if we have a Java programmer (beside you and Joe) to help out with the plugins. Some time I have new ideas in mind but not comfortable to ask you to do this and that, I know you very busy with your new born son and your fulll time job so I do most of the testing with Excel, but Excel only can only do so much. So my question is do you know someone at your work who may want to do some plugins for us for extra part time incomes, I don't mind pay for his/her time.
Da80th
- Da80th
- Posts: 382
- Joined: Sun Mar 19, 2006 9:11 pm
by stan » Fri Aug 15, 2008 7:36 pm
[quote=Da80th]
I am thinking it would be nice if we have a Java programmer (beside you and Joe) to help out with the plugins. Some time I have new ideas in mind but not comfortable to ask you to do this and that, I know you very busy with your new born son and your fulll time job so I do most of the testing with Excel, but Excel only can only do so much. So my question is do you know someone at your work who may want to do some plugins for us for extra part time incomes, I don't mind pay for his/her time.
[/quote]
try searching for freelance java developers on internet. if your idea you wish to try out is simple enough (basic filtering, stats) then it should be fairly easy for any developer (even a computer science student:) to pick expert lotto api and implement a new plugin.
it'll be even easier with new API in expert lotto 5.0 which i'm working on at the moment
I am thinking it would be nice if we have a Java programmer (beside you and Joe) to help out with the plugins. Some time I have new ideas in mind but not comfortable to ask you to do this and that, I know you very busy with your new born son and your fulll time job so I do most of the testing with Excel, but Excel only can only do so much. So my question is do you know someone at your work who may want to do some plugins for us for extra part time incomes, I don't mind pay for his/her time.
[/quote]
try searching for freelance java developers on internet. if your idea you wish to try out is simple enough (basic filtering, stats) then it should be fairly easy for any developer (even a computer science student:) to pick expert lotto api and implement a new plugin.
it'll be even easier with new API in expert lotto 5.0 which i'm working on at the moment
Expert Lotto Team
-
stan - Site Admin
- Posts: 6338
- Joined: Thu Sep 23, 2004 1:01 pm
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