How to transfer annoying customers from phone to e-mail?

Question

Software and Internet Services

We are in the business of selling software.
At the same time, we tell customers that further support by e-mail.
However, some make phone calls.
But I, for example, have learned to solve this kind of problems. If someone persistently starts to load me with questions by phone - as a rule, I tell clients that I am a manager, not a programmer, and I am not competent in many issues - write to the technical support service by e-mail. In 95% of cases, customers go to e-mail.
However, some customers stubbornly call on the phone. And it seems that they guessed that I was not a manager, but a programmer and I understand some issues (I should have said from the first consultation that support was by e-mail, but who knew).
How to wean customers off the phone and transfer to e-mail?
As I understand it, everything should be based on artificially reducing the usefulness of a call, equating it with the usefulness of e-mail and even lower.
How can this be done with less blood (so as not to conflict with customers)?

Answer 1

enter paid vip phone support and support by phone.
I, as a client, want to have a choice and not hear to be sent to email

Answer 2

White and black lists?

Answer 3

White list - impossible (this is tantamount to rejecting new customers). The blacklist has disadvantages:
- If using the phone - there are no normal "Blacklist" programs for Android - some of them sometimes block numbers / drop calls not from the blacklist.
- The operator's means are already better, but there is also a minus - the client knows that he was blacklisted. In addition, no one bothers him to call from another phone to check it out.

Answer 4

I tell such customers, after listening for 2-3 minutes beforehand, that it is busy now and if the problem is urgent, then it would be good to describe it in 2-3 sentences and send it by e-mail.
If the customer insists, then I transfer the call to technical support.
If the soap is not very responsible, then I pass it on to another employee.
Well, yes, if people who basically do not write to the mail, there's nothing you can do about it, you write yourself and send it to the customer for "approval" ..

Answer 5

The question is what to do.
Registering a paid number because of 2% of customers is somehow not ice ...

Answer 6

By the way, how much is such a pleasure (paid number)? Can it be registered to an individual? Do I need to pay a subscription fee? Do I need to buy 1 more SIM card (and phone) or can I use the existing ones?
Can I make it so that I can redirect the right clients from a toll-free number to a paid one (by pressing a button on the phone, of course, with a warning that the call is paid) or will I have to ask them to call back to a paid number?
And yet, as I understand it, when a client calls a paid number, the operator eats a significant part of the money (30% -50%) - is that so?