[cpncrunch]

I offer phone, email and skype support (as a solo developer). Ratio of support queries I receive is roughly:

90% email 8% skype 2% phone

On my website's contact page I have a few sentences beside the email address saying that you should give as much information as possible about the problem, and that we reply within 1 business day but normally sooner. I think that implies two things: [1] we do actually reply to emails quickly, and [2] email is preferred for support.

Some people just prefer to talk to a human being, at least the first time they contact you. This is either due to them checking to make sure you are responsive and can be contacted, or they are frightened of technology and need a little hand-holding. If I didn't put my phone number of the website I might lose these customers. It doesn't really take much time to deal with, overall.

The only minor issue is that some people (mostly other developers, usually from India) seem to want submit all support requests via skype, and I have to push back at that because [1] it's intrusive and [2] it means I don't have a record of their previous support queries in my email. Unless it's a quick question, I usually email them back. Of course you have to balance the need to provide the support in the way the customer wants to make them happy vs not letting them suck up too much of your time.