A ticketing system is a customer service tool that helps companies manage their service and support cases. The system or app creates a “ticket” which documents customer requests and interactions over time, making it easier for customer service reps to resolve complicated issues. Ticketing systems help customer service teams prioritize their assignments, so they can create a more enjoyable customer experience.
How does a ticketing system work
A ticketing system works by first creating a document, or “ticket,” that records the interactions on a support or service case. The ticket is shared between both the rep and the customer and logs their communication to one continuous thread. If there’s any confusion, or if a detail is overlooked, both parties can refer back to the thread at any point to review past information on the case.
Once the ticket is created, reps can then work on the issue on their end. When they have updates or a resolution, they can alert the customer via the ticket. If the customer has any questions in the meantime, they too can use the ticket to communicate with the customer service rep. The ticketing system then alerts the rep that there has been a response logged on the ticket, and the rep can address it immediately.
When the issue has finally been resolved, either the rep or the customer can close the ticket. Tickets can be reopened though if either party has any additional follow-up questions or requests. Instead of having to create a brand-new ticket with a different rep, the customer has access to the same person that they worked with before and can continue where they left off. Some ticketing systems even include built-in customer feedback tools like NPS® which can collect customer reviews every time a ticket is closed.
Benefits of Adopting a Ticketing System
The more customers that you have interacting with your business will lead to a higher volume of customer support and service cases. Unless you hire more customer service reps to match the rising demand, this uptick puts more pressure on your team to multi-task and resolve problems simultaneously. Adding a ticketing system to your help desk is a great way to overcome this roadblock as it provides scalable solutions for your customer service reps.
Below are some of the main reasons why growing companies should consider adopting a ticketing system for their customer service and support teams.
Organization
The most obvious benefit that a ticketing system offers is its ability to organize and catalog a high volume of support cases for an entire customer service department. Reps can easily manage multiple cases at once because each ticket is labeled and can be prioritized by its urgency. This comes in handy when dealing with critical situations where customers are filing large amounts of support and service tickets regarding a specific issue. A ticketing system helps you identify and segment these cases so that a designated task force can quickly address them in bulk.
Another benefit of the ticketing system is the centralization of information. The tickets are all stored into one software that can be searched and referenced for future cases. Not only does that help with customer service analytics, but reps can also use it to look up past cases that may have a solution related to their present problem.
Communication
If your company is offering an omni-channel support experience, then a ticketing system can help your team consolidate communication into one thread. The benefit of omni-channel support is that customers can access your customer service teams using a variety of different communication channels. However, the downside of this is that customers may not consistently use the same channel when troubleshooting an individual support or service issue. They may start by tweeting at your team, then calling for an update, all while expecting you to email them for the follow up. This can make communication really confusing especially for reps who deal with over 20 customers a day.
Ticketing systems eliminate this problem by moving all communication to one individual thread. No matter which medium the customer uses to reach out, the interaction is always logged to the same place. Even if the customer ends up working with a different rep, that communication can be transferred over to the original ticket. By consolidating information to one thread, your customer service team will be less likely to miss important details that may lead to a faster resolution.
Accessibility
With communication being limited to one shared location, ticketing systems make it easy for both the customer and customer service rep to communicate with one another. Customers can quickly access a ticket via their email inbox and send questions directly to the rep who is handling their case. This gives the customer a sense of empowerment as they feel they have a direct line to their customer service rep rather than a generic support inbox.
The accessibility factor also benefits the rep because it puts less pressure on them to quickly resolve cases. Since customers don’t have access to their personal email address, reps can work at their own pace without being bombarded by messages from impatient customers. Reps can also set communication expectations when creating the ticket so that customers know what to expect moving forward. This gives some power to the customer service team because it allows reps to dictate the pace of communication on their support tickets. By providing that type of transparency to the customer, it creates a more trustworthy experience and improves customer satisfaction.
Now that you know what a ticketing system is as well as how it can improve the customer experience, you may be eager to explore potential options. In the next section, we listed some of the best ticketing system software that we would recommend adopting for your customer service team.