In this modern, computerized world, the paradigm chosen for detailed customer attention is tickets. Although previously a paper, cardboard or just a receipt was used, now issues are dealt with fully electronically.
This change in the world of computing presents a series of advantages, such as its automation, which means that we no longer depend on a person who checks out every ticket daily, and its means of communication, usually through email (among other communication channels), which is the chosen route due to its ubiquity and mass use.
But how do you ensure that the ticket comes to fruition and customers are satisfied?
Today we will outline a direct approach to the issue to “not die in the attempt.”
Optimize with a ticket tracking system
Everything revolves around a ticket
There are many examples on which a ticket can be written and thus justify its existence.
A ticket tracking system must be prepared to adapt to the thousands of situations that arise every day in companies, as well as to the large number of solutions to meet the needs of the customer.
That is why everyone involved, including customers, employees and even third parties, should know and understand that the “mast” that makes the ship sail is the ticket.
Lifecycle of a ticket
A ticket, as a living organism, has a birth, a development and a closure (well, and sometimes, a resurrection).
That is why, most of the time, ticket creators are customers themselves. There each ticket is born, with each request, waiting for an owner, that is, the employee who will solve the incident.
After working on a ticket, both parties reach a point of agreement and the ticket closes. Therefore, it is recommended for a third-party employee to assess the response and the level of satisfaction provided to the customer.
For now, let’s stay with that concept, although it may seem outdated, that there is a person (employee) who decides and evaluates the solution for the open ticket, which will eventually be closed.
Deadlines and replies due
Obviously, it is necessary for the person or persons assigned to solve the tickets to maintain an adequate work pace, since even the well-deserved vacations of a worker can interrupt the process of finding the solution to each ticket.
This is where a ticket tracking system comes into play, which monitors day by day which tickets have gone a certain number of days without being processed, applying what is called a Service Level Agreement.
In these cases, Integria IMS is responsible for attracting the attention of the responsible employee, and if the latter does not respond, the ticket will be assigned to the immediate superior to assign another person to the job.
Integria IMS, like a good ticket tracking system, allows you to store a number of contacts playing different roles for each ticket, allowing you to add more staff to the task if a ticket becomes more complex.
Templates ready
However, a ticket tracking system should not only be on the lookout for employees, but also for customers.
Calls for attention should be implemented if the customer does not respond after a certain time.
Here, automation plays in our favor by automatically sending an email (or any other notification) with a template ready to be automatically completed by the customer who opened the ticket.
This allows to find out whether customers are satisfied with the work done, whether tickets must be reopened, among other things.
Ticket status
The status of a ticket is the cornerstone of an effective ticket tracking system, because depending on its status or whether it goes into or out of a status, you may automate tasks to achieve its resolution.
Although there are universal states, such as opening, closing or reopening, there are also many intermediate states.
For example, a ticket to which a notification has been sent to the customer, to inquire if they are satisfied with the resolution of their submitted problem, could be a ticket “without confirmation”, since we wait for the response of the ticket creator.
However, how will we respond if after a certain time the ticket remains in that state of “without confirmation”?
Some companies will let more time go by and then automatically close it, probably with a template ready to be filled in to inform the customer of the ticket closure.
Other companies might assign more staff to contact the customer, listen to their feedback, and work on the ticket again until it is closed.
Some other companies, pondering over the weight and/or economic solvency of the client, could apply the first point or the previous one.
There is a wide range of possibilities, so we will need a work plan so that each ticket follows its proper course according to its own conditions.
The path of a ticket
Knowing by experience in each company what steps are necessary to solve an average or common ticket allows to implement a route or series of conditions that lead a ticket with the minimum human intervention, except when it is totally necessary.
It may be the case that a third party, even outside the company, is needed to solve a ticket.
That would be a specific state of a ticket and, according to that person’s response (or even lack of response), the ticket itself will be added to another channel (and state).
A truly effective ticket tracking system must contemplate all these different combinations of ticket statuses, in a logical and coherent order, one after another (or taking a different route) to complete the task.
Integria IMS offers all this presentation of basic terms, and even more!
With these custom flows, with clear and well-defined rules, ticket categorization is allowed to reach even ticket types with custom fields.
There are no magic wands
All this requires an investment of time and effort, both in the definition and categorization for ticket automation, as well as in the training of personnel to adequately respond to the task entrusted by Integria IMS, an effective ticket tracking system.
However, once the workflow is structured and planned and the staff is put in place with Integria IMS, customers may think that magic exists, but actually it is the result of dedicated and well-executed work.
Conclusions
Customer service is based on ticket management, enabling automation and massive and ubiquitous communication with customers.
A ticket tracking system must be prepared to adapt to the different situations that arise in companies.
The lifecycle of a ticket is important and consists of its birth, development and closure, and sometimes resurrection.
Tracking deadlines and responses is crucial, and ticket tracking systems, such as Integria IMS, are critical for this.
The status of a ticket is the cornerstone of this system, because depending on its status or whether it goes into or out of a status, you may automate tasks to achieve its resolution.
Ultimately, the resolution of a ticket must satisfy customers and ensure their loyalty.