If you’re reading this, it probably means you’re not exactly happy with the performance of your help desk. Perhaps you’re still forwarding endless emails to your colleagues and slowly getting lost in the process. Whatever the problem is, you ought to be considering different options when looking for ways to improve your performance. If you’ve heard about ticketing systems and you’re wondering if using one is the right solution for you and your business, you’re in the right place. We’re here to give you a helping hand.
In this article, we’re going to showcase different scenarios that might indicate you need to implement a help desk ticketing system into your workflow. Let’s start with the basics — what exactly is a ticketing system?
Definition of a ticketing system
In customer service, a ticketing system is a tool that helps support agents manage tickets. The system creates a ticket to keep track of a customer’s requests and interactions across different channels. Thanks to this solution, agents find it easier to manage different requests and come up with relevant answers to customer questions.
Tickets are automatically created by the system, which saves a lot of manual work. Hence, with the right ticketing system, agents can focus on providing top-notch customer service instead of tackling endless repetitive tasks. Therefore, it’s no surprise that using ticketing services can boost your team’s productivity in a major way.
Think about it this way: why hire more people to manage administrative tasks when you can automate them instead? A ticketing system will not only make your business more scalable but make your employees happier as they won’t need to deal with monotonous chores.
So how do you know if you need a ticketings system? Below we’ve outlined signs that might suggest your company needs to implement a ticketing system ASAP.
You’re still using spreadsheets
We’ve got a quick tip for you — don’t. Yes, spreadsheets are free and seem like the obvious solution at first. However, you’ll quickly find out that they’re virtually impossible to scale. Even if you use formulas, it will be hard to onboard new employees – and that’s just one of the issues associated with using spreadsheets.
What if your client gets in touch with you through email and then follows up on Facebook? You guessed it: you’ll need to enter this information into the spreadsheet manually. A customer support ticketing system will automate this process for you, which is essential when your company is growing.
Your company is growing rapidly
When you started your business you probably only received the occasional query, which allowed you to tackle each ticket individually and manually. When you’re starting out this can be great, however, it is something that is not scalable. As your business grows, implementing an IT helpdesk ticket software becomes crucial for managing the increasing number of customer inquiries.
Here’s a some food for thought — as your business grows, your processes need to grow and adapt with it. With every passing week, the database of your help desk will be expanding. As such, it will become increasingly difficult to find necessary information and provide high-quality customer service without a ticketing solution. If you don’t act quickly enough and adapt to the growth of your business, the quality of your customer service will dwindle which can lead to loss of customers and revenue.
The numbers speak for themselves. Did you know that almost half of all American consumers abandon companies because of poor customer service? Given that it takes twelve positive experiences to make up for one negative one, you’ll be better off investing in a solution that improves the quality of your customer service.
A good customer service ticketing software will help you keep track of all requests and ensure every client gets the attention they need. When the volume of queries keeps growing together with your business, automation can come to the rescue. Ticketing tools won’t make your customer service impersonal. Quite the contrary, they will help your agents manage their tasks more effectively so that they will have more time to approach clients in a more personal manner.
Lacking the big picture?
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Your agents are too slow to respond
We’re pretty sure that you’ve experienced this one yourself. Waiting for help when you need it right away is one of the worst customer service nightmares, isn’t it?
If you see that your customer support agents can’t keep up, it’s best to take action right away. This is a clear sign that they need tools that can improve their workflow, and a well-suited ticketing software can be just that.
Many ticketing systems offer tailored solutions to help agents answer queries on time, and automated ticket distribution is one of them. With this feature you’ll have control over how many tickets can be assigned to a single agent — and the software’s algorithms will take it from there. Once you’ve got a system in place to take care of ticket distribution, it will be easier to manage the workload of each agent accordingly.
Another great asset of ticketing solutions are canned messages, which are short, standard replies to frequently asked questions. Employees can use them in real-time live chats or emails to save time, and prevent burnout.
You don’t offer self-service solutions
Sometimes you don’t have to involve your customer support agents to offer help to your clients.
In fact, 67% of customers actually prefer to use self-service solutions rather than speaking to a company representative. It’s a win-win situation. Your help desk agents won’t have to deal with every single issue that occurs, while customers will be able to find the answers to their problems by themselves.
This is why a knowledge base should be a part of every efficient help desk ticketing system. For example, LiveAgent offers a fully customizable customer portal as a part of its help desk solution.
The portal consists of knowledge base articles and a forum for your customers where they can discuss their issues and share feedback. This kind of self-service solution will help you provide better support (again, without involving your agents), but there’s much more to it. Above all, it creates a sense of community and increases customer loyalty. Why not try building one for your brand?
You can’t access a complete view of a customer’s interaction history
Another problem you may be facing without the right ticketing tool is limited access to information. When a client gets in touch with you through one channel and then follows up via another, your agents are bound to lose track of the communication – unless they’re using a good ticketing system.
Take a look at the hybrid ticket stream, which is one of the solutions provided by ticketing software.
If a customer gets in touch with you via live chat, you can send them an email and continue the conversation. Regardless of the communication channels that your clients use — all emails, calls, and messages will remain inside the same hybrid ticket. In this way, customer support agents can easily access the communication history with your clients and see what has already been said and done without having to ask the client to explain their situation again.
You can’t integrate your help desk system with other software
Last but not least, tools work better when they work together. Your help desk software is bound to be more effective when it’s integrated with your:
- Sales CRM, such as Highrise or SharpSpring
- Ecommerce software, like Magento, Shopify or Prestashop, etc.
- Email marketing tools, such as Mailchimp and GetResponse
- VoIP software, such as CloudTalk
All of these tools (and many more) are integrated with LiveAgent.
Do any of the warning signs described above apply to your company? If the answer is yes, check out this article that explains how LiveAgent’s ticketing software can help you out.
What is a ticketing system and how to choose one
A ticket management system can improve customer service processes by storing all incoming conversations in one universal inbox. LiveAgent offers automated ticket distribution, bulk actions, and other features to streamline ticket management. Their software is also easy to use and allows users to follow a customer's journey through various communication channels. Additionally, LiveAgent offers more affordable pricing for their ticketing system compared to their competitors, making it an attractive option. Implementing a ticketing system can help businesses keep better track of customer issues and manage the workload of their team more effectively.
EffortlessAnswer offers an all-in-one customer care solution with 24/7 service and no setup fee. They have a multi-channel toolset with over 130 ticketing features and 200 integrations. LiveAgent is their preferred choice for chat support with the fastest chat widget on the market to increase revenue by 48%. They also offer a call center for higher resolution rates. Customers can get started with a 14-day free trial and cancel anytime.
Free support ticketing software
Free support ticketing software is crucial for businesses looking to improve their customer service and scale alongside their growth. A well-functioning IT ecosystem is essential for successful service delivery, and a reliable free ticketing software can help manage customer inquiries efficiently. Such a tool should offer customizable fields and functions, multilingual translations, prioritization, traceability, integration, and report generation. A ticketing system can improve efficiency, problem detection, task assignment, communication, and customer satisfaction. There are many free ticketing solutions available on the market worth considering for budget-conscious companies.
Free helpdesk ticketing system
The article discusses the benefits of implementing free help desk software for companies. It explains that such software can help organize operations and tasks within customer service and support, leading to faster resolution of support requests. The article also discusses the importance of offering digital tools, such as live chat and social media channels, to meet customer expectations. The use of a help desk ticketing system, whether free or paid, is also highlighted as essential for organizing customer interactions and providing valuable data for improving customer service. Finally, the article notes the advantages of free help desk software, including the ability to sort and organize requests from multiple channels in one dashboard, and offers advice on selecting the best tool for a company's needs.