What Is a Support Ticketing System?

A service request is a make-or-break moment for every company. Provide a satisfactory solution, and you not only gain one person’s loyalty, you also benefit from positive reviews they may share with others. If you don't meet their expectations, you may not get a second chance.

A powerful support ticket system helps you capture every customer service request, manage it appropriately, and resolve it on time. Add generative AI, and service teams are equipped to deliver incredible experiences even more quickly and efficiently.

But what is a support ticketing system, and what happens if it's not up to snuff? Requests can fall through the cracks, customers may bounce from agent to agent, and you may not address the issue to their satisfaction — or at all.

Every company needs a ticketing system that can successfully resolve service requests, from customer calls to partner needs to internal IT help. Is your current system up to the task?

A support ticketing system allows you to efficiently provide service to customers, partners, and employees by assigning a ticket or case number to every service inquiry. You can use it to track the issue to its resolution, whether you're the customer, partner, service agent, manager, or CEO.

Customer relationship management (CRM) systems and ticketing tools might seem to serve similar purposes, but they cater to different aspects of customer service and business operations.

A CRM system is a platform built to manage all your company's relationships and interactions with current and potential customers. It helps businesses stay connected to customers, streamline processes, and improve profitability. CRMs are mostly used by service teams to manage customer relationships and interactions.

Ticketing tools live with customer service teams, efficiently tracking and managing customer requests and complaints. While a CRM provides a 360-degree view of customer interactions, a ticketing tool helps customer service teams organize and manage issues, which can lead to much faster resolutions. Each customer query is transformed into a trackable ticket your team can manage and resolve.

If you're wondering if your current system is good enough, consider if it lets your organization do the following things:

A single ticketing system collects all customer queries and distributes them according to priority and subject matter. For example, queries containing specific keywords route to the appropriate experts.

When you add artificial intellingence (AI) to the mix, your ticketing system can resolve the most common and most straightforward questions on its own with a customer service chatbot. This allows your team to stay focused on the complex tasks that require a human touch and enhance the customer experience.

Some days, it may take longer than anticipated to resolve customer issues for reasons beyond your control. About 78% of service agents say it’s difficult to balance speed and quality — up substantially from 63% in 2020. With the right ticketing system, you won't waste time digging through existing tickets or passing unresolved issues around your team. Remember: when customers get a fast resolution, they're more likely to remain loyal to your business.

How well is your team performing? The answer's in your customer service operations data. Drill down to find the causes of any delays, monitor your resolution time for gains or losses, and find out if your team's productivity spikes after you give them better tools and customer service training.

A good ticketing system is essential for handling customer inquiries and issues efficiently. It streamlines the support process, ensuring that every customer receives timely and effective assistance. Here are the key components of a robust ticketing system:

• Omnichannel support: This feature allows a business to manage customer interactions across various platforms, including email, chat, social media, and phone, from a single interface. It ensures a smooth process for customers and support agents regardless of who starts the conversation.
• Ticket management: At the heart of a ticketing system is its ability to organize, prioritize, and assign tickets. This includes sorting tickets based on issue type, urgency, and customer value and sending them to the right agent or team for resolution.
• Automated workflows: streamline repetitive tasks, such as ticket routing and follow-ups, reducing manual work and speeding up resolution times. Workflow customization allows for the creation of specific processes around ticket handling, ensuring consistency and efficiency.
• Knowledge base integration: Incorporating a self-service portal helps customers easily find answers to common questions, reducing ticket volume and empowering them to address their needs independently.
• Reporting and analytics: Insightful reporting tools track key metrics such as ticket volume, resolution time, and customer satisfaction. This data is invaluable for making informed decisions to improve support services.
• Scalability and customization: The best ticketing systems can grow with your business and adapt to your needs. They offer customization options for workflows, ticket fields, and user roles so the system remains effective as your company evolves.

Some customer service departments are still working with an outdated or suboptimal support ticket system.

When it’s time to improve your current system or replace it with an out-of-the-box cloud solution, like Service Cloud case management software, make sure your solution can perform the following tasks.

Customers, partners, and employees get support in many ways —phone, email, text, social media, messaging, and internal communication systems. A single platform with omni-channel routing receives each request and immediately routes it to the agent with the right skills and availability to increase first-contact resolution.

A connected system builds a 360-view of the customer. It integrates with apps and pulls in all available data to help agents deepen relationships as they resolve the current issue.

Show agents next best actions as they guide a ticket toward resolution. Based on the specifics of the issue, the system surfaces each step required to address the customer’s needs. Make sure agents don't miss a thing by requiring completion of each step before they can move on to the next. As your team becomes more efficient, you can identify new areas for automation to improve customer service.

A support ticketing system with a chronological timeline displays customer interactions from all channels, including SMS, email, voicemail, and knowledge articles the customer has viewed. This ensures your agents have all the relevant information at their fingertips for a resolution or, if necessary, lets them hand off the interaction details to another colleague to wrap up the issue.

An effective and powerful support ticket system is the foundation for better customer support. Build on this foundation with generative AI technology. Generative AI for service lets teams generate responses, automate knowledge article creation, and auto-generate case wrap-up summaries. Your agents work more quickly and efficiently, so case resolution gets faster, which leads to customer satisfaction.

Choosing the right ticketing system for your business is a big step toward better customer service. Here are some questions to help you pick one that fits your needs perfectly.

• What are your specific needs? Reflect on your current method for addressing customer inquiries. Are there areas you wish to enhance, such as accelerating response times, improving email management, or fostering better collaboration within your team? Identifying these areas will help pinpoint the essential features your ticketing system should have, such as AI-powered service replies or omnichannel support for streamlined communication across email, chat, and other platforms.
• How easy is it to use? Is the system user-friendly enough for your team to adopt it quickly without extensive training? Consider platforms that offer a unified workspace, simplifying the support process by bringing together all necessary tools and information in one place.
• Can the system grow with your business? Does the ticketing solution support scaling, allowing for an increase in ticket volume and team size without compromising performance? Look for solutions that offer flexible case management and automatically route cases to the most suitable agents as your demands evolve.
• Does it integrate seamlessly with your existing tools? How well does the ticketing system work with your current CRM, email, or live chat software? Integration capabilities can significantly reduce manual work and ensure a smoother experience for both customers and your team.
• Is customization available to suit your processes? Every business has its own set of processes and workflows. Does the system allow you to modify forms, workflows, or reports to better align with your operational needs?
• What insights can the system provide? Does the platform offer robust reporting and analytics to help you track performance, identify trends, and uncover areas for improvement? Consider systems that can automatically surface relevant knowledge articles or provide AI-powered search answers to assist in quick resolution.
• How does the cost align with your budget and value expectations? Beyond the sticker price, consider the total cost of ownership, including setup, customization, and any fees for additional features. Does the system offer a strong return on investment by enhancing efficiency and customer satisfaction?
• What level of support and training is provided? The quality of onboarding and ongoing support can greatly affect how smoothly your team transitions to the new system. Does the provider offer dedicated support to address your concerns and assist in leveraging the system to its full potential?

The right support ticket system has all the features you need and the ability to scale up quickly as your business grows. Grow your external customer base, increase your team’s productivity, and inspire happy employees with an enhanced service ticket system built on a single platform.