Showerthought: The old way I answered customer support tickets vs how I handle them now

I used to just reply to every ticket as fast as possible, like a race. My goal was to get the number down by end of day no matter what. But after about 6 months of that I noticed I was getting the same questions over and over again. People were frustrated because my quick answers didn't actually solve their deeper issue. So about a year ago I started reading every ticket twice before typing anything. Now I spend the first 3 minutes figuring out what they really need, not just what they typed. It cut my repeat tickets by almost half and people actually thank me now. Has anyone else noticed the same problem with rushing through replies?

3 comments

3 Comments

reese_nelson27d ago

When you said you used to just reply as fast as possible and now you actually solve problems, that hit hard. But I gotta push back a little on the 'reading it twice' thing. That's good but not quite enough. You gotta ask yourself what they're really not saying. Like if someone's mad about a reset password link not working, they might actually be pissed they can't log in because they're on a deadline. The real fix might be a temp manual reset, not another email. So yeah, read it twice, but also think about what's underneath the words. That's what stopped my repeat tickets from coming back. It's not just about answering faster or slower, it's about catching the hidden problem before they gotta write back.

the_susan27d agoTop Commenter

Totally get that @reese_nelson, you're so right. Hidden problems are the real ticket killers, and catching that deeper issue is what actually stops them from coming back.

grantf733d ago

The thing is, my repeat tickets dropped even more when I stopped treating the ticket system like a chat room. I noticed a pattern where people would send a second message like an hour later saying "actually never mind I figured it out" after I had already typed up a response. That was my clue. Now I set a 2 hour delay on my first reply, even if I know the answer right away. It sounds backwards but letting them sit with it for a bit lets them sort out the easy stuff themselves. The ones who still need help after those 2 hours are the ones with the real deeper problem you guys are talking about. It filters out the noise so I can spend my energy on the tickets that actually matter.