Reducing support ticket volume means more than just hiring the right people (or more people). It’s also about the people on the other side of the equation: the customers.
Some say that rising support ticket volume is a good sign: it means your product is being used! But there’s another interpretation: flaws in your product or its messaging/instructions are costing your company money. And with support tickets averaging around $15 each in costs to close, understanding how to reduce support ticket volume is critical to your business’ financial wellbeing.
Complex, underperforming customer support procedures often happen over time.The good news is that starting the fix is relatively quick. Let’s see what changes you can make this quarter towards reducing support ticket volumes.
Reducing Customer Support Tickets: Weeks 1-4
If you implement a support ticket system without understanding employee and customer needs, you’re setting everyone up for frustration and wasted time. At worst, a mismatched system leads to more support tickets.
You’re probably working with an existing system, but there are still ways you can make it more efficient. Here’s what to do in the next 2-4 weeks to start fixing problems:
Get real opinions from real people
Talk with frontline workers. Read customer surveys and complaint logs. Observe customer service reps for an afternoon. Your mission is to understand the reality of customers’ problems and what is slowing or stopping employees from handling these effectively.
Understand both sides of the journey
Look at your customers’ journey via a customer journey map. This will help you identify areas in their journey where issues commonly arise, giving you a starting point for your efforts.
On the flip side, analyze your employee and organizational perspective via a service blueprint. This maps the internal processes for customer support. It will help you spot bottlenecks and inefficiencies that can slow down ticket resolution.
This is the context you need to make smarter decisions around reducing support tickets. But you’re not done yet.
Empower Employees to Handle Support Tickets: Months 2+
Next, examine the customer support process:
- Can reps resolve common issues without escalating them?
- Are there gaps in the employee training process or in the knowledge base?
- Do you offer ongoing training?
In short, are you supporting your support team?
There’s only one way to find out: ask them. Then look at how you gauge support success. This is more than just the time to close a ticket. It’s also about how your CS reps connect with customers. Find out:
- Do reps take the time to listen to the customer and offer them empathy?
- Do reps understand the cause of the problem, or are they offering a quick fix so they can close out the ticket?
- Do they have the time they need to provide empathetic service? Or are they focused on closing as many tickets as soon as possible?
Handling complaints with compassion and educating the customer may mean a longer first interaction, but it often results in higher customer satisfaction and fewer repeat support calls–a great way to lower the CS load.
Now comes the real work: addressing the issues that surface in your exploration. Do you need to add more to the customer support rep onboarding process? More training? Empathy training? Build a better knowledge base? Redefine role responsibilities so reps can close tickets without escalating them?
You have the knowledge and the context. Will you use it to reduce support tickets and offer a better experience to your employees and customers?
Be Proactive About Reducing Support Ticket Volume
Understanding where friction occurs in your product and in your business processes is critical to reducing customer support requests. At CX by Design, we specialize in helping businesses cut out the noise and find actionable solutions to their problems. Contact us today for a free consultation and we’ll help you get ready to thrive.
