When I read forums of different webhosting companies I often read posts from customers who are upset because they haven’t received a solution to their support tickets quick enough. Quite often they blame the support techs or the webhosting company as whole. After diving into the issue I find that most of the time the customer hasn’t provided the correct information up front. Both the customer and the support techs would love to solve the issue during the first interaction. Meaning, customer submits a ticket, tech responds, issue solved. The result: the customer is thrilled and the support tech can move onto the next issue.
So let’s figure out what makes a great support ticket so we can get an issue solved as soon as possible.
When you first submit a ticket, give any pertinent information up front. There are two pieces of information that should be included with every support ticket:
- What domain(s) you are having problems with
- What server are you using
Giving these two pieces of information up front can allow the tech to start looking in the proper direction. Once you’ve done that it’s now time to start explaining what the issue is.
What are you experiencing?
How you begin to explain your issue can make or break your support ticket. It’s important to give detailed information, but be brief about it. The support tech doesn’t want to read a story. They want to learn what the problem is and what you have tried so they can get to solving it. Use bullet points to describe your issue if possible.
What have you tried?
When describing your issue, let the tech know what variations you’ve tried.
For example: You’re having trouble viewing images on a particular webpage.
- What browsers have you tried (Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome, etc.)?
- And what versions? (IE6, IE7, IE8)
- What did you experience with each browser?
Is this a new issue?
When describing your issue, let them know if this is something new. This is not to give your issue higher preference, but it will give the tech something to research. Were any mod_security rules recently changed? Did any software recently get upgraded? Did any hardware recently get replaced?
Don’t update your support ticket unless you absolutely have to.
Updating your support ticket actually pushes the ticket to the bottom of the queue. Why? When ticket systems first came out, adding information to your ticket bumped it to the top. Customers quickly caught on and constantly added information just to bump it to the top. This was unfair and system coders reversed this. Now it takes your ticket to the bottom. Why someone hasn’t fixed this where it doesn’t change your position in the queue is beyond me. But it is what it is, so take my advice and don’t add information to your ticket unless a staff member adds something to it first.
Turn-offs
Nothing turns off a reader faster than a ticket full of CAPS, excessive punctuation (??!??!!?), name calling, blaming a company or the techs in general, etc. A good support tech already feels bad that you’re having problems. Don’t make his or her life more difficult by blaming them for things they might not have done personally.
Before you hit submit
Now that you’ve completed writing your support ticket, take a moment and reread what you wrote. Make sure that everything your wrote is correct and that you didn’t leave anything out. Make sure that you’ve used proper spelling, spacing and punctuation. The easier it is to read your ticket, the easier it is to solve it.
Let’s review:
- Don’t write a story
- No large paragraphs
- Use bullet points
- Explain what you’re experiencing
- What have you tried
- Is this a new issue
- No screaming
- No yelling
- No name calling
- No cussing
- Use proper punctuation
- Use proper spacing
- Use proper spelling
Submit your ticket
Once you’ve checked and rechecked your support ticket it’s time to send it off. Click submit, send or whatever the system uses and go grab your favorite beverage. Most webhosting companies say they’ll answer your ticket in 24 hours. Most good ones will answer in less than an hour. Don’t start freaking out if you don’t get a response right away. They may be working on other, more major issues. They may be taking more time on yours. Rest assure that they want your server and your sites running as smoothly as you do.
Issue resolved
Once your issue is resolved, don’t hesitate to provide feedback – good or bad. This is how companies and techs improve. If you feel that something could have gone better, let them know. If you were blown away by the quality of service you received, let them know that too.
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One reply on “Tips on creating a great support ticket”
Very informative Chimpie! Seems to be concise and thorough. Thanks