Communicate Efficiently
Communication is the core of any successful customer service, and when customers raise issues or request support, we need to keep them informed of the progress made.
All communication with customers should move the issue forward, even if this is just a commitment for a further update at a stated time. This movement is what we call positive progression.
Zendesk allows you to add a Public reply to a ticket, which goes to the customer as an email, whether it is to ask for more information or provide updates. Some fully-configured service desk tools allow you to set up and use templated replies, which can include ticket details and be personalized before sending. Here are some examples. Can you see the difference?
Instead of this ❌ | Try this ✅ |
“Hi, just to let you know, we’re still working on your ticket. Regards…” -> Don’t be vague. -> Be more specific. | “Hi, just to let you know, we’re still working on your ticket. I’ll make sure we check in again at [time] with a further update if there’s no resolution beforehand.” -> Use positive communication. -> Make the conversation move forward. -> Be as specific as you can. -> Ask for more information (if needed). |
“Hi, I don’t understand what you are asking for.” -> Don’t be rude. -> Ask for more information if you can’t understand the request. | “May I just re-check a few things so I know I have the right info on the ticket to help get this sorted…” -> Use positive communication. -> Make the conversation move forward. |
How do I ensure that I always handle tickets with efficient communication?
Good question! You and your team need to be on the same page, and for that, I suggest you follow the three C's I find most important when dealing with customer support.
The Three C’s
Effective customer service has often been summarized through various C’s standing for communication, care, contact, etc.
In my personal experience, I find that the most important C’s when it comes to dealing with tickets are:
Communication: Regular, positive communication, using terminology the customer will understand, helps with customer engagement.
Control: Keep your team in control of ticket progress and customer contact by telling the customer what will happen next and giving (and keeping!) commitments for updates at specific times.
Consistency: Keep your team’s internal and external communication consistent, which is established by:
Using the same phone greeting and email signature block.
Using common technical terminology.
Always demonstrating positive progression.
Always keeping ticket notes up to date so others can pick up the topic.
Stating the next step and a timeframe in ticket replies (positive progression again).
Why don’t we see how to put these notions in practice with a real support request?
Ask For More Information
Are you a perfect expert in all of the support topics you cover? Do you always “get it” the first time a customer tells you something?
Sometimes you need to ask the customer for more information. Don’t be afraid to reach out to the customer for more information; just make sure it is handled with positive progression. This could be while you are entering a ticket that’s come in via telephone, or are triaging an email.
Instead of this ❌ | Try this ✅ |
“I don’t know what you are saying here…” | “I’d just like to clarify this point to make sure it’s described correctly on the ticket…” |
“I am not sure I understand your problem…” | “Let’s just recap on a couple of things so that the issue description on the ticket doesn’t miss anything…” |
Oh, time to break off this training session for a while; you have another call on the helpdesk:
Jordan O’Flynn (an external customer) has called; they are a bit stressed and angry having tried to use one of your pet promotions sites. Here’s what they had to say:
“This stupid system of yours doesn’t work properly! I have tried three times to get through it, and it doesn’t work. What the hell is wrong with it!!?”
Do you have enough information to understand Jordan’s problem?
The table below shows two potential ways your conversation with Jordan could go. Which column of questions is controlled, consistent, positive, progressive, and likely to keep Jordan engaged to explain their issue and leave them the most satisfied?
Option A | Option B |
“I’m sorry, I don’t have a clue what you are talking about?!” | “That doesn’t sound good, let’s get some details and sort this out…” |
“Can you give me some clues here that might actually help me work out what’s wrong!?” | “Walk me through the issue, I’ll take notes and get a feel for what’s up.” |
“You’re trying to do what, on what site? We have more than one, you know” | “Let me see, it sounds like you’re on the mykitty site, trying to sign up for the annual subscription and an error comes up when you enter your name. Let’s get all this into the ticket.” |
“OK, doggies, not kitties…and you get an error when you enter your surname. Sorry, I got that wrong…” | “...Is that right? Oh, apologies, you’re on mydoggy and you get an error when you enter your surname. Let me make sure I get that down.” |
“OK, I have logged a ticket, it’s number 1572, thanks for calling - keep an eye on your email for an update. All the best, bye!” | “Thanks for all that, the notes are in the system now; the ticket reference number is 1572. I’ll see this is checked out, but to get things moving, since I have your info, I’ll register you on the site to get your account setup then you can add your card details. I’ll do that after this call, give it 30 minutes and you’ll receive an email with an invite to login. That way we can resolve your registration issue while working on a permanent fix. Is that OK?” |
That’s right; it’s option B! As a professional IT support technician, you decide to follow these steps, which means you’re able to clearly understand and fix Jordan’s immediate problem (register them on the site to get the account setup) while waiting for a permanent fix.
Time to practice! Because Jordan called us, we’ll have to create a ticket in Zendesk manually. If you don’t remember how, go back to the chapter Create Your First Tickets With Zendesk.
Remember to tag the ticket with the tags bug and ourmonthlypromo. Doing this will help us do some ticket analysis later. There’s possibly a bug in the system that’s stopping Jordan from registering, which will need investigating, so for the time being, set the ticket type to Incident and submit as New.
And guess what? Jordan sent an email saying they are still having issues managing their account, and an error message popped up.
Unfortunately, they forgot to write down the error message, so we’ll need to ask for more information:
Add a note (Public reply) to Jordan’s ticket acknowledging their message and asking them if they can provide the error message.
You are waiting for Jordan’s input now, so set the ticket status to Pending.
What is the status Pending?
Putting a status to Pending means the ticket is waiting for more information, usually because you have asked the customer a follow-up question. Pending stops the service level clock while you wait for the customer to respond, or, for example, if circumstances beyond your control prevent progress. It’s important to set a ticket to Pending when appropriate so that true performance against SLAs can be measured.
Provide Updates
After a couple of hours, Jordan came back to us and provided the error message:
SyntaxError: IllegalCharacter
So what do I do with this error message?
You will have to assign the ticket to the development team and provide them with updates on the issue so they have all the necessary information to solve the problem and let Jordan know that action is being taken.
Zendesk will update the customer when major ticket changes occur, and the support team can also create and send manual updates to customers and team members alike. These are known as public replies as per the image below:
That’s what we’ll do with Jordan’s ticket and its error message. See how in the video below:
First, we’ll assign our ticket to Ashley on the development team.
Let’s make sure we create an internal descriptive note before assigning the ticket so Ashley has as much information as we can provide!
Hi Ashley - Jordan followed up on this and has shared the error message he is receiving with us.
Error message:
SyntaxError: IllegalCharacter
When adding multiple updates to a ticket, it’s helpful to stay on the ticket after each submission. Before adding the internal note, make sure you change the selection from Close tab to Stay on ticket with the dropdown menu in the bottom right hand corner.
It’s just as important to provide Jordan with an update to the issue so we’ll add a Public reply next.
Jordan,
Thanks for getting in touch. Our development team is looking at this issue as a matter of urgency. I’ll make sure we check in again within the next 24 hours with a further update if there’s no resolution beforehand.
Thanks
Change the action back to Close Tab and submit the ticket as Open. Everyone is now updated on the issue’s progress!
It’s important to remember that the way these replies are created is identical to adding an internal note, except for selecting the different note type in the dropdown menu on the left top corner of the message area. Remember the following when using the messaging feature:
Always select the correct public or internal message mode; on some systems it might be a radio button, checkbox, or a totally separate message field.
Internal notes are for internal purposes only, to share information with colleagues and not intended for the customer.
Nevertheless, keep internal notes professional. Always assume that the customer can read them at times; this may happen, for example, during a service review.
Let’s Recap!
A key part of providing effective customer service is to communicate in a professional manner. We covered two types of communication skills: the three C’s and positive progression.
Regular communications to the customer might be part of a service level agreement, but, regardless, it’s a good communication and control activity.
Zendesk allows you to add internal notes or public replies, depending on the scenario. You can add these to the same ticket.
If you don’t understand the exact nature of the customer’s issue, be assertive and ask for more details in a positive and progressive manner.
You have certainly learned a lot in this chapter on how to handle customers and respond to tickets. Now let’s move on to the final step: resolution!
