In the year 2021, email support is arguably one of the most, if not the most, important channels of customer service.
The best and most effective customer support teams around have ticketing systems that help manage and organize their incoming traffic. This system allows the team to view and prioritize tickets so that they can respond efficiently. It also offers a better view of resource allocation and makes it easier to track metrics and set goals.
If your company isn’t already leveraging an email ticketing system, we would strongly advise you consider adding one to your tech stack. Ticketing systems are especially useful for remote companies, where developers, managers, and support staff work across a range of time zones, devices, and shifts. Basically, email ticketing systems bring clarity and procedure to the sometimes messy world of distributed asynchronous work.
If you want your customer service team to be at their best, then they’re going to need the best tools to do their job. In this post we’ll break down some of our favorite email ticketing systems, but before we dive in, let’s cover some of the basics.
What exactly is an email ticketing system and what should you be looking for?
Simply put, an email ticketing system is a business app that allows you to convert multiple customer emails into tickets. These tickets are then organized in a single place so that customer issues and requests can be easily accessed, tracked, and managed from a single place.
However, the best email ticketing systems are not confined to just realm of email. In addition to email, you can track customer conversations arising from various communication channels such as chat, phone, social media, knowledge base, community forums, and more.Much like CloudApp, email ticketing systems were originally introduced to encourage team collaboration and improve customer experience. But how do you recognize a great ticket solution when you see one? These are some features we would recommend you look for:- Ticket Conversion: Email ticketing tools can automatically convert your support conversations into distinct tickets. So it doesn’t matter if a customer drops an email or contacts your support team via a chat box, all incoming conversations can be tracked in one place. You can even set up email forwarding rules to route all support emails from multiple email accounts into a single, shared inbox.
- Automated Ticket Assessment: With an email help desk software, tickets can be automatically assigned to relevant agents or teams. You can choose the default ticket assignment feature to route tickets to available agents or use skill-based routing to assign tickets to individuals who are most capable to handle them. For instance, all technical issues can be assigned to an agent who has the relevant technical expertise.
- Self-Service Knowledge Base: The best email ticket system gives businesses the option to offer proactive customer service by creating a customer-centric knowledge base or help center. Customers can find all relevant information in the form of help articles, videos, FAQs, etc. to resolve their primary issues. You can even create an internal knowledge base for your employees. Whenever they encounter a new customer issue, they can contribute to existing help articles or create new ones.
- Real-Time Reporting: The reporting features of a ticketing system can help you gauge agent performance, identify improvement areas, keep a tab on key performance indicators (KPIs), and track key customer service metrics. You can share CSAT or NPS surveys with customers to allow them to rate your service or the overall experience of interacting with an agent.
The 10 Best Email Ticket Systems of the Year
1. Hubspot
HubSpot has a ticketing app that features an all-in-one email ticketing system. Its ticketing system logs all customer interactions into one central location, making it easier for reps to see the status of opened cases. The system also alerts reps about status changes on tickets as well as the next actionable step to take in the case’s workflow. On teams where reps are fielding 30+ cases a day, it’s significantly helpful to have this type of clear interface that outlines their day-to-day workload.HubSpot’s help desk offer also includes ticket automation features which streamline customer service processes. It has a routing system that distributes tickets to reps as well as custom automation features that allow users to set up their own ticket workflows. This way reps can set up personalized ticket workflows according to the customer’s needs.Price: Free2. ProProfs Help Desk
ProProfs offers a great email-based ticketing system that is designed to be user-friendly and is as easy as using Gmail. Agents can easily set the priority of a support ticket as ‘High’, ‘Low’, or ‘Normal’ and ensure urgent tickets can never slip through the cracks and are resolved first.The best part of using ProProfs is that you can get access to multiple customer support tools- live chat, knowledge base, survey maker, etc. that help you offer delightful support 24×7. Customer service teams can achieve more together with collaboration features such as internal comments, custom fields, ticket labels, internal chat, and others.Price: $10/month3. FreshDesk
With Freshdesk’s customer email management software, you can rise above average customer service by streamlining issues into one universal inbox. Your agents can easily manage customer conversations, gather customer feedback, analyze trends, and do much more.In addition, they’ll always have easy access to a customer’s details such as ticket history or past conversations, a customer’s unique ID, their feedback, and other necessary details that help them offer contextual assistance.Price: $15/month4. Zendesk
Zendesk is another popular email-based ticketing system that is ideal for tracking, prioritizing, and solving customer support tickets. All conversations can be found in a single location so that communication between you and your customers is efficient as well as personal.With Zendesk, you can empower customers to help themselves. Build a dedicated help center and a community forum to encourage customers to resolve issues at their own pace- while reducing your support ticket volume.Price: Different plans ranging from $5-$99/month5. HelpCrunch
There are minor details in its interface that distinguishes HelpCrunch from its competitors. For example, it color-codes tags to make it easier to visually determine the status of tickets. Customer support reps have a fast workflow and it helps to be able to look at and interpret things at a glance without having to slow down.Another unique feature that HelpCrunch offers is its internal notes tool. Reps can leave notes to one another on open cases to discuss how to best engage with the customer.Price: $23/month.jpg)
