Self-service software isn’t a new phenomenon—it’s already been a crucial part of business life for years now and has been incorporated alongside the support tickets system.

We look at what self-service software is and how organizations can use it to streamline their ticket processes.

What is a Self-Service Software?

Self-service software allows users to search for and resolve the problems they may be facing—all without having to contact anyone from an organization.

From a business standpoint, having customer service-oriented software that automatically gives users information they require via the input of a few keystrokes is massively helpful.

Users aren’t asked to wait to speak to representatives, nor do they get impatient and annoyed—feelings that could lead to them expressing their displeasure with the company.

Self-service software includes cloud-based apps, chatbots, live chat, SMS applications, and bug trackers.

Benefits of Using Self Service Software

Ensuring that users’ queries are answered immediately, without the intrusion of a middle man, has many benefits, including ensuring that you have happy customers. 

With the right kind of software, businesses can cut down expenses on a customer service team—a necessary step when you have a global company with users from all over the world.

To maintain a customer service team internationally would be a huge drain on resources—not only would you have to find capable staff in places that were beyond your reach, but you would also have to spend time and money training them.

While it isn’t possible to remove entire customer service teams, you can decrease how many team members you have and at what point in the funnel they are needed.

For simple inquiries, your customer service software can handle requests and suggest or share responses immediately—thus mitigating the need for a response team.

More complicated inquiries can be handed off to support team members—not only will they be able to understand the problem but they will also have the ability to troubleshoot.

This saves unnecessary costs in the early stages of customer service and response.

How to Utilize Self Service Software

Customer-facing businesses will see plenty of benefits in installing self-service software, but this is a strategy that can also be incorporated internally.

Think of IT and HR services—these teams are often inundated with requests that they can’t handle all in one go.

If an IT self-service system is in place then employees can search for their specific problems and follow steps to troubleshoot them before turning to the IT department.

The same goes for HR—processes like leave applications, sick days, employee benefits should be easily accessible to employees so they don’t have to keep asking the HR team.

Without a self-service system, team members would be interrupted during the day or tickets would have to be generated for each individual request.

Support Tickets: Improving the Current System

A number of companies currently use the tickets system to handle support requests—both internally and externally.

This is a process that has worked for quite a while—but there is a need for this system to become faster and more efficient.

Which is why businesses need to change their process and bring in self-service software that will streamline the support system.

If your company is getting the same kind of inquiries or facing the same issues repeatedly, then you can input resolutions in the company FAQ and the self-service software.

Use screenshots, videos, and infographics to illustrate your answers—this will make it easier for customers and teams to understand and resolve the problem.

Streamlining the Tickets System 

It isn’t possible to replace the support tickets process with self-service software—there is always going to be the need for further help when more complicated issues arise.

But it is the streamlining of the tickets process that will make the support system more efficient.

This means filing and monitoring tickets as they come in—which tickets are still open, which ones are being processed or pending, and which have been solved?

Make a note of the status of the ticket—a process that should be automated, but can also be handled manually.

Setting up alerts for workflow automation ensures the process is effective—getting an alert when a ticket has been left in pending for too long or that a new ticket has opened makes the process flow smoother and avoids making customers wait too long. 

You can use a process infographic to explain what status should be assigned to a ticket—this will ensure that everyone within the support team is on the same page.

It is also worth categorizing tickets according to the subject matter—technical tickets should be grouped together and addressed by the team in charge of websites and tech.

Billing should be handled by the billing team; marketing queries by the marketing and sales team, and so on.

And categorizing tickets should apply to the self-service system you use—by grouping queries together, you make it easier for customers to scan through the issues pertaining to them.

Summing Up

Self-service software can be challenging to implement—it requires a change of mindset on behalf of the teams running the support process as well as the customers.

But essentially, the software is an extension of the customer support system—while it doesn’t necessarily replace support tickets, it does extend and streamline the process.

With automation becoming more common in 2020, putting in place systems of self-service and management needs to become a priority for all companies.