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Need help with wording on our site.

KuJoeKuJoe Member, Host Rep
edited January 2013 in Providers

Today we had a client who opened a ticket and then after an hour they posted an angry reply to the ticket about how they were disappointed our "Average Ticket Response Time" stated 17 minutes and they expected a response within 30 minutes to their support ticket.

So this got me thinking that advertising an average response time is misleading and clients are viewing this "average" as a guarantee and anything beyond the average is deceitful. While I understand there are people who don't know what the word "average" means in terms of math (taking the sum of X numbers and dividing X numbers meaning that unless all numbers are equal there will always be a number higher than the average) I am looking for the best possible way to advertise our average ticket response (that we've gotten A LOT of great press from and clients always include it in their reviews of us) while still keeping clients informed that it is not a guarantee and in certain instances cannot be met (i.e. if both support staff are sleeping or 1 is on vacation or Florida is underwater).

Here are 2 KB articles we have publicly available, are they also misleading as to what to expect from our support for non-emerengies?
https://my.securedragon.net/knowledgebase.php?action=displayarticle&id=30
https://my.securedragon.net/knowledgebase.php?action=displayarticle&id=76

I really don't want to mislead potential clients or cause additional anger for current clients so any insight (short of removing the average from our websites) is greatly appreciated.

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Comments

  • I assume this average ticket response time only applies during business hours? Maybe include that or include a 'measured over X tickets' number ?

  • gsrdgrdghdgsrdgrdghd Member
    edited January 2013

    What you are describing is the Arithmetic mean.

    Maybe a better way to advertise would be to announce the Median and saying "More than 50% of the tickets resolved in x minutes"

  • KuJoeKuJoe Member, Host Rep

    @Freek said: I assume this average ticket response time only applies during business hours? Maybe include that or include a 'measured over X tickets' number ?

    We don't have business hours, it is an average of the last 10 tickets. I think I'll include a link to the KB for clients to click on.

    @gsrdgrdghd said: Maybe a better way to advertise would be to announce the Median.

    Because people who don't know what the word "average" means will know what the word "median" means right? :P

  • Hide that after business hours?

    Perhaps change the Knowledgebase articles and include in a list format what times to usually expect, maybe list some example situations:

    i.e: Critical Support : Server Down - 30 Minutes - 1 Hour, etc.

    Also Typical times they can expect for Non-Critical Support tickets, and maybe citing your business hours.

    The Knowledgebase pages just seem a little vague.

  • KuJoeKuJoe Member, Host Rep

    @Kris said: Hide that after business hours?

    We don't have business hours nor do we have different response times for critical/non-critical tickets.

  • actually the word "median" is more used the world over than "average"

  • @KuJoe said: Because people who don't know what the word "average" means will know what the word "median" means right? :P

    Typical, Usual, Current - All would be better than average.

    Also, instead of such a precise number, maybe if it's >15, Make it say 30 minutes, etc. Just some ideas.

  • @KuJoe said: Because people who don't know what the word "average" means will know what the word "median" means right?

    Probably not, but imho "more than 50%" sounds softer than "average response time".

  • KuJoeKuJoe Member, Host Rep

    @24khost said: actually the word "median" is more used the world over than "average"

    Really? I've never heard that word used before outside of a math class. I guess that's one thing I can look into changing. :)

  • just say and hour or less! :P

  • KuJoeKuJoe Member, Host Rep

    This is what I am trying to describe:

    In mathematics and statistics, the arithmetic mean, or simply the mean or average when the context is clear, is the central tendency of a collection of numbers taken as the sum of the numbers divided by the size of the collection.

  • @KuJoe said: Here are 2 KB articles we have publicly available, are they also misleading as to what to expect from our support for non-emerengies?

    Sorry, that mislead me to believe you had different support responses for emergencies / non-emergenices.

    No actual business hours (when it's easy to contact you) sort of seems off putting to me. No idea of when to get the best response times from you, or talk to someone in management is off-putting, but I'm guessing you don't have the normal hierarchy of business / that's expected. Just my opinion.

    I guess it's just hard to explain / word your support setup eloquently in this situation.

  • KuJoeKuJoe Member, Host Rep

    @24khost said: just say and hour or less! :P

    And when it takes 6 hours for a reply I'll be getting even worse tickets. :P

  • @KuJoe said: and they expected a response within 30 minutes to their support ticket.

    Maybe instead of those two KB articles, have any statement somewhere that your support, irregardless of statement about average time or response goals, is best effort and you don't have an SLA for support?

  • @Damian said: Maybe instead of those two KB articles, have any statement somewhere that your support, irregardless of statement about average time or response goals, is best effort and you don't have an SLA for support?

    Brilliant.

    Support Mission Statement, maybe with checkmarks of what you strive to provide customers. Simple, to the point, and doesn't mis-lead with minutes / latest.

    This seems like a much better idea, not exactly something you can pop in the Knowledgebase section of WHMCS.

    Maybe a page before the support ticket is opened with "what's expected" and your Support Mission Statement.

  • KuJoeKuJoe Member, Host Rep

    @Kris said: Sorry, that mislead me to believe you had different support responses for emergencies / non-emergenices.

    For emergency tickets they are given my cell phone number to get in touch with me for real emergencies but aside from that tickets are handled the same when somebody is around.

    No actual business hours (when it's easy to contact you) sort of seems off putting to me. No idea of when to get the best response times from you, or talk to someone in management is off-putting, but I'm guessing you don't have the normal hierarchy of business / that's expected. Just my opinion.

    During the day (EST) somebody is typically in front of a keyboard but most of the time my partner will mark a ticket "In Progress" for me to look at later when I am available (he can handle level 1 support tickets and some billing/sales questions but for the most part he just makes sure they are not an emergency and leaves them for me). I work the night shift so I am regularly available at night while my partner is available during the day but there are times I have to sleep at night so hours are not set in stone nor do I want to publish hours that are incorrect.

    Sorry for any confusion.

  • And when it takes 6 hours for a reply I'll be getting even worse tickets. :P

    6 hours, why on earth would it take you six hours to initially answer a ticket?

  • KuJoeKuJoe Member, Host Rep

    @Damian said: Maybe instead of those two KB articles, have any statement somewhere that your support, irregardless of statement about average time or response goals, is best effort and you don't have an SLA for support?

    Something like this? https://my.securedragon.net/knowledgebase.php?action=displayarticle&id=38

  • Post somewhere a link to an automatically generated table of the exact response times for the last 10 or 100 tickets, then those who like to nitpick can go check the table and do their own math.

  • KrisKris Member
    edited January 2013

    @KuJoe said: For emergency tickets they are given my cell phone number to get in touch with me for real emergencies but aside from that tickets are handled the same when somebody is around.

    Ah Okay, I first though there were two tiers, and whether you filed a ticket for a PW change, or a server being down you'd get the same response.

    A hybrid of what Damian said maybe put on the page before filing a ticket (or even on the ticket page with a ul and a checkmark list of what you strive to provide, and what they can expect would be best.

    I'd personally use the stats and numbers over a day / week and display it on a Support Mission Statement page maybe, instead of the last 10 tickets.

    Just throwing out ideas at this point, good to know network issues aren't thrown in there with questions about ImageMagick installs :)

  • KuJoeKuJoe Member, Host Rep

    @24khost said: 6 hours, why on earth would it take you six hours to initially answer a ticket?

    Because, as I explained above, there are only 2 of us and neither of us are robots (contrary to popular belief).

  • KuJoeKuJoe Member, Host Rep

    @Kris said: A hybrid of what Damian said maybe put on the page before filing a ticket (or even on the ticket page with a ul and a checkmark list of what you strive to provide, and what they can expect would be best.

    I do like this idea, I'll start working on something like this tonight. :)

  • KuJoe I know how that goes. 24khost is just 2 of us also. :(

  • Someone pissed about a problem (that honestly they might have caused, which makes it worse) isn't going to go through your Knowledgebase.

    They're going to have a fit.

    Better to put it in their face while filing the ticket (above the ReCaptcha) with maybe 5 checkpoints of expectations.

    This way they know what to expect when filing the ticket, rather than being directed to a page the never bothered to read before.

  • @KuJoe said: I do like this idea, I'll start working on something like this tonight. :)

    I have a meeting at 4:30, hour or two free after that.

    I'll make a mockup of your main Support Page / Support Ticket File page jut for an idea of what I'm trying to get across.

  • KuJoeKuJoe Member, Host Rep

    @Kris said: This way they know what to expect when filing the ticket, rather than being directed to a page the never bothered to read before.

    Very good point. I'll keep the "Average Ticket Response Time" in place but put up a page dedicated to informing the client before they open a ticket.

  • Last Ticket Response TIme?

  • @curtisg that ain't gonna work specially if the ticket was 6 hours.

  • KrisKris Member
    edited January 2013

    @curtisg said: Last Ticket Response TIme?

    Answered a ticket, went to sleep. Everyone for the next hour or two is going to be well pissed it wasn't answered in the 37 minutes or so they see.

    I think it's better he use Simple bullet points of their support setup, otherwise you're going to always get angry clients in some essence when you give them a precise number.

  • Last 10 Ticket Response Times:

    • Shortest: x minutes
    • Longest: x hours, y minutes
    • Average: xy minutes.
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