The BMI Customer Service department runs almost exclusively from Zoho Desk. 

So far, the only channels we have are email and SalesIQ. 

SalesIQ is specifically setup to chat with current customers or sales leads live, but it can also create tickets if we miss the live-chat window, or if it's after hours. 

Responding to Tickets

The overall objective we want to accomplish with our customers is to provide prompt, confident and thorough service. We want them to know that their queries are important, and we are working hard to meet and exceed their expectations. 

What this means is we want to respond to all tickets as soon as we can - regardless of having an answer or solution for them.

We have set up a notification rule so that when a customer submits a ticket, a message is sent automatically to let them know that we have received their message. 

If you don't have an answer right away, you can @mention a colleague in a comment on the ticket to privately inquire. 

For more info, review the article "Internal Communication on a Ticket".

It's important to note the actions when you send your response. If you click Send, the ticket will automatically change to the status Waiting for Response. Another option is Send and Close which changes the status to Closed.

Closed is when you have answered a query, resolved an issue, or no further action is needed. If a customer responds to the closed ticket, it will re-open automatically. 

Waiting for Response triggers a timer, and after 36 business hours (not actual hours), a notification will trigger informing the agent that the customer has not responded to your message. After 72 hours, the ticket will automatically close if no response is received by the customer.

When you are ready to respond, it's a good idea to close the body of the email with an open-ended response like:
    

• "Please let me know if you need anything else."
• "Let me know if you have any questions, comments or concerns."
• "Will this work for you? Let me know your thoughts."

These questions or comments allow for feedback, and imply that we want to work with them, not dictate to them. 

Ticket Status

There are a few different ticket statuses:

• Open
• Waiting for Response
• Escalated
• Closed
• Create Zoho Project Task

Open tickets should be responded to, or dealt with immediately. 

Waiting for Response triggers a timer, and after 36 business hours (not actual hours), a notification will trigger informing the agent that the customer has not responded to your message. After 72 hours, the ticket will automatically close if no response is received by the customer.

Closed is when you have answered a query, resolved and issue, or no further action is needed. If a customer responds to the closed ticket, it will re-open automatically. 

Ticket Channels

There are multiple channels tickets can come from. The most common is email. There is one custom channel that is unique to the rest. It's called Internal.

Internal channel is for those occasions that we create a ticket on behalf of a customer and we don't want an automatic notification of a new ticket to be sent. Sometimes customers email personal work email addresses, or other departments. In this case, we want to create a ticket on their behalf without alerting them that a ticket has been created; so we choose the channel as Internal.

Ticket Classifications

The tickets submitted by customers (or added by an agent) range from all kinds of "Classifications" such as:

• Questions
• Problem/Troubleshooting
• Tools Training or Resources
• Updates