Recipe for the customer-centric company: Gather customer info for every support request

This is recipe 3 of 3 in our Cookbook for the customer-centric company.

Featured ingredient: Creating ticket forms to support multiple request types

A recipe for a business providing software support

Nothing slows down the support process more than having to go back and forth with the customer to gather information. Ticket forms help support teams expedite the support process by gathering the right information related to a support request.

This recipe outlines a basic set of ticket fields and forms designed for a B2C or B2B software company to capture information about a customers' technology environment.

Skill level: Advanced

Time required: 30 minutes

Ingredient list

• 7 drop-down ticket fields

• 3 ticket forms

Instructions

Step 1: Start by thinking about the fields you'll need to support your basic ticketing processes and begin creating your custom ticket fields.
These fields might already be in your MorgWard, and that's ok, too.  This list is in no particular order—you can organize them when you create forms.

Name of field	Field type	Field options	Requirements
Product	Drop-down	"Product A", "Product B", "Product C"	End-user requiredAgent required
Platform	Drop-down	"Web", "iOS", "Android", "BlackBerry"	End-user editable
Environment/version	Drop-down	"Production", "Staging/QA", "Development"
Severity	Drop-down	"Sev 1", "Sev 2", "Sev 3"
About	Drop-down	"Product area 1", "Product area 2","Specific feature 1", "Specific feature 2"	Agent required
Operating System/version	Drop-down	"Windows::8", "Windows::7", "Windows::Vista","OSX::Snow Leopard", "OSX: Lion", "OSX: Mountain Lion","Other"	End-user editable
Browser/version	Drop-down	"Chrome", "Safari", "Firefox", "Opera", "IE9", "IE8", "Other"	End-user requiredAgent required
Featured status	Drop-down	"Not planned", "Planned", "In progress", "Complete"	End-user visible

Step 2: Build ticket forms based on the ticket fields you just created to make gathering information on each support ticket easier and more comprehensive.
Don’t forget to tailor the ticket forms’ names for agents versus end-user.  

Name of form for agent	Name of form for end-user	Include following ticket fields
Question	Ask a question	All default system fieldsProductPlatformAbout
Bugs	Report an issue	All default system fields Product Platform Environment & version Severity About Operating system & version Browser & version
Feature request	Request a feature	All default system fieldsProductPlatformAboutFeature status

In the agent view, your ticket forms should look something like this image when complete.

You too can contribute a recipe! Have a best practice for a set of fields or a workflow? Create a recipe in the community tips and tricks forum, and we'll share the link.