What is issue tracking?
An issue tracking system is any software application that allows users to record and follow the progress of every customer ticket or "issue" in their inbox until the problem is resolved. Issues can be tracked in the context of software applications, IT services, and more. The issue tracking process begins with customers informing support teams that there is a potential issue that they are experiencing. The issue tracking system records this, and stores it alongside other concerns raised by the customer in the past. An agent on the support teams is then notified that there is a potential issue the customer is facing. By looking at the issue, along with past issues the customer has logged, agents will have a much greater understanding of how to best resolve the customer’s problem. This personalized approach increases user satisfaction and can potentially help retain customers.
Types of issue tracking
There is a wide variety of use cases for issue tracking depending on the industry. Examples of different types of issue tracking include:
- Bug tracking: Bug tracking is the process of logging and monitoring bugs during the testing process. Bug tracking aids teams in locating, recording, and tracking bugs in a given software application. Identifying bugs ahead of time ensures they are taken care of before users interact with the software.
- Help desk tracking: Help desk ticket tracking helps customer service agents track customer service issues. This allows them to stay on top of customer needs, and resolve any issues they may be experiencing.
- Service desk tracking: Service desk training is similar to help desk tracking but focuses on internal issues rather than external issues. Service desk tracking allows support teams to handle and resolve internal employee issues.
Benefits of using issue tracking
There is a wide range of benefits stemming from issue tracking. Some of those include:
- Customer journey mapping: Issue tracking helps agents immediately see the full view of the customer’s history with the organization. Looking at this data can help agents make well-informed decisions on how to best handle a particular customer and what the next steps might look like.
- Efficiency: Issue tracking systems not only keep track of reported issues, but also the steps still needed to resolve them. This improves team efficiency, as a support agent can quickly pick up from where the last agent left off and still be aware of all past interactions with the customer.
- Team performance: By tracking issue responses, teams can gain a better understanding of the performance of their agents. Managers can measure productivity by observing SLAs, response time, and other data-based metrics.
- Customer tracking: Tracking customers help agents keep track of interactions with them across email, social media, and several other channels all at once. This helps the agent stay informed and aware of what the customer’s individual needs are.
- Trend data: By looking at customer data across several accounts, help desk teams can better understand what problems are trending across user bases. This is critical as it enables help desk teams to quickly identify what problems customers are having across the board and what steps may need to be taken to solve them.
Issue tracking best practices
To get the most value out of issue tracking, companies should follow these best practices:
- Issue classification: Once an issue has been reported, it needs to be classified based on the type of issue it is and what needs to be done to resolve it. This includes taking note of the type of issue, business area, level of impact, and the source of the reported issue. By categorizing the issue based on these key classifications, support teams are enabled to quickly and accurately identify the people and resources needed to remedy the problem.
- Log tracking: Companies should keep track of all issues customers have faced. If a customer continues to report the same issue, agents need to understand and respond to their needs. If ignored for too long, customers may become frustrated and consider taking their business elsewhere.
- Staying up to date: To keep internal and external users happy, agents should stay up to date on all issues customers are experiencing. To fully gain the benefit of using issue tracking, agents should respond to issues as quickly and thoroughly as possible.
- Triggering event: Before becoming a major issue, there is typically a “trigger event” ahead of time. This means that something initially happened to help start a chain of events leading to a major issue. Identifying this triggering event is critical in solving major issues, as well as preventing even larger issues down the road.
Michael Pigott
Michael is a Market Research Analyst at G2 with a focus on technology research. Prior to G2, Michael worked at a B2B marketing services organization, where he assisted tech vendors with market assessments and competitive positioning. In his free time, Michael enjoys traveling, watching sports, and playing live shows as a drummer.
