At first glance, support ticketing and billing might seem worlds apart. However, a support ticketing system that seamlessly connects to your billing and CRM could be an invaluable asset to your subscription-based business.
What are the advantages that an integrated ticketing system offers, and how can your business capitalize on these opportunities?
The advantages of an integrated support ticketing system and billing platform
Many businesses rely on their ticketing system for functions that go beyond technical support, including sales and billing.
To streamline these functions, it is essential that ticketing is tied to a specific client, or even down to the device level.
The ability to tie these systems together reduces the need for double duty when it comes to entering data, and enables faster response times by the tech support team. Finally, an integrated ticketing and billing system enables the measurement of support time, which can be used to find new efficiencies or even bill clients based on their support needs.
Here’s a closer look at each of these advantages:
- Automated data entry: Whenever your business’s essential tools communicate seamlessly, it reduces the need for manual entry of the same data in multiple places. Not only can this save time, but it improves accuracy by eliminating the opportunity for human error. Reduced errors translates to more accurate invoicing and subscription renewals, as well as less labor in the future to fix those errors.
- Fast response times: When you can tie a ticket to a client, it helps things speed up. When your system can automatically do it based on the client’s email address, rapid response becomes a real possibility. Clients won’t have to wait for a member of the support team to notice the ticket and prioritize it manually, reducing their wait time for a solution. The result is more satisfied customers, and more satisfied customers are likely to renew their contracts.
- Lower churn: For subscription-based SaaS businesses working to reduce churn rate, fast technical support response times are critical. Industry analysts estimate that an acceptable churn rate for the average SaaS business is 5% to 7%, which means 30% of SaaS companies are failing in this metric. The businesses that succeed are focused on maximizing customer satisfaction through superior service.
- Support time metrics: Measuring the amount of time a technician spends on a support ticket opens new opportunities for usage-based billing. For example, you could include a certain amount of support time in each client’s monthly subscription but bill for overages beyond that threshold. Because support tickets are tied to clients or devices, you can measure exactly how much demand they place on your tech support team each month and bill accordingly.
In other words, a seamlessly automated, integrated ticketing system and billing and CRM enables your business to be leaner, faster, and more efficient. This not only serves to improve customer satisfaction but creates new opportunities within your business as well. In the modern subscription-based landscape, maximizing customer satisfaction and organizational efficiency are the keys to success.
How Ubersmith connects ticketing and billing
Ubersmith offers a full-featured and integrated support ticketing system that can improve efficiency in delivering support to clients, whether they submit a ticket via email, phone, or the client portal.
On the support side, Ubersmith offers a support manager dashboard that provides a bird’s eye view of all open tickets. These tickets can be sorted based on priority, impact, type, classification, and more. They can also be tied to a specific department, so a billing-related issue is assigned to the billing department to sort out. The support manager dashboard also includes a historical view of a client’s past tickets, granting tech support teams the insight needed to understand the current problem at hand.
Of course, an integrated ticketing system and billing and CRM doesn’t stop there. Ubersmith can share key data, such as support time metrics, with the billing and CRM to streamline the way your business bills for tech support services.
In the other direction, the support system is connected with a client’s subscription, so if you are performing usage-based billing for support above and beyond what is included in the monthly subscription, it will be clear what is included in a client’s package and what isn’t. The system can automatically send invoices based on this data once the support ticket is resolved.
Best of all, this integration comes standard with Ubersmith. There is no need for a special integration project or any extra coding. Integrated support ticketing and billing and CRM is an out-of-the-box feature that Ubersmith provides every client – and it’s all part of the same monthly bill.
Seamless integration between billing and support grants an unmatched competitive advantage
The modern subscription-based SaaS industry is highly competitive, so it’s essential that your business offers customers clear benefits that help you stand out. The advantages you gain from an automated billing and CRM that is tied to your support ticketing system can provide those benefits to your clients, making them more likely to subscribe and renew cycle after cycle.
If you’d like to learn more about how Ubersmith could help you, contact us today!
