Companies with a high number of tickets in pending status often struggle with SLA breaches.
Over 60% of SLA violations can be traced back to poor handling of pending tickets, mainly when communication with clients or vendors is not maintained.
There is a myriad of possibilities on when to or not to use the pending statuses. The way the support team choose to use it, can make or break the relationship with clients. Support departments must keep in mind that timely resolutions are critical, and managing pending tickets effectively is a no-brainer.
When left behind, or the process of defining as pending is not that clear, these issues can lead to client frustration and dissatisfaction, which impacts a business’s reputation.
1. Define Clear Criteria for Pending Status:
Defining when it’s appropriate to mark a ticket as pending help prevent misuse of this status, such as using it to delay work or avoid responsibility.
Awaiting client feedback, external vendor actions or parts arrival could all be valid reasons if it is accorded between parties and your support team is well-trained to use them
Remember that the ‘pending’ status in GLPI makes all SLA and date to solve to be updated after the ticket is changed to other status different from pending. So being honest and clear with clients about these reasons, can be crucial.
- 45% of pending tickets are due to awaiting client feedback or necessary information.
- 30% of pending tickets are attributed to waiting on external vendors or third parties.
- 15% are related to awaiting internal approvals or additional resources (e.g., parts or budget).
2. Set Limits and Follow-up Protocols:
Tickets left in pending status for too long may increase unhappiness and missed deadlines.
Establish time limits for how long a ticket can remain in pending status before a mandatory review or follow-up is triggered. Use GLPI’s automation rules to send reminders to technicians to reassess pending tickets regularly.
Saved searches with time ranges and notifications may help technicians to not let pending status
- It is known that best practices in handling pending tickets can increase SLA adherence by up to 25%, significantly improving customer satisfaction.
3. Document All Actions and Reasons:
Proper documentation within each ticket ensures that any team member can quickly understand the ticket’s history and current status, reducing delays caused by knowledge gaps.
GLPI AI plugin helps technicians to be aware of a vast timeline of facts in a ticket
4. Prioritize Client Communication During Escalations:
Sometimes, a ticket might need to be escalated due to delays or complexity, which can further frustrate clients if not handled well.
Plugin Escalade, for example, add options of adding followups automatically when an escalation is done
- Tickets that remain in pending status for longer than 3 days without updates or communication result in a 25-30% drop in customer satisfaction ratings.
- Proactive communication (even with pending status updates) can maintain satisfaction levels, keeping the negative impact to less than 10%.
5. Communicate Transparently with Clients:
Clients need and want to feel informed about the status of their tickets, even when they’re pending. Don’t let clients feel ignored.
- The number of pending tickets can increase if processes are not optimized, leading to backlogs and longer resolution times.
Set up a dunning process, so GLPI may keep the user automatically updated about the status of the ticket or when you need to remind people about the need to interact with the ticket.
