Ticket deflection
Ticket deflection is the share of customer contacts that are handled without reaching a person, usually through self-service or automation.
The problem with the word
Deflection describes the result from the business’s side. For the customer, the same event is either “I got my answer” or “I couldn’t reach anyone”, and the metric can’t tell those apart. That makes it easy to raise deflection while service gets worse.
Hide the contact form behind four help-centre clicks and deflection rises. Remove the chat button after 6pm and it rises. Stop the bot handing over and it rises. In each case the work comes back tomorrow as an angrier message, or the customer leaves.
What the research shows
Gartner surveyed 5,728 customers in December 2023 about self-service:
| Finding | Figure |
|---|---|
| Customers who use self-service at some point | 73% |
| Issues fully resolved in self-service | 14% |
| Issues fully resolved in self-service, when customers called them very simple | 36% |
| Customers who started in self-service and said the company didn’t understand what they were trying to do | 45% |
| Cases where customers couldn’t find content relevant to their issue | 43% |
Source: Gartner press release, 19 August 2024, as reported by CRM Magazine, September 2024.
Most customers try self-service, and only about one issue in seven is fully resolved there. A deflection figure that counts every self-service attempt as handled also counts the other six.
How to read it
- With repeat contact. If deflection is up and the same customers message again within 48 hours, nothing was resolved. It was delayed.
- With CSAT on deflected contacts. Harder to collect, and the only direct evidence the self-served answer helped.
- With abandonment. Count people who started a conversation and left without an answer. If deflection and abandonment rise together, customers are giving up.
What it means in practice
Contacts fall into three groups, and two of them can be handled without a person.
- Answerable from a document. Opening hours, delivery areas, returns window, parking. A good help centre and retrieval handle these.
- Answerable from a system. Order status, booking slots, stock, outstanding balance. These need a lookup. Most businesses have untapped room here, and FAQ-style tools fail here. See WISMO.
- Needs judgment. A complaint, an exception, a clinical question, a negotiation. Pass these to a person.
Sort a week of your contacts into those three groups. The honest ceiling on deflection is groups one and two. A higher number means group three is being counted, so customers who gave up are counted as handled.
A clearer measure is the share of contacts that got a complete answer without anyone waiting on a person. It counts the same automation and leaves out customers who gave up. See resolution rate.
Related terms
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