Thursday, June 2, 2022

What would the neighbors think, friend?

A garage sale sends a message. It might say "My children are never coming back for that Goosebumps collection I spent so much on in the '90s". Or "I really thought I would enjoy pottery, but I think I just liked Patrick Swayze". Or "it turns out my abs aren't the blastable kind 🤷‍♂️".

But at least with a garage sale you can choose what to show. It's worse when surprise visitors arrive and the house look like the Cat In The Hat has been crashing on your couch for a month.

How would you feel if another customer service leader turned up unexpectedly to hang out in your support queue? Which tickets might you quietly kick into a discreet folder? What excuses would you feel compelled to make?¹

Maybe your queue is so neat it merits a double-paged spread in Minimalist Support Monthly. But maybe not. We all get used to seeing our own mess. The conversations that are growing mold at the bottom of page two. The ticket that has been reopened so many times it doesn't close properly anymore.

Have you got time this week to have a little cleanup? Perhaps reorganizing your queue management system, or setting up some automations to keep things neat? I would love to hear how you keep your queue clean, by the way. Share your best queue management tip with me, and next week I will share the best advice with everyone.

¹ "So sorry, my triage team is off on training today, I promise it's not usually so messy"

Mat Patterson
Help Scout

The Taming of the Queue: 14 Support Queue Management Tips

A selection of ways to get your customer service inbox under control, plus an illustration of Jack Russell terriers with their heads in sacks. What more could you want?