Scratch an itch
My office building is managed by factor which… could do better. If we have an issue the flow generally goes:
Notice an issue →
Email Factor to let them know about the issue →
Forget about it for 3 weeks →
See the issue again and get annoyed that it’s not been fixed →
Email factor again →
They respond with some sort of time frame for the issue resolution →
Email gets lost in my inbox →
Forget about it for 3 weeks →
See issue again and get annoyed it’s not been fixed →
Email factor →
… and the process continues until one of us dies.
On Wednesday morning I got so frustrated with it I decided to ask my factor if they used any sort of ticketing system to keep track of issues. They said they did, so the problem isn’t that they aren’t keeping track of issues, it’s that they don’t communicate it with me as the customer.
These ticketing systems exist in nearly every customer focused business. The idea being that if the business keeps track of all customer issues it provides a better customer experience. The problem it seems is that 1. the customer has to bend to the specific ticketing system the supplier is using and 2. has to manually manage the ticket through their inbox.
So I thought, what if I as a customer had my own ticket management system and forced by suppliers to use it…
The light is broken in our offices female toilet. I knew that emailing the factor would result in an endless loop. So I took an hour to build my own ticket management system that I would then ask the factor to update (instead of the email loop):
The factor clicked the 3 weeks link that then showed a page:
In the space of one email, and no reply, I know that I don’t have to think about the issue for 3 weeks (which seems a while!). In 3 weeks the factor will receive another (automatic) email asking if the task has been completed. They will have an option for “yes” and an option for “no” which will ask for a reason and further timeframe for resolution.
The factor then also cc’ed me into an email with a further supplier:
Now, what if this new supplier also updated my ticket. I’ve got 2 suppliers both feeding me the most accurate information.
There’s a couple of things that are interesting here:
- Force supplier to update my system
- The email interface
- Automation of tedious human tasks
- Set and forget on my end
- Clearer communication between parties
- Clearer inbox
So, if you want to help me scratch another itch… Do you think this is an interesting idea?
Yes👍🏻 or No👎🏻
(incase you didn’t get it — click one of the links)
