What Is Ticket Deflection?
Ticket deflection is the practice of preventing tickets from being created in the first place by providing self-service solutions. It’s one of the most cost-effective ways to reduce support workload.
Ticket Deflection Methods
- Knowledge base: Users find answers without submitting a ticket
- Self-service portal: Users complete standard requests (password reset, license activation)
- Chatbots: AI answers common questions instantly
- FAQs: Prominent answers to frequent problems
- Community forums: Peer-to-peer support
Why Ticket Deflection Matters
- Reduces support costs dramatically (40% reduction common)
- Improves user satisfaction (instant answers without wait)
- Frees agents for complex issues
- Provides 24/7 support without increasing headcount
Deflection Best Practices
- Make knowledge base content discoverable and searchable
- Suggest solutions before users create tickets
- Analyze deflected vs. non-deflected tickets to identify gaps
- Keep self-service updated with latest procedures
Deflection Rates
Organizations with mature knowledge bases and self-service achieve 30-40% ticket deflection—meaning 30-40% of potential tickets never become formal requests.
Industry Insight
Zendesk reports that every 100 deflected tickets saves $5,000–$10,000 in support costs annually.
Learn Self-Service Support
Self-service concepts are discussed on Wikipedia.
How TicketingNext Enables Deflection
TicketingNext includes knowledge base, self-service portal, and suggestion engine. See TicketingNext features or explore use cases.
Ready to deflect more tickets? Contact our team.