Every company deals with its own unique collection of issues, whether they come in the form of maintenance tickets, customer complaints, IT tickets, change requests, or something else entirely. Issues are universal — it’s how organizations handle and respond to those issues that matters. While tools like spreadsheets, email, and sticky notes may be inexpensive, they’re unreliable and can lead to costly problems in the long run if issues end up slipping through the cracks.
We sat down with Dan Flowers, CEO of Issuetrak, to discuss the importance of having a dedicated issue tracking solution in place to capture issues and see them through from start to finish. Issuetrak is an agile software development company producing flexible, configurable issue tracking software. Founded in 1992 and headquartered in Norfolk, VA, Issuetrak provides the tools for organizations to handle and resolve their issues and streamline their processes.
Can you explain what an issue tracking solution is?
An issue tracking solution or system is any software application that allows you to record and follow the progress of a ticket or “issue” at your company until the situation is resolved. Issues can be any problems your company, employees, or customers might face.
Does every organization need an issue tracking solution like Issuetrak?
In most cases, yes. Even for very small businesses, using spreadsheets and email to handle issues is cumbersome and gets in the way of providing great customer service. Mid-to large-size companies often struggle with finding that balance between maintaining great relationships and controlling staffing costs.
Issue tracking systems like ours provide the tools to help these companies organize and streamline their processes, saving them money and time and helping them serve their customers more effectively.
But it’s also very important for organizations to find the right solution — not every vendor fits every business.
What are some of the problems an organization without issue tracking software can face?
Slow responses, lack of follow up, no ability to trace the history of a customer’s needs — the problems add up without software to track the details. Spreadsheets and emails won’t allow you to view data analytics or run reports quickly like a dedicated solution, so it’s harder to measure statistics over time. You can target problem areas quickly with software in a way that manual processes can’t.
Staff overages can be another issue. Tracking software increases the bandwidth of employees through automation, reducing staffing costs and allowing you to get more done faster with a smaller team.
What makes Issuetrak stand out from other, similar solutions on the market?
We take a straightforward, broad approach to solving your organization’s problems. Issuetrak doesn’t serve any one particular industry — it’s so customizable that it can be fitted to suit almost any company’s problems. Our team of experts works with each individual customer to ensure their Issuetrak instance is set up precisely the way they need it, and that may look very different from customer to customer. We don’t just hand you the software and say “good luck,” we work with you closely throughout the whole implementation process to ensure your team’s success.
We also have US-based offices and a wonderful 24-hour Support Team that consistently holds a customer satisfaction rating of over 97 percent, with calls answered in less than a minute.
What else can Issuetrak do beyond tracking issues?
Issue tracking is just the beginning of what we do. Many of our customers start using the software to track their tickets and problems, but quickly realize that many of their business operations can be consolidated into Issuetrak. Issuetrak can be used across departments so it’s a simple process to get the entire organization using it.
How many customers does Issuetrak serve, and from what industries?
We have roughly 800 customers and 10,000 agents using Issuetrak, across organizations big and small. We serve an enormous span of industries — everything from manufacturing companies and government offices to restaurants and higher education institutions.
We’re proud of the customer base we’ve established and the partnership we have with them. We have a number of customer stories on our website showcasing the unique ways our customers have achieved success by using Issuetrak.
Once a customer buys Issuetrak, how quickly can they get their site up and running?
Most of our customers are fully launched and ready about a month after they receive or install their Issuetrak site, but you can typically get started interacting with your site within 24 hours of receiving it. Your actual implementation time will depend on how complex your site and usage is.
For a better idea of how the process works we have an in-depth White Paper that walks you through our schedule and the options you have when it comes to setting up your site — whether you want to take the reins yourself or have one of our Product Experts help help you with the process. You can also take a look at our Implementation Guidelines for a more technical overview of what happens during implementation.
How does your team continue to support your customers after implementation?
Our team is always ready to jump in whenever customers need assistance. If you have questions after your JumpStart, or need more guidance on how the system works, our Pro Services team is here to help walk you through it. We offer a variety of consulting services like Tune-Ups and prepaid hours to help you get the most out of your Issuetrak site. We’re dedicated to ensuring all of our customers have all of the tools and information they need for success, and we can provide as much hands-on assistance as they need so they can get back to spending their time on what’s important — their customers.
Our Help Center is also an incredible resource, frequently updated by our team with the latest product information, how-to’s, and more. And our Support Team is available as well if hiccups happen. As I mentioned earlier, they’re an incredibly dedicated and talented team with fast response times as well as high customer satisfaction and first contact resolution.
What’s on the horizon for Issuetrak’s future?
This is the fun part for me as CEO. We take great care to listen to our customers and deliver the features and functionality that they need to help their operations. We encourage feedback and comments, and we do our best to incorporate as many of those comments as we can back into the product.
We’ve been putting out frequent updates over the past year and we’ve got a lot planned for this year as well. Our Product Roadmap gives an overview of what we have planned for the next few months, and we’ve got some exciting enhancements planned — including improved Office 365 integration, updated API, some additions to our new Issue Hub, and a big navigation and menuing update coming later this spring.
We’ll be posting about the new features on our blog, so be sure to check in for updates!
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