Overview of Tickets

1. What Are Tickets in HubSpot?

Tickets in HubSpot represent items or requests that need attention and resolution. Traditionally, a ticket is opened when a customer reports a problem (e.g., software bug, billing query), and the support team works the ticket until it’s solved. Each ticket is:

• Tied to a pipeline (often a support pipeline).
• Associated with a contact (the person who raised the issue) and optionally a company.
• Tracked through stages like New, In Progress, Waiting on Customer, Closed.

For consultants, these same mechanics can be repurposed for other non-technical “issues” or tasks that benefit from a structured pipeline.

2. Why Use Tickets as an Independent Consultant?

1. Structured Task Management: Even if you don’t field customer support issues, you might have tasks or requests that go through multiple steps—Tickets can provide a pipeline to track them.
2. Client Request Tracking: If a client needs updates, new deliverables, or asks for add-on work, you can open a Ticket to ensure you don’t lose track of that ask, then move it through a progress pipeline.
3. Maintenance or Follow-Up Items: For ongoing engagements or retainers, you might use Tickets to handle monthly check-ins or ad-hoc tasks that pop up regularly.
4. Collaboration & Visibility: If you have a virtual assistant or a small team, Tickets can clarify who’s responsible for each “open item” and at what stage it sits.

3. Creating a Ticket Pipeline

Similar to Deals or Companies, Tickets rely on pipelines and stages:

1. Navigate to Service Hub (if you have it) or Ticket Settings
   • In Settings > Objects > Tickets, you can manage pipelines.
2. Add Pipeline
   • Give it a name like “Client Requests” or “Internal Tasks.”
3. Define Stages
   • For a client request process, you might have:
     • New Request → Researching → Working → Waiting on Client → Closed/Resolved
   • Feel free to adapt these to your workflow needs.
4. Set Properties
   • You can customize properties like Ticket Name, Priority, Category (e.g., “Billing Request,” “Scope Add-on”), and Owner.

4. Alternative Uses for Tickets

4.1 Client Inquiries / Internal Requests

• Scenario: You receive a new email from a client with a special project add-on or question.
• Ticket: Create a ticket called “New request: [Client name + short description],” place it in the New stage, and ensure it’s assigned to you or a team member to investigate.

4.2 Project or Task Sub-Items

• Scenario: A large consulting engagement might have multiple sub-tasks or deliverables.
• Ticket: For each sub-deliverable, open a ticket with a pipeline: Open → In Progress → QA/Review → Completed.
• Benefit: Gains separate tracking for each sub-task while the main project is represented as a Deal or something else.

4.3 Onboarding Process

• Scenario: New client onboarding requires a checklist (NDAs, questionnaires, system access, etc.).
• Ticket: Instead of using deals, you might create a ticket pipeline for New Onboarding → Info Gathering → Paperwork Signed → Completed.
• Benefit: Ensures no step is missed when onboarding new clients.

4.4 Event or Workshop Inquiries

• Scenario: If you host small workshops and get queries about them, treat each inquiry as a “ticket.”
• Pipeline: Inquiry → Details Shared → Invoice Sent → Registration Confirmed → Closed.

5. Associating Tickets with Contacts & Companies

1. Contact/Company Association: When creating a ticket, link it to the relevant contact and/or company. This ensures the ticket appears in their record timeline.
2. Benefit: If you open a contact record, you can see all tickets representing tasks, issues, or requests from that individual.

6. Managing Tickets Day-to-Day

6.1 Using a Ticket Board

• Board View: Like Deals, you can view tickets in a board layout (Kanban style), dragging from one stage to the next.
• Filter/Sort: Filter by ticket owner, priority, or stage to focus on the most pressing items.

6.2 Tasks & Notes

• Tasks: For each ticket, create tasks reminding you to follow up or finalize a deliverable.
• Notes/Activities: Log calls, emails, or internal notes within the ticket timeline, so the entire conversation is in one place.

6.3 Closing Tickets

• Mark as “Closed”: Once you’ve solved the client request or completed the sub-task, move the ticket to a “Closed” or “Resolved” stage.
• Reuse: If a similar request resurfaces, you can clone or reference the old ticket for details.

7. Reporting on Tickets

1. Ticket Dashboards: HubSpot offers default dashboards for Service Hub users, showing metrics like “Tickets by Status” or “Time to Close.”
2. Custom Reports: You can create custom reporting to see, for example, how many client requests you close each month, average time to resolve, or which category of request is most common.
3. Integration with Consulting Workflow: If you treat each new client question or additional scope request as a ticket, you can track how many extra hours or deliverables you end up doing, helpful for time management or contract adjustments.

8. Best Practices & Considerations

1. Keep It Relevant: If you don’t have frequent “requests,” you might not need tickets at all. Don’t overcomplicate your process.
2. Customize Ticket Properties: If you’re tracking project sub-tasks, maybe create a property for “Task Type” or “Billable/Non-Billable.”
3. Use a Separate Pipeline if Needed: If you want to keep distinct operations (like internal tasks vs. client requests) separate, create multiple ticket pipelines.
4. Automate If You Have Workflows: For example, if you’re on a Professional tier with workflows, automatically create a ticket when a client emails a specific address or form is submitted.
5. Don’t Confuse Tickets with Deals: A Deal typically represents revenue opportunities, while a Ticket is for tasks or issues requiring resolution. Using them interchangeably can muddy your data.