Ask HN: Freelancers do you use a ticket system for clients?

9 points by steven_braham 8 years ago | 12 comments

I recently transitioned to freelancing and things are going relatively well. However, some of my clients keep sending short emails with simple questions and requests. For me, it is really hard to keep track of all these requests.

I was thinking of buying a ticket system where customers can just log in and raise support questions. That way I will have a nice one-way overview of all incoming questions. Furthermore, I'm looking for a kanban based task system to keep track of all work.

I was thinking of Jira, because it's relatively cheap and when I used to work for an employee, we also used Jira to keep track of tasks, so I'm quite comfortable and experienced with using it. Furthermore, I keep all git repos of client projects stored in BitBucket. Jira has good integration with Bitbucket and allows commits to auto close tickets and this makes it easier to keep track of all the work I did for a particular project. However, I don't really work with release cycles and tights sprints (yet? I'm still figuring out what workflows work best for me), so I think that Jira may be overkill.

Does anyone else use a formal ticket system for client questions? What other viable alternatives exist?

kirubakaran 8 years ago |

My prediction is that they'll not want to learn a new process that you put in place, which would most likely seem arbitrary to them. Since they're paying for the work, they'll expect you to just handle it. And hopefully you're charging them enough for this so that you can do this without resentment. By the way, are these ongoing projects or are you doing post-delivery support?

steven_braham 8 years ago | |

It's a mix.

For example, I have taken over the Wordpress hosting and management of several existing websites. They pay me a fixed fee and from time to time I adjust some things for them.

And there also ongoing projects in development where people leave feedback.

seanwilson 8 years ago |

Isn't your inbox with tagging enough to give you an overview and when they're just simple questions you can quickly answer?

Aside from that, Trello is quite lightweight. You can forward emails to it which get turned into cards. It can be difficult to get clients to move to your preferred system though if they find e.g. phoning or emails more convenient for them.

steven_braham 8 years ago |

Thanks everyone for the responses. It seems that forcing clients to use a particular ticket system is not a good idea.

I have now created a free account at Hubspot. Hubspot keeps track of all e-mails and calls I make to people and I can automatically add notes and tasks to each form of communication.

nniroclax 8 years ago |

Check out http://jarhq.com. It is request management software built specifically for this problem. Clients can email in requests and it automatically tracks them, plus clients can see their status in a client dashboard and you can keep track of files, emails, etc. It's super simple and low-profile.

saluki 8 years ago |

if you use gmail, checkout boomerang for gmail.

If a request is simple I usually complete it or reply saying I'll follow up with your tomorrow or complete it by Monday.

With boomerang you can have the email return to email at a specific time. It's nice because clients can still email you and you can have them return to your inbox when you need to take action.

You can setup custom times for things to return beyond what the default ones are. So I have a M, T, W, Th, F 7am setup so I can have work/tasks I need to work on return on the morning I need to reply or start them.

Trello is good too, I use it as well. Sounds like you're looking for a way to manage your email.

I also use the chrome snoozed tabs add on, you can do the same things with a tab, even an open email. So I use that to close my email for 2 hours at a time to minimize checking it too often/feeling overwhelmed.

A ticket system sounds like overkill, and I can't see my clients using it, vs. just emailing me.

A ticket is more for a SaaS or other application.

twobyfour 8 years ago |

I suggest using a ticket system to track your work for your own organizational purposes, and something like Trello or Basecamp to give your clients visibility into progress.

Then if you have some clients who are interested in learning a new process, they can submit new requests via Trello or Basecamp, but the rest don't have to.

borplk 8 years ago |

I'd advise against doing that. Perhaps use it for yourself but don't bring the client into it.

steven_braham 8 years ago | |

Could you please explain that further? Isn't it standard practice at a lot of companies that you raise a support ticket instead?

twobyfour 8 years ago | | |

That's a very "enterprisey" interaction. Most people and companies that hire freelancers instead of large agencies do so because they want less bureaucracy and more direct access and personal communication. They want to know that their request is being received and taken care of instead of going into some faceless potential black hole of a system.

cm2012 8 years ago | | |

Yes, but people hate doing it.

artur_makly 8 years ago |

i use trello. they make cards or i fwd their email into a board.