Most organizations have a wealth of customer feedback ripe for optimization. I’ve implemented various strategies for clients to make the most of different types of existing data. This allows us to uncover new learnings, pinpoint use cases, and cross-reference findings and insights—all while maximizing time and resources.

In our Ask Like A Pro user research training program, I emphasize a key principle repeatedly: "Somebody, somewhere, knows something. There’s no need to start from scratch or reinvent the wheel."

My goal is always to reduce redundancy and maximize ROI. Utilizing these methods with existing datasets, we can uncover fresh insights into customer preferences, pain points, and trends. AND substantiate existing learning with evidence.

This week, I’ll share more about the following tactics:

• Mining Customer Support Tickets

• Utilizing Social Media Listening

• Leveraging Previous Research

• Capitalizing on Sales Call Notes

• Maximizing Product Reviews and Ratings

Today, let's focus on mining customer support tickets, one of my favorite techniques. It can be used at various stages in the research journey by researchers, designers, PMs, and others. Here are seven ways to mine customer support tix:

1. Categorize support tickets based on product or service categories to identify areas for improvement or optimization.

2. Analyze customer support ticket data to identify common issues or trends in customer inquiries and complaints.

3. Look for recurring keywords or phrases in support ticket subject lines and messages to identify emerging issues or customer pain points.

4. Track resolution times and customer satisfaction ratings for support tickets to measure the effectiveness of customer support efforts.

5. Review transcripts of CX interactions to identify opportunities for process improvement or additional training for support agents.

6. Identify patterns in support ticket escalation or transfer to ensure timely resolution of customer issues.

7. Substantiate research themes leveraging support tickets as evidence.

I’m Michele Ronsen, founder of Curiosity Tank. Contact me to learn about user research services, consumer and team training, consulting, and mentoring.