# Support Ticket Reply > Drafts empathetic, accurate, action-first support replies structured to resolve the ticket in one touch - resolution first, context second, one unambiguous next step. Use when someone asks "help me reply to this customer", "draft a response to this ticket", "how do I tell a customer X", or is composing responses to customer issues, complaints, or feature requests. Do NOT use for emotionally charged conversations or refund decisions - use refund-deescalation instead; for building a reusable library of canned responses, use support-macro-library; for diagnosing why satisfaction scores are falling, use csat-root-cause. - Skill: `skillmedev/support-ticket-reply` (Agent Skill) - Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add skillmedev/support-ticket-reply` - Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/skillmedev/support-ticket-reply/raw - Safety review: pending - Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex - Category: Coding & Dev Tools - Author: SkillMedev (https://skillmd.com/u/skillmedev) - Updated: 2026-09-17 - Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/skillmedev/support-ticket-reply --- # Support Ticket Reply Every support reply has one job: give the customer exactly what they need to move forward without writing back. The costly mistake this prevents is the partial answer - a reply that addresses two of the customer's three questions guarantees a follow-up, doubles handle time, and damages CSAT more than a slow-but-complete reply would have. Lead with the resolution, follow with context, close with one clear next step. ## Operating procedure ### Step 1: Gather inputs Before drafting, establish: 1. The full ticket text, including every distinct question or request in it (count them - this number drives Step 4). 2. Ticket severity: is the customer blocked, degraded, or merely curious? Default to "degraded" if unclear and say so. 3. What is actually known: is the resolution confirmed, in progress, or unknown? Never draft "will" statements from guesses - label uncertain facts as unconfirmed and write around them. 4. The customer's emotional temperature. If the ticket is angry, threatens to cancel, or disputes a charge, stop - route to refund-deescalation. ### Step 2: Draft in the fixed structure Always this order: 1. Acknowledge the specific issue in one sentence - name it precisely, never paraphrase vaguely. 2. State the resolution or the concrete next action immediately. 3. Explain the "why" only if it reduces future confusion or builds trust; cap it at two sentences. 4. Close with a single, unambiguous next step: a link, a yes/no question, or a confirmation request. 5. Sign off warmly but briefly. ### Step 3: Calibrate tone to severity Match urgency to impact: a blocked customer gets short sentences and a timeline in the first two lines; a curious one can get a friendlier, fuller answer. Use plain language - no jargon, no product-internal terms. For a frustrated customer, name the frustration before the fix: "That should not have happened, and I am sorry it did." Never use hollow openers like "Great question!" or "I totally understand your frustration" without immediately proving it with specifics. Commit to times, not vibes: if investigation is needed, give an explicit follow-up window ("by Thursday 2pm your time"), and set it at something the team can beat. A follow-up promise without a time is a second ticket waiting to happen. ### Step 4: Run the one-touch check before sending - Does the reply answer every question in the ticket? If the customer asked three things, address all three, numbered. - If a full answer needs information not yet available, say what is being done to get it and give a time window. - Is there exactly one next step, and is it something the customer can do in under a minute? - Would this reply make sense to someone who has not read internal notes? Policy must be translated into what it means for this customer, never pasted verbatim. ## Worked contrast pair Ticket: "I was charged twice this month, my export to CSV is broken, and does your API support webhooks?" Bad: ``` Hi! Great question! I totally understand your frustration. I've looked into your account and it seems there may have been a billing issue. Our team is aware of some export problems and we should have a fix soon. Let me know if there's anything else I can help with! ``` Why it fails: hollow opener, answers zero of three questions concretely, hedges with "may" and "should" on knowable facts, no timeline, no next step. Good: ``` Hi Dana - three things, answered in order: 1. Double charge: confirmed. I've refunded the duplicate $49 to your card; it will appear within 3-5 business days. 2. CSV export: this is a known bug in exports over 10,000 rows. The fix ships Thursday; until then, filtering to under 10,000 rows exports fine. 3. Webhooks: yes - docs here: [link]. Once the refund lands, reply here to confirm and I'll close this out. ``` Why it works: names all three issues, resolution first on each, one concrete workaround, one clear next step. ## Deliverable Produce a send-ready reply containing: a specific one-sentence acknowledgment, the resolution or next action up front, numbered answers matching every question in the ticket, any commitment tied to an explicit time, and exactly one closing next step. ## Do NOT - Do not open with "I" - start with the customer or the action; the reply is about them. - Do not paste policy text verbatim; translate it into what it means for this customer, or it reads as a brush-off. - Do not hedge with "should" or "might" when the answer is known - use "will" or "is"; hedging on known facts reads as incompetence. - Do not apologize more than once; repeated apologies shift the reply's center of gravity from resolution to performance. - Do not answer a subset of the questions - the unanswered one is the follow-up ticket. - Do not handle refund disputes or visibly angry customers with this structure alone; that is refund-deescalation territory. ## Quality bar Before sending: every question in the ticket has a numbered answer; the resolution appears in the first two sentences; every promise has a time attached; there is exactly one next step; and no sentence exists solely to sound nice. If the same reply is being written for the third time this week, turn it into a macro via support-macro-library.