Ticket deflection
Ticket deflection is the practice of answering customer questions through self-service resources so that a support ticket never needs to be created.
Deflection is a form of demand reduction: instead of handling the same question repeatedly, you give customers a way to find the answer themselves — through a knowledge base, FAQ page, chatbot, or contextual in-product help.
Deflection rate is typically estimated rather than measured directly, since you cannot count tickets that were never opened. Proxies include knowledge base views before contact, chatbot resolution rates, or comparing contact rates before and after publishing new help articles.
Deflection and support quality can conflict if taken too far — customers who cannot reach a human when they genuinely need one will become frustrated. The goal is deflecting routine questions, not blocking access to support.