Turn every client request into a tracked, closeable ticket

Ticket statuses

Creating a ticket manually

1. 1
   Open the Tickets section inside a client workspace.
2. 2
   Click New Ticket.
3. 3
   Enter a clear subject line — this should describe the issue in one phrase. "Login error on client portal" is better than "Issue."
4. 4
   Write the description. Include what the client reported, steps to reproduce if it's a bug, and any context that will help your team resolve it quickly.
5. 5
   Set priority: Low, Medium, High, or Urgent.
6. 6
   Assign to a team member so it's clear who owns this.
7. 7
   Save the ticket. It appears in the tickets list with Open status.

How clients submit tickets

1. 1
   The client logs in to the portal and opens the Tickets section (requires Tickets enabled in their portal access).
2. 2
   They click Submit a Request and fill in the subject and description.
3. 3
   The ticket is created immediately in their workspace with Open status. Your team sees it in WorkRate.
4. 4
   The client can view the ticket status from the portal — they see when it moves to In Progress, when you've replied, and when it's resolved.

Managing and responding to tickets

1. 1
   Open the Tickets section and click any ticket to open the detail view.
2. 2
   Update the status as you work on it — move it from Open → In Progress when you start, to Waiting on Client when you need more info, to Resolved when done.
3. 3
   Reply to the client by typing in the Reply box and sending. The client sees your reply in the portal.
4. 4
   Reassign if needed — change the assignee to hand the ticket to another team member.
5. 5
   Resolve the ticket once the issue is addressed. Write a short resolution note — "Fixed caching issue on the product page. Confirmed working 6/20." — so there's a clear record of what was done.

Internal team comments

You can post comments inside a ticket that the client never sees. Use these to coordinate with your team about how to handle a request before replying.

1. 1
   Click the Internal Comment tab inside the ticket reply area.
2. 2
   Write your note — "This is actually a Stripe webhook issue. Marcus handles this — reassigning." — and save.
3. 3
   The client never sees internal comments. They only see replies posted through the main Reply box.

Email notifications and reply-by-email

When a client submits a ticket, the agency owner receives an email notification. When your team replies to a ticket, the client receives an email notification. Either side can reply directly from the email, and WorkRate posts that reply back into the ticket thread.

1. 1
   Client submits or replies to a ticket. WorkRate sends the agency an email notification.
2. 2
   Agency replies from WorkRate or email. The client receives the update and can answer from their inbox.
3. 3
   The ticket timeline stays intact. Email replies are saved as ticket messages so the request history remains visible in WorkRate.

Tips & best practices

• Respond within 24 hours. Even if you don't have a fix, acknowledge the ticket. "Got this — looking into it and will update you by end of day" is better than silence.
• Use Waiting on Client to pause the clock. When you're waiting for the client, move the ticket to Waiting on Client. This makes your open backlog reflect tickets your team actually needs to act on.
• Write useful resolution notes. "Done" is not a resolution. "Corrected the broken redirect on the pricing page — tested in Chrome and Safari, both working now" is.
• Review open tickets weekly. Unresolved tickets silently accumulate. A weekly sweep of everything Open or In Progress keeps nothing falling through the cracks.
• Log the time you spend on tickets. If a client is on an included block, log the resolution time as Included. If it goes beyond scope, it might be billable — log it either way.