Support Ticket Flow Sankey Diagram: Editable Template
Trace support tickets from type to the team that handles them to the final outcome, including escalations. Replace the counts with your helpdesk data to see where tickets pile up.
A support Sankey shows the real routing of tickets: which types go to which team, how many are escalated, and how they end. It exposes escalation and waiting that a queue count hides.
Two thousand tickets come in as billing questions, bug reports, how-to questions and access problems. Most start with Tier 1, billing issues go to the billing team, and some bug reports go directly to engineering. Tier 1 resolves many, escalates some and leaves some waiting on the customer.
The figures are invented. Count each ticket once, by its final outcome, and say how you treat reopened tickets.
How to read this diagram
- 2,000 tickets: 1,420 (71%) are resolved by Tier 1 or the billing team.
- Tier 1 receives 1,350 tickets and escalates 200 (15%) to engineering.
- Engineering handles 350 tickets: 150 sent directly and 200 escalated; 200 are fixed and 90 are still open.
- 230 tickets are waiting on the customer.
The data behind it
Invented figures for illustration. Not data about any real business.
| From | To | Amount (tickets) |
|---|---|---|
| Billing | Billing team | 500 |
| Billing | Tier 1 | 100 |
| Bug report | Engineering | 150 |
| Bug report | Tier 1 | 350 |
| How-to question | Tier 1 | 700 |
| Account access | Tier 1 | 200 |
| Tier 1 | Resolved | 1000 |
| Tier 1 | Engineering | 200 |
| Tier 1 | Waiting on customer | 150 |
| Billing team | Resolved | 420 |
| Billing team | Waiting on customer | 80 |
| Engineering | Fixed | 200 |
| Engineering | Closed as designed | 60 |
| Engineering | Still open | 90 |
The same data as CSV
source,target,value
Billing,Billing team,500
Billing,Tier 1,100
Bug report,Engineering,150
Bug report,Tier 1,350
How-to question,Tier 1,700
Account access,Tier 1,200
Tier 1,Resolved,1000
Tier 1,Engineering,200
Tier 1,Waiting on customer,150
Billing team,Resolved,420
Billing team,Waiting on customer,80
Engineering,Fixed,200
Engineering,Closed as designed,60
Engineering,Still open,90How it works
Export ticket history
Include type, the teams that handled each ticket and its current status.
Count first routing and outcomes
Count tickets by type to first team, then escalations, then final status.
Enter the flows
Type each routing and outcome flow.
Check the balance
Each team's outflows should equal its inflows, including escalations.
Frequently asked questions
What if a ticket passes through several teams?
Each hand-off is a flow, so a ticket can pass through more than one node. Count it once at every hand-off and once in its final outcome.
Can I show time to resolution?
Not on the widths, which show counts. Put resolution times in the table or in a second chart.
Edit this support Sankey
Open the example as your own chart and enter your ticket counts.