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Quick Setup: Service Groups for Teams With Limited Time

Helpdocs Admin Updated by Helpdocs Admin

You don't need a complex setup to get a useful service catalogue. This article shows a quick way to set one up that works for most accounts and takes little effort to maintain.

The short version

  • Create one generic service group and assign it at the global level.
  • Use 3 to 5 categories to organise your service types.
  • Put about 5 service types in each category.
  • Keep the total under 25. Under 10 is even better.
  • Spend a little time looking at past tickets before you create anything.

Why keep it short

Contacts are often in a hurry when they ask for help. A short list is quick to scan, and a quick choice leads to a created ticket. A long list slows people down, and they may pick the wrong type or send an email instead.

For more detail, see Why a Small Service Catalogue Works Better.

Step 1: Look at your history first

Even a quick setup works better when it reflects what your customers really ask for. Set aside a short time to study your past tickets.

Look at the last 3 months of tickets and ask:

  1. What is requested most often? Examples: password resets, new user requests, software requests.
  2. What needs attention quickly? Examples: urgent issues, outages, security concerns.
  3. What do customers struggle to describe? These requests may need a clear service type name.

Don't try to cover everything. Pick the requests that are most common or most important. You can always add more later.

Tip: If you have AI categorisation available, you can use it to group past tickets by topic. This saves time when you have a lot of history.

Step 2: Choose 3 to 5 categories

A category groups related service types. It keeps the first screen short, because contacts see the categories first and open only the one they need.

Choose categories that match how your customers think about their problems. Here is an example:

Category

Example service types

Get Help

Urgent issue, Computer problem, Printer problem, Email or spam problem, Something else

New or Changed Access

New user, Remove user, Change access, Password or account help

Software and Equipment

Install software, Request new equipment, Software licence question

Questions and Changes

General question, Report a problem with a service, Request a change

These names are examples. Use words your customers already use, and avoid internal terms they won't recognise.

Step 3: Create the service types

For each category, create about 5 service types. Follow these rules:

  • Use clear, plain names. "Printer problem" is better than "Peripheral incident".
  • Include a general option. "Something else" gives contacts a safe choice when nothing fits.
  • Keep forms short. Ask only what you need to start the work. You can collect more details after the ticket is created.
  • Skip the form if you can. A subject and description is often enough.

How many is too many?

Total service types

Result

Under 10

Best. Easy to scan at a glance.

10 to 25

Good. Categories keep it manageable.

Over 25

Possible, but the experience gets worse. Contacts take longer to find what they need.

You can go over these numbers. Just be aware that each extra service type makes the catalogue harder to use.

Step 4: Create one service group

  1. Create a service group, for example "Standard Catalogue".
  2. Add your service types to it.
  3. Assign the service group at the global level.

Every account and contact now sees the same list. There is nothing more to set up for each customer.

What your contact sees A short list of categories. They open one, pick a service type, and submit. If the service type has a form, it is short.

Step 5: Adjust over time

A quick setup is a good starting point, not the end. Once a month, or every few months, do a short check:

  • Which service types are never used? Remove them.
  • Which requests keep coming in without a matching service type? Add one.
  • Is any form too long? Cut the questions you don't need.

For a more detailed routine, see Monthly Service Catalogue Review Checklist.

When this setup is not enough

This setup works well for most teams. Consider a more detailed approach if:

  • A few accounts need very different services from the rest.
  • You have a dedicated customer success person and time to review each month.

In that case, see Service Catalogue Setup: Choose Your Path for other options.

How did we do?

Service Groups Explained: Controlling What Contacts See

Advanced Catalogue Model: Proactive, Reactive and Automated

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