An internal note is a comment on the ticket that the customer never sees. It is where the working out goes.
What belongs in a note
- What you have already checked, so the next person does not repeat it.
- The cause, once you find it.
- Context the customer should not read — an account history, a commercial decision, a previous complaint.
- A handover: what you were doing and what you would try next.
Bringing a colleague in
Mention a team member in a note and they are notified with the ticket attached. It beats a message elsewhere that says "can you look at this one" with no link.
WRITE AS IF IT MIGHT BE READ ANYWAY
Note or reply?
If it answers the customer, it is a reply. If it helps whoever picks the ticket up next, it is a note. When you find yourself writing a note that explains the answer, the customer probably deserves to be told too.