You won't believe what agents did with these 6 Zendesk features!!

by Michael Warden (who sincerely apologizes for the clickbait title)


As we embark on our new Service Level Commitments, it's a good time to review some tips on getting the most out of our powerful ticketing system - Zendesk.  Here are six things that can help improve your experience and hopefully improve your performance!  (Note most if not all of these are available in our Zendesk manual in the Knowledgebase.)

1.  You can quiet the pending notification emails with a 'DND' tag

Pending is the status that we use while waiting for response from a customer.  When we set tickets to Pending, Zendesk automatically reminds the customer that we are waiting on something with a friendly reminder every two days.  Once three of those reminders fire, the ticket pops back to open to prompt the agent to do something different.  What if you don't want to send those automatic emails but Pending is the right status?  Well - you can put 'DND' as a tag on your ticket which will suppress the automatic emails from sending.  Magic!

2.  You can update your views to show time until the next SLA violation

By adding the field 'Next SLA Violation', a box will pop up that by color indicates status of breach (green or red) with the number of hours or minutes until an SLC is breached.  This quick reference can be used to sort tickets by next action required and navigates across any active SLCs to keep things simple.  If you need help, follow the instructions in the Knowledgebase.

3.  You can format text in Zendesk using Markdown

Zendesk supports markdown as a simple text markup, including special formatting for code, numbered lists and more.  A little extra effort can improve the style and clarity of your communication in your tickets.  Find out the full guide by reading the Zendesk agent support article on Markdown or the Zendesk manual in our knowledgebase.

4. Analytics are integrated and super cool

In addition to their default awesome analytics, we've also included 'Insights' which allows us to use the power of GoodData to analyze all kinds of great details in the system.  Included in all of this are benchmarks leveraging the Zendesk customers all over the world to help inform how we are performing.

5.  Macros can be created by individuals or shared across the organization

We repeat ourselves often when working on tickets - why not automate your responses?  Worried that it takes too much work to set up?  Not true!  Macros are easy to create, powerful to use and can speed up your consistency without taking away from your personal touch.  Learn how to do more with them by reviewing the agent guide within Zendesk or reviewing our Zendesk manual.

6.  The company behind the tool does fun things - like making a Buddha wall

Seriously.  A buddha wall.  And many other awesome little treats such as S*** Agents Say and Zendesk and Zombies.  They are a fun company, a lot like us.