Streamline internal support workflows with Actioner’s Zendesk integration for Slack in 2024

Are you already using Slack and Zendesk? If so, you're in luck! Because now, we'll help you explore and uncover:

• The key actors involved in an internal support process,
• Slack channels dedicated to streamlining internal support workflows,
• Internal support workflows powered by Actioner's Zendesk app for Slack.

Let's dive right in to discover how you can make the most of Slack and Zendesk for a seamless internal support experience!

Key actors in internal support

Before we get into the ins and outs of support workflows, it's important to understand the key players involved in the process. 

Now, we will look at the roles and functions of Requesters, the Support Team, Technical Support Agents, and Support Team Managers.

By learning about these essential team members and their roles, you'll have a solid foundation to understand the workflows we'll cover later.

Requester (Employee): 

Requester is who encounters a problem or has a question and submits a support request in Zendesk. They provide relevant information about the issue and collaborate with the support agent to resolve it.

Support team:

The support team triages, prioritizes, assigns, and manages support requests. They evaluate incoming tickets, categorize them based on urgency and complexity, and assign them to the appropriate support agents or departments.

Technical support agent:

Technical Support Agent addresses and resolves the assigned support requests. These guys may have different levels of expertise and specialization (e.g., hardware, software, network) to handle various types of issues. They collaborate with the requester and other teams to troubleshoot, diagnose, and resolve issues.

Support team manager: 

The Support team manager oversees the support team's performance and ensures that the support process runs smoothly. They may monitor key performance indicators (KPIs), provide training, and implement improvements based on feedback and analysis.

Slack channels:

#request channel is where people in your organization ask for help when they encounter a problem.

#triage channel is where your support agents collaborate in real time.

Internal support workflow

1. Request submission:

A request submission is the trigger of the internal support workflow. 

When an employee encounters a problem, they send a message to the #request Slack channel, providing relevant details about the problem. 

They add a ticket emoji to the Slack message to create a ticket in Zendesk. Or, Actioner detects specific keywords in the message and automatically creates a Zendesk ticket. 

2. Triage and prioritization: 

When there is a new request, Actioner sends an alert to the #triage channel in Slack. 

This notification includes smart follow-up buttons. Smart suggestions allow you to update the ticket, assign it to yourself, add public or internal replies, escalate the ticket to development, expand the requester, or add a follower.

First, using the “Update” button, the support agent changes the status from NEW to OPEN. 

💡This and any further updates will change the original alert message context accordingly, send updates as thread replies and update the related Zendesk ticket. 

Next, support agents evaluate its urgency and complexity. If the issue affects the employee's productivity, they prioritize it for prompt resolution.

By replying to the ticket thread in Slack, the support team can communicate with seamless interaction. And if they want to keep their conversation private, they add 🔒lock emoji at the beginning of their comments in the ticket thread. 

The support team escalates the issue to the appropriate specialist if it is considered high-priority. If it's a low-priority issue, it is added to a queue to be addressed later.

3. Assignment: 

When an issue is considered high-priority, the technical support agent can quickly assign the ticket to herself by adding an 👀emoji to the message. 

If the support team determines the appropriate agent, they assign the ticket to a technical support agent using the Update button under the new request alert. 

If the assigned agent is unavailable or overloaded with tasks, the support team may reassign the ticket to another qualified agent.

Actioner notifies the agent in Slack by DM, informing her she is assigned to the ticket.

4. Communication and collaboration: 

Through the notification sent by Actioner, the technical support agent navigates to the ticket alert in the #triage channel.

She reaches out to the requester via the same Slack message thread by replying publicly. And the requester communicates with the agent through the message she sent to the #request channel.

They interact with each other in real-time, exchanging messages, images, and screen shares to troubleshoot the issue. Actioner allows them to drive conversation through Slack threads. And it syncs the requester’s message thread in the #request channel with the agent’s notification message thread in the #triage channel and the Zendesk ticket comments.

5. Resolution: 

When the agent identifies the problem and instructs the employee on how to resolve it, they proceed to the next step. And the agent updates the ticket status to SOLVED using the Update button in the same alert message or just adds ✅ emoji.

6. Closure: 

After the requester confirms the issue is resolved, the agent updates the ticket status to CLOSED in Zendesk using the Update button in the same alert message. When the Zendesk ticket's status is updated to CLOSED, Actioner automatically collapses ticket details in the #triage channel and archives the ticket. 

If the issue is not resolved after the first attempt, the agent may need to perform additional troubleshooting or escalate the ticket to a higher level of support. 

In that case, she will use the Escalate to development button in the same alert message or add ✋emoji.

7. Evaluation and feedback: 

After the resolution, the requester receives a notification for the Customer satisfaction score (CSAT) survey. And she evaluates the experience without leaving Slack.

💡Note that Actioner workflows can be tailored to your unique internal support process. You have the flexibility to modify emoji reactions, personalize Slack notifications, and much more. Discover how to customize conversational ticketing with Zendesk.

8. Continuous improvement: 

For continuous progress, if you’re a support team manager, you foster a culture of improvement within your team. You encourage open communication and cross-functional collaboration and hold regular review meetings to discuss KPIs and potential improvements. 

By regularly collecting feedback through CSAT surveys, analyzing key performance indicators (KPIs), and identifying best practices, you continuously improve your internal support workflows while making the rest of the company happy and improving organizational performance.

Conclusion

So, that’s how smoothly the internal support is processed with Actioner.

If you’re looking for a solution, you can get started with the Zendesk app for Slack now!

And if you have questions or different types of use cases, you can contact us by joining our Slack community. 

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