Intercom vs. Zendesk Suite

Well suited for real time customer support needs - that's where it really shines. Well suited for proactive outreach and the ability to gather feedback from customers + surveys. Less appropriate for a non techie company to set it up, basically any sort of changes in integration have to be done by an engineer.

Incentivized

Inbound messaging it is top notch, it does it well and couldn't imagine anyone's program doing it better. Like I said before been using ZenDesk for over 7 years and absolutely love it. We use the talk feature with the phone very limited so Zen works fine for us, but if I was running an inbound or outbound call center I don't believe Zen has all the functions I would want as a manager. For limited phone use and mostly email, text, and even web chat, ZenDesk works great. Having the iOS App is so great and flexibility with notifications allows my team to be "on call" anytime without unnecessary interruptions

Incentivized

• Intercom's ability to centralize customer communication is a game-changer.
• Intercom's automation features have saved us time and streamlined workflows.
• Help desk for users.
• Intercom seamlessly integrates with a variety of other tools and platforms, enhancing its functionality and making it a central part of our tech stack.

• Reporting and Analytics
• Ease of Agent Training and Use
• Able to add multiple brands with related custom reports and dashboards
• Adding a new brand and basic help center is easy to do without the need of an expert or web team
• Ability of agents and supervisors to see customer history across multiple channels

Incentivized

• The AI tools should have a make shorter option
• The research is difficult compared to other platforms such as Zendesk where it is easier to find stuff (accounts, emails, messages...)
• I know that you could integrate better AI tools! The chatbot is amazing, so I'm just missing more AI tools to increase productivity

• I think the Graphical User Interface could use a facelift. It not the most aesthetically pleasing platform in my experience.
• Particular things like where the default is when you click on each and every dropdown menu.
• The macro integration could be a little more simplified.

Incentivized

We have been and will be continuing our journey with Intercom and nothing too concerning has happened that I have experienced or heard of that has us on the edge yet. If it ever happens it will be something along the lines of "Outgrowing" the use of need of the platform.

Incentivized

Zendesk is super easy to use and navigate. I really enjoy the sleek layout, the ability to tailor tickets, the macro option, and the quick key guide they have to make your use of time even more effective. My whole team loves working with Zendesk and rarely ever has problems.

Incentivized

Everything is very straightforward and easy to see, explore, and use. Intercom provides walkthroughs and helps guides in case something is not apparent to the user and has their agents available to help. I always feel confident when exploring new features or making changes that I can have it accomplished due to the service they provide.

Incentivized

As an agent it's very simple to use. As an admin it's also easy to use, but sometimes lacks some functionality that would be nice to have such as expanded native 2 way sync functionality for many major apps that are commonly used today like HubSpot and Salesforce. The ability to add followers to tickets to they get updates and are in the know without the customer seeing this agent cc'd is a nice touch. This ensures additional visibility and easily following the communication without having to appear as a CC to the customer, who could accidentally remove that person in a response, thus breaking the visibility

always there

Incentivized

In the past year, I'd say I have only noticed maybe two hours total of downtime in my own usage. Very minimal.

works perfect

Incentivized

There has been minor performance degradation on a very few days out of the two years I have been using the product.

Intercom is the premier customer support/engagement model and it definitely has one of the top tier customer support teams as well. I don't think I have ever waited more than 5 minutes to get the information I need or get help with an issue. They are incredible and I aim to model our customer service department after them.

Incentivized

Every time I contacted them they were not only very responsive and knowledgable, but always seemed to have a positive upbeat attitude. It probably helps that we did not have significant service outages or sev 1 level issues, but even my lower severity issues were quickly answered. And the positive and upbeat attitude really made things feel comfortable.

Easy to know the learning path

Incentivized

Zendesk has tons of available material for training - videos, webinars, articles, etc. The only reason this is not a 10 is because it can be hard to figure out how to navigate to these things and find what you are looking for.

The implementation was surprisingly easy but we are having to adapt from our old process to work well with Intercom.

Incentivized

I was very satisfied. They have a free trial for 30 days and I recommend you do that and use it. It is very easy to get started with the basics and the build on over time.

The only thing technically complex was single sign-on and integration to Salesforce.com required some tweaks – otherwise setting up system was very easy

We've used both Drift and Salesforce chat at Owl Labs in the past, and I didn't find them to meet our needs or customer needs the way Intercom has been able to. Intercom ranks higher for us regarding Integrations offered, customization, AI functionality, and user-friendliness. In the past, if chat visitors would click around our website, they'd have to start their chat over again from the start and lose their communication history with us. We also found that Salesforce chat did not have enough customization that we needed. One small example is that in Intercom, you can see when another teammate is looking at a chat and tag them in notes to collaborate. We didn't have access to anything like that when using Salesforce chat. Intercom has made it easy to work alongside one another to be more efficient.

If spoken honestly Intercom is a level-par with any nearest competitor, Tools like Zendesk has to catchup with them in speed. However, there is an advantage to Zendesk with its simple and easy-to-get software which falls in every mid and small-size business pocket wherein Intercom is way too expensive and needs a tech admin to customize the product. The kick-starting feature with negligible configuration made Zendesk the ideal choice of our organization + the budget fell under our expenses.

Incentivized

• I like how easy it is to spot the user data needed to assist our members.
• Love how easy it is to link articles on the chat that will help both us and the customers.
• I like that the sales force or the tickets is already connected on the chat

Incentivized

• The positives weigh more than the negatives here, as it gives us a one-stop portal where we can tend to customer needs using one web app
• It has also helped us identify areas of improvement based on the reporting feature
• The value it provides outweighs any missing or lacking features that I'm sure will be available in the future

Incentivized