Item: Zendesk Suite
Rating: 7
Author: Adam McCracken

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Zendesk originated in my department as a solution for handling the increase in customer support requirements as we expanded our online sales. We needed not only a platform to ensure customer questions were answered in a consistent and timely manner, but also to track interactions over time. After demonstrating the effectiveness of the tools in our department, its footprint grew to include all customer service across the enterprise. Most recently, it has been identified as a preferred CRM solution in the business and we plan to grow usage as the team has matured.

Pros and Cons

Provide a large number of methods to interact with customers
Maintain logs of customer interactions
Track time spent by agents across many segments, allowing us to see what brands, product categories, and other attributes take the most support effort

Enterprise pricing includes a number of features we don't need, but we have to pay for in order to get a few key functions
Text message support is there but limited
Native chat widget for Vue Storefront is missing

Most Important Features

Connections that tie into Amazon and eBay messaging systems
Reporting functions/automation
Role-based access to ticketing system
Time management tracking

Return on Investment

We are able to respond to all customer needs in a timely manner
We are able to coach CSR's in their responses through all response channels

Alternatives Considered

I have not used any other support software, but also evaluated FreshDesk. For our needs at the time, Zendesk was more polished and had the ability to support multiple websites in a single instance, while allowing customization for each brand separately. That was crucial to us, and is why we went with Enterprise.

Key Insights

Do you think Zendesk Suite delivers good value for the price?

Yes

Are you happy with Zendesk Suite's feature set?

Yes

Did Zendesk Suite live up to sales and marketing promises?

Did implementation of Zendesk Suite go as expected?

Would you buy Zendesk Suite again?

Yes

Likelihood to Recommend

Zendesk Support Suite is a great option for mid-sized companies. We use it very effectively to communicate with customers on a number of ecommerce marketplaces, including Amazon, eBay, Walmart, Sears, and others. We also use Zendesk now to track some internal ticketing. We do not use it across all departments due to the effort to get all users into it and the licensing costs of doing so.

We appreciate the abilities that the API gives both to internal developers as well as external app developers. The system is very customizable for a team with developers available, but it may be confining if you don't have someone (or a team of someones) that can customize it to your needs.

I know that some companies use it for more call center-like environments, but that is not us. I don't find the talk functionality to be great for call center support, but it can probably be used better than we use it.

Customer service made easier with Zendesk

Software Version

Overall Satisfaction with Zendesk Support Suite