Workflow recipe: Using triggers to manage requests from important customers (custom org field)

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<div class="body">
<p class="p" dir="ltr">This
workflow example shows how you can leverage features in Zendesk Support to
provide valuable services for your important customers. You can use this
example as a starting point for managing workflows in your own account. </p>
<p class="p">This recipe uses custom organization fields and ticket tags to manage the
workflow. Alternatively, if your account allows it, you can use multiple
organizations to manage a similar workflow. For more information, see <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408829539994" target="_blank">Workflow recipe: Using triggers to
manage requests from important customers (multiple
organizations)</a>.</p>
<p class="p" dir="ltr">The example includes:</p>
<ul class="ul" id="topic-1__ul_v5v_2f5_y3b">
<li class="li"><a class="xref" href="#topic_txv_ff5_y3b">Workflow goal</a></li>
<li class="li"><a class="xref" href="#topic_c5d_jf5_y3b">Creating a special group of agents to handle VIP customers</a></li>
<li class="li"><a class="xref" href="#topic_jgx_zh5_y3b">Identifying your important customers</a></li>
<li class="li"><a class="xref" href="#topic_qzx_ck5_y3b">Adding triggers to respond instantly</a></li>
<li class="li"><a class="xref" href="#topic_j1x_bt5_y3b">Creating a view to monitor VIP ticket status</a></li>
<li class="li"><a class="xref" href="#topic_esc_t55_y3b">Automating to ensure ticket follow up</a></li>
</ul>
</div>
<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title2" class="topic nested1" id="topic_txv_ff5_y3b">
<h2 class="title topictitle2" id="ariaid-title2">Workflow goal</h2>
<div class="body">
<p class="p">Your company has important customers who provide over 40% of your
business. You can use Zendesk to help you expedite and prioritize
support requests from these customers to make sure they stay
happy.</p>
</div>
</div>
<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title3" class="topic nested1" id="topic_c5d_jf5_y3b">
<h2 class="title topictitle2" id="ariaid-title3">Creating a special group of agents to handle VIP customers</h2>
<div class="body">
<p class="p"><a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408886146842-About-organizations-and-groups" target="_blank"><u class="ph u">Groups</u></a> collect
agents together, allowing admins to manage agent ticket assignments
based on an agent’s special skills. For VIP customers, it’s good to
identify senior agents on your team who are best-suited to help
these customers. </p>
<p class="p"><strong class="ph b">To create the group</strong></p>
<ol class="ol" id="topic_c5d_jf5_y3b__ol_wxm_pf5_y3b">
<li class="li" dir="ltr"><span class="ph">In <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4581766374554#topic_hfg_dyz_1hb" target="_blank">Admin Center</a>, click
<img class="image" id="topic_c5d_jf5_y3b__d7e430" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/ac_people_icon.png">
<strong class="ph b">People</strong> in the sidebar, then select <strong class="ph b">Team &gt; Groups</strong>.</span></li>
<li class="li" dir="ltr">Click <strong class="ph b">Add group</strong>.</li>
<li class="li" dir="ltr">Enter a group name. In this case, name the group
<strong class="ph b">VIP Triage</strong>.</li>
<li class="li" dir="ltr">Select the agents you want to add to the group. Pick
the senior agents who are best suited to handle important
customers.</li>
<li class="li">Click <strong class="ph b">Create group</strong>.<p class="p"><img class="image" id="topic_c5d_jf5_y3b__image_whp_t23_jzb" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/Groups_new_create_group.png" width="850"></p>
</li>
<li class="li">When you're finished, click <strong class="ph b">Save</strong>.</li>
</ol>
</div>
</div>
<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title4" class="topic nested1" id="topic_jgx_zh5_y3b">
<h2 class="title topictitle2" id="ariaid-title4">Identifying your important customers</h2>
<div class="body">
<p class="p" dir="ltr"><a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408886146842-About-organizations-and-groups" target="_blank"><u class="ph u">Organizations</u></a>
are meaningful collections of your end users. You can use
organizations to group users from the same company or department and
identify which organizations you consider to be VIP customers. </p>
<p class="p" dir="ltr">Steps to do this include:</p>
<ul class="ul" id="topic_jgx_zh5_y3b__ul_htq_cqf_fjb">
<li class="li" dir="ltr"><a class="xref" href="#topic_q51_2qf_fjb">Creating a custom organization field</a></li>
<li class="li" dir="ltr"><a class="xref" href="#topic_hdk_fqf_fjb">Identifying your VIP organizations</a></li>
</ul>
</div>
<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title5" class="topic nested2" id="topic_q51_2qf_fjb">
<h3 class="title topictitle3" id="ariaid-title5">Creating a custom organization field</h3>
<div class="body">
<p class="p" dir="ltr">To provide special treatment for your VIP customers,
create a custom organization field to help you identify
which organizations are VIP customers. When you use the
custom org field to identify VIP customers, tickets
submitted by them are automatically tagged as important. </p>
<p class="p">To create a custom organization field</p>
<ol class="ol" id="topic_q51_2qf_fjb__ol_ibf_pqf_fjb">
<li class="li">
<span class="ph">In <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4581766374554#topic_hfg_dyz_1hb" target="_blank">Admin Center</a>, click
<img class="image" id="topic_q51_2qf_fjb__d7e490" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/ac_people_icon.png">
<strong class="ph b">People</strong> in the sidebar, then select <strong class="ph b">Configuration &gt; Organization
fields</strong>.</span><p class="p">In this case, you’ll add a simple checkbox to
enable you to flag VIP customers. </p>
</li>
<li class="li">Click <strong class="ph b">Add field</strong>.</li>
<li class="li" dir="ltr">From the list of available fields, click
<strong class="ph b">Checkbox</strong>. </li>
<li class="li" dir="ltr">Add the following information to the
checkbox.<ul class="ul" id="topic_q51_2qf_fjb__ul_zxm_nqf_fjb">
<li class="li" dir="ltr">
<strong class="ph b">Field title</strong>: VIP
Customer?</li>
<li class="li" dir="ltr">
<strong class="ph b">Field key</strong>: vip_customer_</li>
<li class="li" dir="ltr">
<strong class="ph b">Description</strong>: Select this
checkbox if the organization is considered a VIP
customer.</li>
<li class="li" dir="ltr">
<strong class="ph b">Tag</strong>: vip_customer</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li class="li">Click <strong class="ph b">Save</strong>.<p class="p">After you create the custom field,
you can choose which organizations qualify as
<strong class="ph b">VIP Customers</strong>.</p>
</li>
</ol>
</div>
</div>
<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title6" class="topic nested2" id="topic_hdk_fqf_fjb">
<h3 class="title topictitle3" id="ariaid-title6">Identifying your VIP organizations</h3>
<div class="body">
<p class="p" dir="ltr">For each organization on your site, click the <strong class="ph b">VIP
customer?</strong> checkbox for any organization you
consider to be a VIP customer. You can do this when you add
a new organization (or edit your existing organizations). </p>
<p class="p" dir="ltr"><strong class="ph b">To add a VIP new organization</strong></p>
<ol class="ol" id="topic_hdk_fqf_fjb__ol_w3v_5rf_fjb">
<li class="li" dir="ltr"><span class="ph">In <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4581766374554#topic_hfg_dyz_1hb" target="_blank">Support</a>, click the
<strong class="ph b">Organizations</strong> icon (<img class="image" id="topic_hdk_fqf_fjb__d7e657" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/organizations_icon.png">) in the sidebar.</span></li>
<li class="li" dir="ltr">Click <strong class="ph b">Add organization</strong>.</li>
<li class="li" dir="ltr">Enter the organization's name in the
<strong class="ph b">Name</strong> field. In this case, name the
organization <strong class="ph b">Writers Plus</strong>.</li>
<li class="li" dir="ltr">Enter the <strong class="ph b">Email domains</strong> (separated by a
space) of your VIP customer. <p class="p">Users from these
email domains will be automatically added to this
organization when they submit a request for the
first time or register. </p>
<p class="p">If you add the same
domain to multiple organizations, users are
automatically mapped only to the first
organization sorted alphabetically by name. For
details, see <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408882246298#topic_nxl_vdt_bc" target="_blank">Automatically
adding users to organizations based on their email
domain</a>.</p>
</li>
<li class="li">Click <strong class="ph b">Add</strong>.<p class="p">The new organization is added and
the organization details appear.</p>
</li>
<li class="li">Select the<strong class="ph b"> VIP customer?</strong> checkbox to show that
members of the Writers Plus organization are VIPs.
<p class="p"><img class="image" id="topic_hdk_fqf_fjb__image_f1s_psf_fjb" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/wflow_trigger_org_field.png" width="400"></p>
</li>
</ol>
<p class="p" dir="ltr">When you select the <strong class="ph b">VIP Customer? checkbox, </strong>the
<strong class="ph b">vip_customer</strong> tag associated with this
checkbox appears in the organization’s <strong class="ph b">Tags</strong> field,
and any tickets sent from users with a
<strong class="ph b">writersplus.com</strong> or <strong class="ph b">writersplus.net</strong>
email address will be tagged with <strong class="ph b">vip_customer</strong>. </p>
<p class="p" dir="ltr">Now you can use this tag to trigger a special workflow
for tickets sent from Writers Plus and your other VIP
customers.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title7" class="topic nested1" id="topic_qzx_ck5_y3b">
<h2 class="title topictitle2" id="ariaid-title7">Adding triggers to respond instantly</h2>
<div class="body">
<p class="p" dir="ltr">Triggers are business rules you define to run immediately after
tickets are created or updated. Once you have set up your VIP agent
group and identified your VIP organizations, create a <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408843730458" target="_blank"><u class="ph u">trigger</u></a>
that:</p>
<ul class="ul" id="topic_qzx_ck5_y3b__ul_tz1_1tf_fjb">
<li class="li" dir="ltr">Instantly replies to your VIP customers as soon as
they submit a ticket</li>
<li class="li" dir="ltr">Gives the ticket a high priority. </li>
</ul>
<p class="p" dir="ltr"><strong class="ph b">To add the trigger</strong></p>
<ol class="ol" id="topic_qzx_ck5_y3b__ol_ewz_gk5_y3b">
<li class="li" dir="ltr"><span class="ph">In <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4581766374554#topic_hfg_dyz_1hb" target="_blank">Admin Center</a>, click
<img class="image" id="topic_qzx_ck5_y3b__d7e1204" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/ac_objects_rules_icon.png">
<strong class="ph b">Objects and rules</strong> in the sidebar, then select <strong class="ph b">Business rules &gt;
Triggers</strong>.</span></li>
<li class="li" dir="ltr">Click <strong class="ph b">Add trigger</strong>.</li>
<li class="li" dir="ltr">Enter the following information for the trigger.<p class="p" dir="ltr">For the trigger <strong class="ph b">Name</strong> and
<strong class="ph b">Description</strong>:</p>
<p class="p"><img class="image" id="topic_qzx_ck5_y3b__image_wyg_mp5_y3b" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/wflow_trigger_name.png" width="600"></p>
<p class="p">For the
trigger <strong class="ph b">Conditions</strong>:</p>
<p class="p"><img class="image" id="topic_qzx_ck5_y3b__image_gsg_h5f_fjb" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/wflow_trigger_conditions_V2.png" width="600"></p>
<p class="p">For the
trigger <strong class="ph b">Actions</strong>:</p>
<p class="p"><img class="image" id="topic_qzx_ck5_y3b__image_qzl_k5f_fjb" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/wflow_trigger_actions_V2.png" width="600"></p>
</li>
<li class="li">When you’ve finished adding the trigger name, description,
conditions, and actions, click <strong class="ph b">Create</strong>.</li>
</ol>
<p class="p" dir="ltr">With this trigger, when these conditions are met: </p>
<ul class="ul" id="topic_qzx_ck5_y3b__ul_ejg_45f_fjb">
<li class="li" dir="ltr">The ticket is sent from a customer in a VIP
organization.</li>
<li class="li" dir="ltr">A new ticket is created.</li>
<li class="li" dir="ltr">The ticket hasn’t been solved, yet.</li>
</ul>
<p class="p" dir="ltr">The following actions are performed:</p>
<ul class="ul" id="topic_qzx_ck5_y3b__ul_fjg_45f_fjb">
<li class="li" dir="ltr">An email notification is sent to the ticket requester.
See example below. </li>
<li class="li" dir="ltr">The ticket priority is set to <strong class="ph b">High</strong>. </li>
<li class="li" dir="ltr">The ticket is assigned to the <strong class="ph b">VIP Triage</strong>
group.</li>
</ul>
<p class="p">The following is an example of an email notification sent to a VIP
customer who submits a ticket. The ticket has been assigned to the
<strong class="ph b">VIP Triage</strong> group and the ticket priority is
<strong class="ph b">High</strong>. </p>
<p class="p"><img class="image" id="topic_qzx_ck5_y3b__image_djb_1vf_fjb" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/wflow_trigger_first_notify_customer.png"></p>
</div>
</div>
<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title8" class="topic nested1" id="topic_j1x_bt5_y3b">
<h2 class="title topictitle2" id="ariaid-title8">Creating a view to monitor VIP ticket status</h2>
<div class="body">
<p class="p" dir="ltr"><a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408888828570" target="_blank"><u class="ph u">Views</u></a>
dynamically organize tickets based on specific criteria that you
define. Using views can help you determine what tickets need
attention from you or your team and plan accordingly. To keep an eye
on how our VIP tickets are progressing, create a shared view that
you and other members of your team can use to monitor ticket status. </p>
<p class="p" dir="ltr"><strong class="ph b">To create the view</strong></p>
<ol class="ol" id="topic_j1x_bt5_y3b__ol_wkt_ft5_y3b">
<li class="li" dir="ltr"><span class="ph">In <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4581766374554#topic_hfg_dyz_1hb" target="_blank">Admin Center</a>, click
<img class="image" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/ac_workspaces_icon.png">
<strong class="ph b">Workspaces</strong> in the sidebar, then select <strong class="ph b">Agent tools &gt; Views</strong>.</span></li>
<li class="li" dir="ltr">Click <strong class="ph b">Add view</strong>.</li>
<li class="li" dir="ltr">Enter the following information for the view. This
<strong class="ph b">VIP Triage</strong> view will show any unsolved
tickets that are tagged <strong class="ph b">vip_customer</strong>.<p class="p"><img class="image" id="topic_j1x_bt5_y3b__image_wvt_3vf_fjb" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/wflow_trigger_view_add_V2.png" width="600"></p>
</li>
<li class="li">To test your view conditions, click <strong class="ph b">Preview match for the
conditions above</strong> to see which tickets will
appear in the view.<p class="p"><img class="image" id="topic_j1x_bt5_y3b__image_mfn_d55_y3b" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/wflow_trigger_view_preview.png" width="600"></p>
</li>
<li class="li">Scroll down to the <strong class="ph b">Formatting options</strong> section to
customize the table columns that appear in the view.</li>
<li class="li">Because it’s important for you to quickly see when a ticket was
last updated for VIP customers, drag the <strong class="ph b">Last update</strong>
column from the <strong class="ph b">Columns not included in table</strong> list to
the <strong class="ph b">Columns included in table</strong> list. <p class="p"><img class="image" id="topic_j1x_bt5_y3b__image_jdl_l55_y3b" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/wflow_trigger_views_table.png" width="600"></p>
</li>
<li class="li">Make sure the view is <strong class="ph b">Available</strong> for <strong class="ph b">All
agents</strong>.</li>
<li class="li">Click <strong class="ph b">Save</strong>.</li>
</ol>
<p class="p" dir="ltr">Once you create the view, you can click the Views icon (<img class="image" id="topic_j1x_bt5_y3b__image_rxx_qw5_y3b" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/views_icon.png">) in the sidebar, then select <strong class="ph b">VIP
Triage</strong> to view your VIP ticket status. This view
includes when the tickets were last <strong class="ph b">Updated</strong>.</p>
<p class="p"><img class="image" id="topic_j1x_bt5_y3b__image_wbf_5vf_fjb" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/wflow_trigger_view_VIPTriage.png" width="600"></p>
</div>
</div>
<div aria-labelledby="ariaid-title9" class="topic nested1" id="topic_esc_t55_y3b">
<h2 class="title topictitle2" id="ariaid-title9">Automating to ensure ticket follow up</h2>
<div class="body">
<p class="p" dir="ltr">To help manage your ticket workflow, you can automatically
remind agents if an important ticket hasn’t been assigned in a
timely manner. In these cases, use an <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408832701850" target="_blank"><u class="ph u">automation</u></a>,
instead of a trigger to send the reminder. </p>
<p class="p" dir="ltr">Triggers are event-based business rules that can fire every
time a ticket is created or updated. Automations are time-based
business rules that perform an action in your account based on time
elapsed.</p>
<p class="p" dir="ltr"><strong class="ph b">To add the automation </strong></p>
<ol class="ol" id="topic_esc_t55_y3b__ol_zh5_v55_y3b">
<li class="li" dir="ltr"><span class="ph">In <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4581766374554#topic_hfg_dyz_1hb" target="_blank">Admin Center</a>, click
<img class="image" id="topic_esc_t55_y3b__d7e1234" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/ac_objects_rules_icon.png">
<strong class="ph b">Objects and rules</strong> in the sidebar, then select <strong class="ph b">Business rules &gt;
Automations</strong>.</span></li>
<li class="li" dir="ltr">Click <strong class="ph b">Add automation</strong>.</li>
<li class="li" dir="ltr">Enter the following information for the
automation.<p class="p">For the <strong class="ph b">Automation title</strong> and
<strong class="ph b">Conditions</strong>:</p>
<p class="p"><img class="image" id="topic_esc_t55_y3b__image_add_z55_y3b" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/wflow_trigger_automation_conditions.png" width="600"></p>
<p class="p">For the
automation <strong class="ph b">Actions</strong>:</p>
<p class="p"><img class="image" id="topic_esc_t55_y3b__image_nbl_cv5_y3b" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/wflow_trigger_automation_actions.png" width="600"></p>
</li>
<li class="li">When you’ve finished adding the automation title, conditions,
and actions, click <strong class="ph b">Create automation</strong>.</li>
</ol>
<p class="p" dir="ltr">With this automation, when these conditions are met: </p>
<ul class="ul" id="topic_esc_t55_y3b__ul_cj3_3v5_y3b">
<li class="li" dir="ltr">The ticket was sent to the <strong class="ph b">VIP Group</strong>. </li>
<li class="li" dir="ltr">The ticket priority is <strong class="ph b">High</strong>. </li>
<li class="li" dir="ltr">The ticket was created more than <strong class="ph b">2 business
hours</strong> ago.</li>
<li class="li" dir="ltr">The ticket does not have an agent assigned, yet. </li>
</ul>
<p class="p" dir="ltr">The following actions are performed:</p>
<ul class="ul" id="topic_esc_t55_y3b__ul_dj3_3v5_y3b">
<li class="li" dir="ltr">An email notification is sent to all members of the
<strong class="ph b">VIP Triage </strong>group. See example below. </li>
<li class="li" dir="ltr">The ticket priority is changed from <strong class="ph b">High</strong> to
<strong class="ph b">Urgent</strong>. </li>
</ul>
<p class="p" dir="ltr">The following is an example of an email notification sent to
members of the <strong class="ph b">VIP Triage</strong> group when the automation
conditions are met. The ticket priority has changed to
<strong class="ph b">Urgent</strong>. </p>
<p class="p"><img class="image" id="topic_esc_t55_y3b__image_qpv_pv5_y3b" src="https://zen-marketing-documentation.s3.amazonaws.com/docs/en/wflow_trigger_automation_notify.png" width="400"></p>
<p class="p" dir="ltr">Other useful automations include reminding agents if a ticket
hasn’t been solved after a certain period of time, gently reminding
customers who haven’t replied to an agent request for more
information, and so on. To learn more about automations, check out
the default Zendesk automations available in see <a class="xref" href="https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/4408832701850" target="_blank"><u class="ph u">About automations and how
they work</u></a>. </p>
</div>
</div>
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