Plan requirement
| Subscription | Any plan |
| Access | Admin |
Zendesk offers six ways for customers to reach you. Each costs something different in attention, which is the part to weigh.
The channels
| Channel | What it demands |
|---|---|
| Answer within hours. Customers expect a wait. | |
| Help centre form | Same as email, with better information up front. |
| Messaging | Minutes when someone is waiting, but the conversation can pause. |
| Live chat | Immediate. The visitor is on the page now. |
| Phone | Immediate and exclusive. One conversation at a time. |
| Social and WhatsApp | Fast, public in some cases, and on the customer's terms. |
The real cost is staffing
Adding a channel is a few hours of configuration and a permanent commitment. A chat widget nobody answers is worse than no chat widget, because it advertises immediacy and delivers silence.
Before opening one, work out who is covering it, during which hours, and what happens outside them.
They all end in the same place
Every channel produces tickets in the same queue. There is no separate chat inbox to watch. That is what makes several channels manageable at all, and it is worth knowing before you assume each needs its own team.
Comments
0 comments
Article is closed for comments.