Fifth Insight - Maximize the role of Departments

The Wheels of Ticketing - Desk Stories

Maximize the role of Departments

What are Departments?

Departments represent the various business divisions within your organization, each serving distinct functions that align with your products, geographical locations, or specialized teams. With Zoho Desk, you have the power to create and manage departments tailored to your customer support needs, enabling you to provide dedicated assistance for each division.

Every department can have its own set of agents, customizable mailboxes, live chat support, community forums, web forms, and social media channels. This ensures that each division can operate independently and effectively, addressing its customers' unique queries and concerns.

You can also implement specific automation processes, service agreements, and business hours tailored to each department. This level of customization allows you to design a support workflow that aligns perfectly with each division's goals and dynamics, enhancing overall efficiency and customer satisfaction. 

By managing departments independently, you can streamline your support process and maintain efficiency for all aspects of customer support across your organization.

Role of Departments in Zoho Desk

Zoho Desk departments play a crucial role in enhancing customer support by effectively organizing support tickets. By grouping specialized agents into dedicated teams, each department can focus on specific types of queries. This targeted approach improves the accuracy and quality of ticket handling and significantly reduces response times. By ensuring that each customer receives expert assistance tailored to their needs, this structured method provides a smoother overall customer service experience and fosters greater satisfaction and loyalty.

Users can seamlessly transfer agents and email traffic to another active department. If a department is disabled, agents and emails can be reassigned to ensure that any messages sent to the transferred addresses continue generating tickets within the new department. The service captures emails directed to support addresses, routes them to Zoho Desk, and converts them into actionable tickets. While the service does not create tickets directly, it guarantees customer emails are readily available for ticket generation.

How do departments work?

• Categorization—Tickets are classified based on the issue's nature, product line, or service area. 
• Routing—The system routes tickets to the relevant department, ensuring that inquiries are handled by experts in that particular domain. 
• Workload Management—Departments help manage the support workload efficiently, improving response times and overall customer service. 
• Collaboration—Departments facilitate team collaboration by providing a structured environment for handling and resolving issues. 
• Tracking—Departments allow stakeholders to track the status and progress of tickets throughout their lifecycle,
  

A story for better understanding

Optimizing the Support Workflow with Departments

In a company called Help Always, departments often found themselves working in silos. The customer support, product development, and product management teams all had separate priorities, leading to occasional miscommunication and delays in addressing customer needs. Each department was focused on its metrics, often overlooking the broader picture of customer satisfaction.

Recognising the need for better alignment, the leadership team implemented a new strategy called "Departmental Synergy." This initiative aimed to break down walls and create a more cohesive work environment where departments could collaborate efficiently and prioritise the customer experience.

The first step was to establish weekly cross-departmental meetings. Representatives from each department came together to discuss ongoing projects, share insights, and identify challenges they were facing. During one such meeting, Pheobe from customer support highlighted a recurring issue where customers were confused about product features, leading to a spike in support tickets. Mark from product management realized that the confusion stemmed from a recent update that hadn't been communicated to users.

Inspired by this divulgence, the team created a unified communication plan. They launched a “Clarity for All” project where the marketing team would develop clearer messaging for new product features. In contrast, tech support and product management collaborated to create comprehensive FAQS and help articles. The departments worked together, turning the helping hand of ASAP’s help widget into a powerful tool that provided real-time guidance to customers on the latest updates.

As they implemented these changes, they noticed a shift in customer interactions. Support tickets began to decrease, and customer feedback improved significantly. Customers expressed appreciation for the clarity in communication and the easy access to information through the help widget. They felt supported and valued, which boosted customer loyalty and created a win-win resolution.

The success of the "Clarity for All" initiative sparked a transformative shift in how departments approached customer experience. As a result, key metrics, such as customer satisfaction scores, ticket resolution times, and user retention, became collective goals embraced by all supporting departments. This new focus encouraged each team to work together, collaborating across functions, to ensure that every customer interaction contributed positively to overall service.

The result was a more cohesive approach to customer support, where departments actively collaborated, used shared metrics to drive performance, and ultimately created a better customer experience.

In this environment of continuous improvement and shared goals, teams found an increased sense of purpose and motivation, knowing that their collective efforts made a tangible difference in customer experience and business outcomes.

As the months went by, Help Always work culture transformed. Silos crumbled, and a unified approach took its place. Pheobe's overall strategy was much appreciated. The departments developed a shared language focused on customer needs, and this synergy extended beyond just internal communication—it resonated with clients who felt they were now at the heart of the Help Always operations.

Ultimately, improving the journey towards departmental synergy exemplifies that excellent customer service isn’t just a single department's responsibility but a collaborative effort that elevates everyone involved.

Benefits of Departments

More knowledgeable answers and happier customers

Support significantly improves when tickets are directed to the appropriate agent within the right department. Skilled agents who deliver exceptional service can elevate customers' support experience and overall satisfaction. This, in turn, can result in increased sales, greater customer loyalty, and positive recommendations.

Rapid response times

When a help desk ticket reaches the appropriate agent in the respective department, they can respond without delay. Rather than searching for answers or checking with colleagues, they will immediately know how to address the issue, enhancing both resolution and response times. This ultimately leads to greater customer satisfaction.

Clear responsibilities and more direct workflows

Organizations that establish clear responsibilities within departments streamline ticket management and enhance agent workflows and efficiency. When tickets are assigned to specific departments, this targeted approach eliminates the need for agents to rummage through a cluttered inbox in search of tickets they can assist with.

Additionally, leveraging a knowledge base creator empowers businesses to organize and present valuable information systematically. This resource makes helpful content readily accessible, benefiting customers seeking solutions and support agents who require quick reference materials. Companies can foster a more effective support environment by prioritizing responsiveness and clarity.

Multiple layouts and multiple departments can complement each other in a support system by enhancing communication, organization, and overall efficiency.  The benefits of this approach include:

• Structured support environment   
• Clear role assignments   
• Centralized information access   
• Enhanced user experience   
• Feedback and improvement loop   
• Tracking and analytics   
• Cohesive branding and messaging   
• Cross-department collaboration 
  

Wrapping up

By streamlining the inquiry process, departments enhance the overall effectiveness of customer support, reduce response times, and foster higher satisfaction rates among users. 

Please stay tuned for more Desk Module stories.

 

Cheers,

 

Kavya Rao

The Zoho Desk Team

Also read:

• Fourth Insight - The power of Multi-Layouts
• Third Insight - The Importance of Data Segregation
  
• Second Insight - Let's talk Layouts
• First Insight - Find your Fields
  

• Topic Participants

• Kavya Rao Addepalli

  

• Recent Topics

• Auto-sync field of lookup value

  This feature has been requested many times in the discussion Field of Lookup Announcement and this post aims to track it separately. At the moment the value of a 'field of lookup' is a snapshot but once the parent lookup field is updated the values diverge.

• Last activity time is acting like last modified time

  When i edit the description or any field in the potential, account, contact and lead, the Last Activity Time is being updated like the Modified Time. This is messing all workflows and reports and we are unable to track real last time of activities like

• Enhancements to the formula field in Zoho CRM: Auto-refresh formulas with the "Now" function, stop formula executions based on criteria, and include formulas within formulas

  Dear Customers, We hope you're well! By their nature, modern businesses rely every day on computations, whether it's to calculate the price of a product, assess ROI, evaluate the lifetime value of a customer, or even determine the age of a record. With

• HEX/RGB Color Input in Visual Editor

  Hello Zoho Pagesense Team, We hope you're doing well. We’d like to submit a feature request to improve the color selection options in the Pagesense popup editor. Current Limitation: Currently, to set text colors, users must move the color slider manually.

• CRM and Campaigns- tags not integrating?

  Hi! I am setting up an automation in zoho campaigns and it says the crm is integrated...but when I want to use a trigger of a certain tag I created for people in the crm to denote those who purchased, it doesnt have that tag available as an option in

• Maximum limit of rows exceeded

  I am trying to add a row to a spreadsheets that has fewer than 60 rows. I keep getting an error message that says I have exceeded the maximum limit of 65,536 rows. Any ideas out there?

• Can't change form's original name in URL

  Hi all, I have been duplicating + editing forms for jobs regarding the same department to maintain formatting + styling. The issue I've not run into is because I've duplicated it from an existing form, the URL doesn't seem to want to update with the new

• Tip #7: 5 formas de mantener tus listas de correo electrónico

  Tips and Tricks #7, adaptado de Susmit Sen ¡Hola, comunidad! Esta semana volvemos con nuestros Tips and Tricks para Zoho Campaigns. En esta ocasión, voy a darte algunos consejos para mantener limpias tus listas de correo electrónico, y empezar el 2021

• Mail Merge related Lists

  When I try to merge an associated list the fields do not have a checkbox to choose them as it does in the tutorials. Am I missing something? Any ideas would be appreciated.

• This user is not allowed to add in Zoho. Please contact support-as@zohocorp.com for further details

  Hello, Just signed up to ZOHO on a friend's recommendation. Got the TXT part (verified my domain), but whenever I try to add ANY user, I get the error: This user is not allowed to add in Zoho. Please contact support-as@zohocorp.com for further details I have emailed as well and writing here as well because when I searched, I saw many people faced the same issue and instead of email, they got a faster response here. My domain is: raisingreaderspk . com Hope this can be resolved.  Thank you

• create-a-purchase-receive API issues

  Hello all, I'm trying to use the create a purchase receive inventory API documented here (https://www.zoho.com/inventory/api/v1/purchasereceives/#create-a-purchase-receive) however when I do am getting the following error {"code":9,"message":"The purchase

• Zoho Pagesense really this slow??? 5s delay...

  I put the pagesense on my website (hosted by webflow and fast) and it caused a 5s delay to load. do other people face similar delays?

• Heatmap: Missing Content Elements - Zoho Page Sense

  Hi there, I'm trying out Zoho Page Sense to generate heatmaps for my Wix pages. My problem: Some parts of my Wix pages don't show on my heatmap, the heatmap is just empty there. Maybe Wix default lazy loading setting causes this error? Is there a way

• Marketing Tip #3: Use social proof to build trust

  People trust people. Showcasing reviews, testimonials, or “bestseller” badges on your product pages can nudge hesitant buyers toward purchase. Try this today: Add one customer testimonial or highlight your top-selling product on your homepage. Or, do

• Writing by Hand in "Write" Notes

  Hi there! I just downloaded this app a few moments ago, and I was wondering if there was a way to write things by hand in "Write" mode instead of just typing in the keyboard. It would make things a bit more efficient for me in this moment. Thanks!

• Make CAMPAIGNS email look as simple as possible

  Hi there I'm trying to make my Campaigns email look as much like a normal email as possible. I'm a bit stuck with the "justification" of the email email block. Can I LEFT JUSTIFY the "whole email" to make it look "normal"? (Please see screenshot attached)

• Zoho Sign Reminder email template

  Is there a template we can edit for the reminder emails? I don't see it in Settings / Choose a template

• Preview an upload PDF or File

  I have a form where the customer has to upload a file (normally PDF - never jpeg)  When in report view I want to be able to preview the uploaded file without having to download it.  If I click on the upload it downloads to my computer, I want to be able

• How to filter emails by Reply-to field?

  I receive a very particular newsletter from an association A registered on a website W (that is used by many associations), and the emails fields are not great: the From just contains the generic website's W's email, while A is only mentioned in the Reply-to

• How to invite friends on other social media platforms to one of my group chats in arattai?

  Hello, I have formed chat groups in arattai. I want to invite my friends on other social media platforms like WhatsApp/ FB to one of my groups. Different friends would be invited to different groups. How to share an invite link of one of my groups to

• Line spacing

  I coudn't decrease the line spacing to space smaller then a single line. There is too much space between the lines that make the document look ugly. Please fix that. Liran. fonar

• Google Fonts Integration in Pagesense Popup Editor

  Hello Zoho Pagesense Team, We hope you're doing well. We’d like to submit a feature request to enhance Zoho Pagesense’s popup editor with Google Fonts support. Current Limitation: Currently, Pagesense offers a limited set of default fonts. Google Fonts

• Control Position of “X” (Close) Button in Popup Editor

  Hello Zoho PageSense Team, We hope you're doing well. We would like to request a customization improvement in the PageSense popup editor. Current Limitation: Currently, the position of the “X” (close) button is fixed and cannot be customized in the popup

• Add Standalone “Save” Button in Pagesense Popup Editor

  Hello Zoho Pagesense Team, We hope you're doing well. We would like to request an important usability improvement in the Pagesense popup editor. Current Limitation: There is currently no dedicated Save button while building a popup. The only way to save

• Text Direction Control in Pagesense Popup Editor

  Hello Zoho Pagesense Team, We hope you're doing well. We’d like to submit a feature request to add text direction control in the Pagesense popup editor. Current Limitation: Currently, the popup editor does not provide native support for RTL (Right-to-Left)

• Autosave in Pagesense Popup Editor

  Hello Zoho Pagesense Team, We hope you're doing well. We’d like to submit a feature request to enhance the Pagesense editor with an autosave functionality. Current Limitation: Currently, changes made in the Pagesense editor must be manually saved. In

• Billing frequency is not displayed correctly.

  Hello There is an issue while displaying the billing frequency on a subscription quote. I am able to activate the subscription details and get this lovely overview: If I am adding a Plan which I charge quarterly, first of all it should be possible to

• Creating Secret via Vault API

  Hi I am trying to create a secret through vault api.  This is the response I get. One thing I am not sure is how to decrypt the secretdata, how to get the secrettypeid? {     "operation": {         "result": {             "error_code": "",             "message": "Sorry, we are unable to process your request.",

• Is It Possible to Hide Menu Option from Main Navigation?

  Is it possible to hide a menu option, e.g. Admin, from the Main Navigation based on some criteria, e.g. login = zoho.adminuser

• Unleash the power of detail, with Table View.

  What use is context that's not available where you need it? With this in mind, we bring you the Table View. This feature will add more power to the way you organize and work through your ticket load. Table View comes in handy when you want more control over the ticket information you see. This is a nifty tool for users who find themselves limited in terms of the level of information that is being offered in the Classic View and Compact View. With an upper limit of 15 columns, agents can glean most

• Kaizen #126 - Circuits in Zoho CRM - Part 1

  Hello everyone! Welcome back to another week of Kaizen! Today, we will discuss an exciting topic—Circuits in Zoho CRM. For starters, we will discuss what Circuits are, how beneficial they are for businesses, different views of a Circuit, and the different

• 'Statement of Accounts does not exist' error received, when creating PO using api in Zoho Inventory

  Here is request json -- JSONString = { "date": "2019-09-24", "purchaseorder_number": "PO-6-1", "delivery_date": null, "delivery_org_address_id": 36221200000056XXX, "vendor_id": 362212000000564XXX, "attention": "Testing", "line_items": [{ "unit": "Pieces", "account_id": 36221200000003XXX, "quantity": 1, "item_id": 362212000000049XXX, "tax_type": "", "tax_name": "", "name": "One HD", "purchase_rate": 85, "tax_percentage": 0, "item_total": 85.00, "tax_id": "", "warehouse_id": 362212000000564XXX }] }

• Multiple clients in one project

  Hi team, What is the possibility to have more than one client to be linked for one project in the Zoho Books? Our business model is to have a project, and this project have expenses/bills, as well, we issue invoices for this same project to several customers.

• I can receive but not send emails

  Hello, I've been not able to send emails for almost a year now. I been using alternate email to do this. I want to know how to fix this so I can use my zoho account normally again.

• Support Bots and Automations in External Channels

  Hello Zoho Cliq Team, How are you? We actively use Zoho Cliq for collaboration, including with our external developers. For this purpose, external channels are a key tool since they work seamlessly within the same interface as all of our other channels

• Workdrive on Android - Gallery Photo Backups

  Hello, Is there any way of backing up the photos on my android phone directly to a specific folder on Workdrive? Assuming i have the workdrive app installed on the phone in question. Emma

• Can receive but not send messages in Zoho Mail

  Hello! I was able to configure my email client successfully in that I can receive messages just fine. However, when I send messages out, they seem to go out fine (I don't receive any errors or anything), but the recipient does NOT receive those messages.

• Clients not receiving emails

  I've been informed that my emails are not being received. Is there anything that I should look into to rectify this? Many thanks!

• Rendering PDF to view on page

  My company upload lots of PDF files onto Zoho. But every time we open it, it downloads the file instead of viewing it on the web page. Does Zoho allow uploaded PDF files to be rendered to view on web page yet? I've been trying to use <embed> or <object> but it cannot be loaded.  (similar thread: https://help.zoho.com/portal/community/topic/how-to-open-a-pdf-file-of-a-view-in-preview-mode)

• Dynamically Fetching Lookup Field Display Value

  I have an audit trail form, Audit_Changes, that tracks old vs new values across different forms. For lookup fields, the old/new value is the ID, but I also need the display value. What's a best practice for dynamically fetching the display value of the

• Next Page