How can you make your support more efficient by adopting Tiered support?

How can you make your support more efficient by adopting Tiered support?

One of the main issues most businesses face is handling support conversations as they expand. As the business scales up, the chat load also increases exponentially. So, it becomes hard for your existing operators to handle all of the chats, hiring new operators also does not come cheap, and training them takes time.

In our last post, we saw insider tips from support reps of SalesIQ themselves. In this post, let us see how you can bring more structure to your support as you expand your business without disrupting your support workflow.
 
"Organizing is what you do before you do something so that when you do it, it is not all mixed up."  
  - A A Milne  
 

What is Tiered support?    

Tiered support is the concept of organizing your support on multiple levels based on your customer's requirements.

Our take on Tiered support   

There are a lot of blogs and posts on tiered support; each has a different opinion on this topic, and many change based on the product they are selling. In this post, you'll see our take on how to approach tiered support using Zoho SalesIQ.
 
 If I have a business, will this be helpful for me? 
 
Yes and no, it depends on the type of business that you have. A large business with a high daily chat volume can gain a lot by adopting Tiered support. A budding business with little chat volume would not.
 
Now, let me explain the reasons clearly; every large business will have a lot of customers who might have the same questions; having your operators attend to all of these customers could not only result in inefficient support, it can also result in exhaustion of your operators.
 
Whereas in a small business, it would be more valuable to connect directly with your visitors. Now, let's take a look at the tiered support stages using SalesIQ. 

Tiered support stages using SalesIQ   

Tier 0: Enabling self-help for visitors  

The first stage of the Tiered support is to make the users find answers to all the commonly occurring issues by themselves. This can be achieved by enabling the knowledge base in your SalesIQ chat window. With the knowledge base enabled, you can display articles and FAQs, and they will be able to get answers to their questions from there.
 
To enable Knowledge base for your brand:
  1. Navigate to Settings > Brands > Your brand name > Configurations.
  2. Switch to the Channels tab in this section. And toggle on the Knowledge base for the desired platform.
If you wish to provide a messenger-first experience for your customers, you can use our AI-powered Answer bot to assist visitors with their basic questions. With the help of natural language processing, the bot will understand the user's intent, provide the right article for your help guide, and make it look like they are conversing with a human operator.
 

Tier 1: Deploying chatbots to provide personalized assistance

The next step in the Tiered support list is to enable advanced bots that can do more than address your visitors' questions. Zobot allows you to perform advanced functions like pushing leads to Zoho CRM, logging support tickets for conversations, adding visitors to newsletter, mailing lists, etc. These bots can be the perfect filter stage to know what the visitor wants. If visitors require a human operator, they can transfer the chat to a human operator.



Tier 2: Allowing customers to reach your human operators  

In this stage, the chats that were transferred by the bots and the chats where the visitors have requested to connect with an operator can be routed to your frontline support.

Issues that are too complex to be solved by the self-service knowledge base and bots can be handled in this stage. Issues with onboarding, account problems, etc., can be better addressed by a human more effectively, and the visitors will feel more satisfied when they know that an actual person is helping them.
 

Tier 3: Routing customers to the operator with the required expertise  

This is the last stage of the Tiered support; at certain times, you might have visitors with higher value support requirements; in such cases, it is wiser to route them directly to the operator with the right expertise. Chat routing can enable you to route chats of desired visitors to the operators or departments you specify.  
 
This final stage can be helpful for the following conditions:
  1. Escalated chats.
  2. Chats that would require the right expertise.
  3. VIP and high-priority chats and calls.
You can implement these four tiers of support using Zoho SalesIQ. Please let us know what support structure you are currently using for your organization in the comments.
 
Regards,
Naveen

    Access your files securely from anywhere








                            Zoho Developer Community



                                Bootcamp
                                Community
                                Pricing
                                Webinars
                                What's New
                                Integrations
                                Contact Support
                                Contact Sales
                                  Zoho Survey Resources
                                    Features
                                    Survey Templates
                                    Integrations
                                    Community
                                    iOS Mobile Surveys
                                    Pricing
                                    Android Mobile Surveys
                                    Insurvey Blogs
                                    Insight Blogs
                                    Tips & Tricks





                                                Latest Feature Updates

                                                  • Desk Community Learning Series


                                                  • Digest


                                                  • Functions


                                                  • Meetups


                                                  • Kbase


                                                  • Resources


                                                  • Glossary


                                                  • Desk Marketplace


                                                  • MVP Corner


                                                  • Word of the Day


                                                  • Ask the Experts




                                                      Zoho SalesIQ Resources


                                                            Manage your brands on social media
                                                            Access Zoho Social

                                                              Zoho Pagesense Resources


                                                                  Zoho TeamInbox Resources

                                                                    Zoho DataPrep Resources


                                                                      Zoho CRM Plus Resources

                                                                        Zoho Books Resources


                                                                          Zoho Subscriptions Resources

                                                                            Zoho Projects Resources


                                                                              Zoho Sprints Resources


                                                                                Qntrl Resources


                                                                                  Zoho Creator Resources



                                                                                      Zoho CRM Resources

                                                                                      • CRM Community Learning Series

                                                                                        CRM Community Learning Series


                                                                                      • Kaizen

                                                                                        Kaizen

                                                                                      • Functions

                                                                                        Functions

                                                                                      • Meetups

                                                                                        Meetups

                                                                                      • Kbase

                                                                                        Kbase

                                                                                      • Resources

                                                                                        Resources

                                                                                      • Digest

                                                                                        Digest

                                                                                      • CRM Marketplace

                                                                                        CRM Marketplace

                                                                                      • MVP Corner

                                                                                        MVP Corner









                                                                                          Design. Discuss. Deliver.

                                                                                          Create visually engaging stories with Zoho Show.

                                                                                          Get Started Now


                                                                                            Zoho Show Resources

                                                                                              Zoho Writer

                                                                                              Get Started. Write Away!

                                                                                              Writer is a powerful online word processor, designed for collaborative work.

                                                                                                Zoho CRM コンテンツ



                                                                                                  Nederlandse Hulpbronnen


                                                                                                      ご検討中の方




                                                                                                              • Recent Topics

                                                                                                              • Is there a way to invoke deluge function from within a widget?

                                                                                                                Hi! I have custom functions in deluge and I was wondering whether there is any way to call this function through a widget? Something like on click of a button inside a widget, run the deluge custom function. Would this be possible?

                                                                                                              • Missing Import Options

                                                                                                                Hello, do I miss something or is there no space import option inside of this application? In ClickUp, you can import from every common application. We don't want to go through every page and export them one by one. That wastes time. We want to centralize

                                                                                                              • Zoho CRM Portal Field Level Permission Issue

                                                                                                                Hi Support Team, I am using the Zoho CRM Portal and configuring field-level editing permissions. However, we are unable to restrict portal users from editing certain fields. We have created a portal and provided View and Edit (Shared Only) access for

                                                                                                              • Why am I seeing deleted records in Zoho Analytics syncing with Zoho CRM?

                                                                                                                I have done a data sync between Zoho CRM and Zoho Analytics, and the recycle bin is empty. Why do I see deleted leads/deals/contacts in Zoho Analytics if it doesn't exist in Zoho CRM? How can I solve this problem? Thanks

                                                                                                              • Zoho Tables is now live in Australia & New Zealand!

                                                                                                                Hey everyone! We’ve got some great news to share — Zoho Tables is now officially available in the Australian Data Center serving users across Australia and New Zealand regions! Yes, it took us a bit longer to get here, but this version of Zoho Tables

                                                                                                              • CRM project association via deluge

                                                                                                                I have created a workflow in my Zoho CRM for closing a deal. Part of this workflow leverages a deluge script to create a project for our delivery team. Creating the project works great however, after or during the project creation, I would like to associate

                                                                                                              • Custom Fonts in Zoho CRM Template Builder

                                                                                                                Hi, I am currently creating a new template for our quotes using the Zoho CRM template builder. However, I noticed that there is no option to add custom fonts to the template builder. It would greatly enhance the flexibility and branding capabilities if

                                                                                                              • Introducing the Zoho Projects Learning Space

                                                                                                                Every product has its learning curve, and sometimes having a guided path makes the learning experience smoother. With that goal, we introduce a dedicated learning space for Zoho Projects, a platform where you can explore lessons, learn at your own pace,

                                                                                                              • Unknown table or alias 'A1'

                                                                                                                I would like to create a subquery but i am getting the following error: Unknown table or alias 'A1' used in select query. This is the sql statement:  SELECT A1.active_paying_customers, A1.active_trial_customers, A1.new_paying_signup, date(A1.date_active_customers), 

                                                                                                              • All new Address Field in Zoho CRM: maintain structured and accurate address inputs

                                                                                                                The address field will be available exclusively for IN DC users. We'll keep you updated on the DC-specific rollout soon. It's currently available for all new sign-ups and for existing Zoho CRM orgs which are in the Professional edition. Latest update

                                                                                                              • Create PO from an invoice

                                                                                                                We are a hardware and software sales company which receives orders over the internet. We drop ship most of our products from a warehouse outside of our company. Our orders get sync'd into Zoho from our store via onesaas as invoices. It would be great

                                                                                                              • Import Function: ONLY update empty fields

                                                                                                                When setting up an import from a spreadsheet to CRM, there is a checkbox "Don't update empty values for existing contacts" (see screenshot below). While I see some limited benefit from this functionality, I think there should also be an "ONLY update empty

                                                                                                              • Collaboration with customers made easy with Zoom Meeting and Zoho Desk integration

                                                                                                                Hello everyone! We are happy to announce that you can now integrate your Zoho Desk account with Zoom Meeting. The integration bridges the gap between digital communication and human connection, empowering teams to deliver timely support when it matters

                                                                                                              • CRM Canvas - Upload Attachments

                                                                                                                I am in the process of changing my screens to Canvas.  On one screen, I have tabs with related lists, one of which is attachments.  There doesn't appear to be a way to upload documents though.  Am I missing something really obvious?  Does anyone have

                                                                                                              • TrueSync regularly filling up my local disk

                                                                                                                Seems that WorkDrive's TrueSync randomly starts filling up my local hard drive space. None of the folders have been set as "Make Offline" but still it seems to randomly start making file offline. The settings of the app is so minimal and is of no real

                                                                                                              • Kaizen #194 : Trigger Client Script via Custom buttons

                                                                                                                Hello everyone! Welcome back to another interesting and useful Kaizen post. We know that Client Scripts can be triggered with Canvas buttons and we discussed this with a use case in Kaizen#180. Today, let us discuss how to trigger Client Script when a

                                                                                                              • [Webinar] A recap of Zoho Writer in 2025

                                                                                                                Hi Zoho Writer users, We're excited to announce Zoho Writer's webinar for January 2026: A recap of Zoho Writer in 2025. This webinar will provide a recap of the features and enhancements we added in 2025 to enhance your productivity. Choose your preferred

                                                                                                              • Picklist field shows "none" as default

                                                                                                                Hello, Is there an option to avoid showing "none" as the default value in a picklist field? I also don't want to see any option displayed. My expectation is to have a blank bar, and then when I display the drop-down list, I can choose whichever I wa

                                                                                                              • Stage-probability mapping feature in custom module

                                                                                                                Hi, I'm building a custom module for manage projects. I would like to implement the stage-probability feature that Potentials has. Is this possible?

                                                                                                              • Create static subforms in Zoho CRM: streamline data entry with pre-defined values

                                                                                                                Last modified on (9 July, 2025): This feature was available in early access and is currently being rolled out to customers in phases. Currently available for users in the the AU, CA, and SA DCs. It will be enabled for the remaining DCs in the next couple

                                                                                                              • Field Description is very small

                                                                                                                Hello, The field Description in the activity is very small. Why don't try open a new window, or a bigger popup, or increase the width of the "popup". Example:

                                                                                                              • Introducing workflow automation for the Products module

                                                                                                                Greetings, I hope all of you are doing well. We're happy to announce a few recent enhancements we've made to Bigin's Products module. The Products module in Bigin now supports Workflows, enabling you to automate routine actions. Along with this update,

                                                                                                              • StatusIQ

                                                                                                                Please add StatusIQ to data sources. We using site24x7 and StatusIQ together and site24x7 integration is already there. Thanks and regards, Torsten

                                                                                                              • In Zoho People, the Operations buttons are frequently not visible or do not appear consistently.

                                                                                                                In Zoho People, the Operations buttons are frequently not visible or do not appear consistently. We request you to please investigate and address this issue, as it is affecting daily HR operations and user access.

                                                                                                              • Marketing Tip #14: Increase cart value with product bundles

                                                                                                                Bundling products is a great way to increase average order value while giving customers more convenience. Think “camera + tripod + memory card” or “soap + lotion + bath salts.” Bundles make shopping easier and feel like a better deal. It’s a win-win for

                                                                                                              • Problem with Workdrive folders

                                                                                                                I'm having a problem a problem accessing files in a Zoho work drive folder when using the Zoho writer app. The problem folder appears grayed out in the Zoho work drive window in both the online and writer application. However I can open the folder in

                                                                                                              • Sortie de Zoho TABLE ??

                                                                                                                Bonjour, Depuis bientôt 2 ans l'application zoho table est sortie en dehors de l'UE ? Depuis un an elle est annoncée en Europe Mais en vrai, c'est pour quand exactement ??

                                                                                                              • Add RTL and Hebrew Support for Candidate Portal (and Other Zoho Recruit Portals)

                                                                                                                Dear Zoho Recruit Team, I hope you're doing well. We would like to request the ability to set the Candidate Portal to be Right-to-Left (RTL) and in Hebrew, similar to the existing functionality for the Career Site. Currently, when we set the Career Site

                                                                                                              • Printing to a brother label maker

                                                                                                                I see allot of really old unanswered posts asking how to print to a label maker from a zoho creator app. Has their been any progress on providing the capability to create a customized height & width page or print template or whatever to print labels?

                                                                                                              • Auto tracking URL generation based on Carrier

                                                                                                                Hi, While creating a shipment order for a package in Zoho Books, I have a requirement that for example, if the carrier is Delhivery and tracking number is 1234, then can automatically the tracking link/URL be generated as www.delhivery.com/1234. Similary,

                                                                                                              • Helper Functions and DRY principle

                                                                                                                Hello everyone, I believe Deluge should be able to use 'Helper functions' inside the main function. I know I can create different standalones, but this is not helpful and confusing. I don't want 10000 different standalones, and I dont want to have to

                                                                                                              • Holidays - Cannot Enter Two Holidays on Same Day

                                                                                                                I have a fairly common setup, where part-time employees receive 1/2 day's pay on a holiday and full-time employees receive a full day's pay. Historically, I've been able to accommodate this by entering two separate holidays, one that covers full-time

                                                                                                              • Pre-orders at Zoho Commerce

                                                                                                                We plan to have regular producs that are avaliable for purchase now and we plan to have products that will be avaliable in 2-4 weeks. How we can take the pre-orders for these products? We need to take the money for the product now, but the delivery will

                                                                                                              • Customer ticket creation via Microsoft Teams

                                                                                                                Hi all, I'm looking to see if someone could point me in the right direction. I'd love to make it so my customers/ end users can make tickets, see responses and respond within microsoft teams. As Admin and an Agent i've installed the zoho assist app within

                                                                                                              • Zoho Books' 2025 Wrapped

                                                                                                                Before we turn the page to a new year, it’s time to revisit the updates that made financial management simpler and more intuitive. This annual roundup brings together the most impactful features and enhancements we delivered in 2025, offering a clear

                                                                                                              • Add specific field value to URL

                                                                                                                Hi Everyone. I have the following code which is set to run from a subform when the user selects a value from a lookup field "Plant_Key" the URL opens a report but i want the report to be filtered on the matching field/value. so in the report there is

                                                                                                              • Can multiple agents be assigned to one ticket on purpose?

                                                                                                                Is it possible to assign one ticket to two or more agents at a time? I would like the option to have multiple people working on one ticket so that the same ticket is viewable for those agents on their list of pending tickets. Is something like this currently

                                                                                                              • Restrict Users access to login into CRM?

                                                                                                                I’m wanting my employees to be able to utilize the Zoho CRM Lookup field within Zoho Forms. For them to use lookup field in Zoho Forms it is my understanding that they need to be licensed for Forms and the CRM. However, I don’t want them to be able to

                                                                                                              • Zoho removed ability to see all Scheduled Reports!

                                                                                                                If you are not the owner of a scheduled report, Zoho recently removed the capability to see each scheduled report. As an admin who relies on seeing all scheduled reports being sent, this is a terrible update. Now I cannot see ANY scheduled reports...even the ones I am being sent!!  This should be a setting for admins to control.  This is a bad update.

                                                                                                              • Admins cannot see each others' Scheduled Reports?!

                                                                                                                Very frustrating that as an admin I cannot see what my reports my fellow admins have created and scheduled.  After asking about this on the help chat, I was told the issue is trust and security.  By giving someone Admin status, it means we trust them with those responsibilities. Please change this, it is not a good process to have to bother other users to change a report or change users within a report.

                                                                                                              • Next Page