When moments in customer support get "spooky"

It’s Halloween again!
Halloween is celebrated with spooky symbols and meanings based on history and traditions, with each region adding its own special touch. While we were kids, we would dress up in costumes along with friends, attend parties, and enjoy the thrills of the season. Growing older, our perspectives and the way we celebrate might may have changed. Now, we might find ourselves watching children enjoy their spooky fun or simply relaxing.

But for those working in customer support, Halloween can reveal different kinds of “spooky” moments. Some moments at work can feel just as haunting as the Halloween characters that test patience, empathy, and presence of mind. This Halloween, let’s talk about how we can turn moments of horror in customer support into delightful experiences.

The “spooks” of customer support  

Overflowing tickets

When you sign in to your Zoho Desk account, you might immediately have more tickets than you can handle. Too many tickets can make you miss your first-response time, drop your metrics, and soon you’re buried under an endless stream of unresolved tickets.

Falling resolution rates

As the workload piles up, your average resolution time can slip. Despite your best efforts, the gap between customer expectations and your responses continues to widen.

Tone gone wrong

With an overwhelming number of tickets, we might rush to reply quickly, which can make the emails sound curt or emotionless. We end up sounding rude or robotic without intending to. The lack of warmth can turn a neutral interaction into a negative experience.

Disappointing feedback

After all this, you work hard to respond to your customers and close all the tickets, aiming to solve their problems, yet the customer leaves a negative rating or an unhappy emoji. These negative rating can affect our CSAT scores leading to a more chilling experience than a Halloween scare.

Endless escalations

You’ve given your best, but tickets keep escalating one after another. Encountering one frustration after another while juggling deadlines is enough to make any support agent feel haunted by unfinished work.

Self-service pages

Imagine the customer's frustration when they're trying to find an answer, but the outdated knowledge base goes unpublished because it is outdated. What could have been resolved turns into a frustrated ticket.

Let's see how we can turn those spooky moments into spectacular ones.

Every “horror moment” in support can be transformed into an opportunity for excellence with the right tools, automation, and teamwork.

Organize your tickets

The prediction tools in Zoho Desk help you identify the high-priority tickets and learn from ticket history in less time. Zia can also detect anomalies and notify your team of tickets that require attention. The summary tools help you understand tickets and conversations quickly.

Use the default views and create custom views to categorize your tickets based on their assigned priority levels and due dates. Use various views under Workmodes to resolve tickets based on status, priority, and SLAs. The ticket notifications also help you view details where your name is tagged (@ mentions), unread, and flagged messages. These will help you resolve tickets quicker, leading to happy customers.

Assignment rules

Assignment rules help you distribute tickets evenly among agents so that one or two agents do not feel overwhelmed. Sharing the workload with fellow agents helps your team respond faster and serve customers more efficiently. The agent collision feature alerts you if two agents are working on the same ticket, thus avoiding duplicate efforts.

Workflow rules

Automate notifications for customer tickets or complaints. A simple response and acknowledgment can reassure customers that their issue is abeing ddressed to offer resolution.

Define service level agreements (SLAs)

Establish clear response and resolution times based on your business hours and ticket priorities. SLAs help you address the most urgent cases while maintaining service quality and consistency.

Update your availability status

Under profile, set your status for each support channel in Zoho Desk. When you’re online, you’ll be notified of new chats or emails to ensure nothing goes unnoticed.

Keep knowledge base (KB) articles updated

Set expiration dates for your help articles so you’re notified when it’s time to review or update them. Updating your knowledge base with the current information helps customers find the right answers faster, reducing ticket load.

Use Zia

Zia can help you sense the tone of the customers' emails. If you miss noticing the customer's emotions, Zia Insights and Zia Reply Assistance are at your service with emoticons and quick references to respond effectively. Zia insights give you an analysis of the customer's tone as well as the topics they discussed. You can also view the customer's CSAT ratings under their contact info.

Every one of these small steps can turn potential “frights” into smooth, positive experiences, both for you and your customers. The spooky moment in customer support can fade away with Zoho Desk's automation tools, AI-powered sentiment analysis, and unified knowledge base. This Halloween, while we celebrate with costumes and candy, let’s also celebrate the courage, creativity, and care of every customer support professional who turns the fright of a long queue into customer delights.

Wish you a happy Halloween! 🎃

Wishes from the Zoho Desk team 

• Topic Participants

• Lydia | Zoho Desk

  

• Ram Freedman

  

• Sticky Posts

• Register for Zoho Desk Beta Community

  With the start of the year, we have decided to take a small step in making the life of our customers a little easier. We now have easy access to all our upcoming features and a faster way to request for beta access. We open betas for some of our features

• Share your Zoho Desk story with us!

  Tell us how you use Zoho Desk for your business and inspire others with your story. Be it a simple workflow rule that helps you navigate complex processes or a macro that saves your team a lot of time; share it here and help the community learn and grow with shared knowledge. 

• Tip #1: Learn to pick the right channels

  Mail, live chat, telephony, social media, web forms—there are so many support channels out there. Trying to pick the right channels to offer your customers can get pretty confusing. Emails are most useful when the customer wants to put things on record. However, escalated or complicated issues should not be resolved over email because it's slow and impersonal.  When you need immediate responses, live chat is more suitable. It's also quick and convenient, so it's the go-to channel for small issues. 

• Welcome to Zoho Desk Community - Say hello here!

  Hello everyone! Though we have been here for a while, it’s time to formally establish the Zoho Desk Community; we’re really happy to have you all here! This can be the place where you take a moment to introduce yourself to the rest of the community. We’d love to hear all about you, what you do, what company or industry you work for, how you use Zoho Desk and anything else that you will like to share! Here’s a little about me. I am Chinmayee. I have been associated with Zoho since 2014. I joined here

• Webinar 1: Blueprint for Customer Service

  With the launch of a host of new features in Zoho Desk, we thought it’ll be great to have a few webinars to help our customers make the most of them. We’re starting off with our most talked about feature, Blueprint in Zoho Desk. You can register for the Blueprint webinar here: The webinar will be delivered by our in-house product experts. This is a good opportunity to ask questions to our experts and understand how Blueprint can help you automate your service processes. We look forward to seeing

• Recent Topics

• Request for Auto PO - Min–Max based Automated Purchase Feature

  Dear Zoho POS Team, I’m writing to request a feature enhancement that would significantly streamline inventory management for businesses using Zoho POS — particularly supermarkets, FMCG retail, and multi-store operations like ours. Feature Requested:

• Masters in UK – Experiences, Universities, and Career Outcomes

  This forum discussion is for students who are planning or considering a Masters in UK and want to gain practical insights beyond official university websites. The UK attracts international students due to its globally recognized universities, diverse

• Export your notes from Notebook!

  Dear users, The long awaited feature is now live. Yes, you can now export your notes from Notebook app in bulk. But the feature has just started with web app alone for now. You can try the export feature as mentioned below: Go to our web app, https://notebook.zoho.com Go to 'Settings' > 'Export' Now, select the format: You can select either ZNote or HTML Once done, you can use the same to import or can have this a local backup of your notes. Note: Export for other platforms are in development and

• Prepopulating Fields

  Hello, I have a form (Assets) with 2 lookup fields: Client (from Clients) Site (from Client Sites) I modified the code (highlighted in red below), so the Site dropdown shows the list of sites related to the Client. must have Client_Site ( type = picklist

• Unable to sort as Descending order

  Trying to change the sort order for a lookup field (checkboxes) from Ascending to Descending and keep getting an error in Deluge that the order must be Ascending Did anyone ran into this? Thanks Eyal

• Export Invoices to XML file

  Namaste! ZOHO suite of Apps is awesome and we as Partner, would like to use and implement the app´s from the Financial suite like ZOHO Invoice, but, in Portugal, we can only use certified Invoice Software and for this reason, we need to develop/customize on top of ZOHO Invoice to create an XML file with specific information and after this, go to the government and certified the software. As soon as we have for example, ZOHO CRM integrated with ZOHO Invoice up and running, our business opportunities

• Can I change the format of the buttons in the email templates?

  Hi all! We have been working hard trying to brand our email templates, and have some way to go yet. One of the things we can't seem to edit is the green ${Cases.CUSTOMER_PORTAL_BUTTON} button and the font of the View Ticket text. Is there any way of doing

• issue with deluge script

  i used chat gpt to build this script and I am getting 2 errors which I cannot figure out how to fix: void monthly_sales_order_generation() { try { // ---------------- CONFIG ------------------- analytics_url_1 = "https://analytics.zoho.com/api/<workspaceID>/report/<reportID1>/data";

• Introducing LinkedIn Apply Connect for Zoho Recruit

  Attract up to 3x more qualified candidates and hire more efficiently with LinkedIn Apply Connect. Let candidates fill-in job applications without any redirections, gain deeper insights with applicant highlights within Zoho Recruit, and keep candidates

• Recruit paid support?

  Hi all, Could anyone who has paid support package advise if it provides value for money with regards to support response times? Exploring the idea as unfortunately when we have faced issues with Recruit it has been a 7+ day timescale from reporting to

• Introducing Dedicated Modules for Plans, Addons, and Coupons in Zoho Billing

  We’ve enhanced the way you manage Plans, Addons, and Coupons in Zoho Billing. Previously, all three grouped together under Subscription Items. Now, each one has its own dedicated module, giving you a cleaner and more intuitive experience. This update

• Ticket Status email

  Good day, This was discussed in the past, but it would be helpful if we could have the system assign a custom response to a status. We have various statuses for tickets, e.g. "closed due to no response", or "Pending Status", it would be helpful for the

• 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

• Holidays

  Hi; For defining Holidays, you need to add logic to handle the year as well as the month & day. We need to be able to enter Holidays for the next year. I need to add a holiday for January 2, 2017, but I can't until January 1st, which is a Sunday and we

• Can I use a Standalone CRM Function as the Callback URL For Async Export Data API?

  I am creating an export job using this API https://www.zoho.com/analytics/api/v2/bulk-api/export-data-async/create-export/view-id.html There is a "callbackUrl" key in the CONFIG object. I tried copying the URL for a standalone function in CRM which can

• Future Orders - Due Date

  Hi In my role, I can receive tickets where the work required is requested months in advance. Using a Future Orders option, which I believe was setup under the On Hold status type, hides the Due Date, in all views/ticket etc. Whilst I understand the reasoning

• Introducing Withdrawal Reasons for Offers

  We’re excited to introduce a new enhancement to the Offer module that brings more clarity and accountability to every withdrawn offer. The Withdrawal Reason update ensures that each withdrawal — manual or automatic — is backed by a clear explanation,

• Zoho Creator customer portal users

  Hi, I'm in a Zoho One subscription with our company. I'm running a project now that involves creating a Zoho Creater application and using the Zoho Creator Customer Portal.  At most we need 25 customer portal users. In our Zoho One plan we only get 3

• GPS tracking only or Check out facility

  Dear Team, Zoho CRM is quite robust CRM but till date i was waiting for the feature of having GPS tracking of Sales employees which is a common demand by all customers for thier field sales executives. We cover them by saying that CRM provides Checkin

• HTML Tags added to Reports with Notes

  Recently Zoho added the ability to markup text within notes. That way, users can change font size, colors, etc. It's a great change. However, since the change, reports that include a column for "Note Content" are printing HTML tags within the report.

• In App Auto Refresh/Update Features

  Hi,    I am trying to use Zoho Creator for Restaurant management. While using the android apps, I reliased the apps would not auto refresh if there is new entries i.e new kitchen order ticket (KOT) from other users.   The apps does received notification but would not auto refresh, users required to refresh the apps manually in order to see the new KOT in the apps.    I am wondering why this features is not implemented? Or is this feature being considered to be implemented in the future? With the

• Appraisals on Employee Information Profile

  Is it possible to show completed appraisals on each employee's "Employee Information" page? I would presume at the bottom - similar to the "Related Lists" concept in Zoho CRM. Obviously view access would be limited to employee and appropriate other roles

• AI Interview Insights: Turn Recorded Interviews into Quick Transcripts & Summaries

  Evaluating interviews shouldn’t require replaying long recordings or taking manual notes. With AI Interview Insights, you can now review complete transcripts and AI-generated summaries of your One-way (Recorded) interviews right inside Zoho Recruit. This

• Kaizen #220: Actions API - Webhooks APIs - Part 2

  Hello all!! Welcome back to the follow-up Kaizen post of Kaizen #219: Actions API - Webhooks APIs - Part 1. In the previous week, we covered how to configure a basic Webhook and how to include Headers, Body, and URL Parameters using both the POST Webhook

• Standard Payment Term is not pulled from account to quotation

  Hey Team There seems to be something off. I do have "Net 30" as my default payment term in Zoho Books for my customers. If, from the customer overview or quote section, I create a new Quotation, the payment terms field stays blank and doesn't get the

• Canva Integration

  Hello! As many marketing departments are streamlining their teams, many have begun utilizing Canva for all design mockups and approvals prior to its integration into Marketing automation software. While Zoho Social has this integration already accomplished,

• Manage your invoices from Bigin's mobile app (iOS)

  Hello everyone! We're happy to announce that users can now integrate Zoho Books with the latest version of Bigin's iOS app. Zoho Books can be integrated with Bigin only via the web application. Users can view the Zoho Books tab in the detail pages of

• HubSpot CRM to Zoho Creator Integration

  I'm trying to create an integration between HubSpot CRM and Zoho Creator with HubSpot being the push source (if a contact is created or updated in HubSpot, it pushes the information to Zoho Creator). I have two questions: 1- Is it best to use Zoho Flow

• Systematic SPF alignment issues with Zoho subdomains

  Analysis Period: August 19 - September 1, 2025 PROBLEM SUMMARY Multiple Zoho services are causing systematic SPF authentication failures in DMARC reports from major email providers (Google, Microsoft, Zoho). While emails are successfully delivered due

• Accessibility controls and multilingual captcha authorization for Help Center users ​

  Hello everyone, As part of our ongoing effort to improve user experience, we are excited about the accessibility controls and predefined accessibility personas added in the Help Center, similar to what is already available in Zoho Desk. Help Center users

• Gain control over record sharing with portal users through our new enhancement: criteria-based data exposure

  Dear Customers, We hope you're well! Portals is a self-service avenue through which your clients can access and manage their direct and related data in Zoho CRM. This empowers them to be more independent and enables them to experience a sense of transparency

• Zoho Sign + Zoho CRM : la solution pour simplifier vos accords de vente

  La conclusion d’un contrat de vente nécessite de nombreuses étapes : préparation de documents, validations successives et collecte des signatures. Les équipes commerciales passent souvent par plusieurs cycles de collaboration et de révision, tout en assurant

• Zoho Desk Limitations

  Good day, all, I would like to know whether others share my frustration with some of Zoho's limitations. Don't get me wrong, I like Desk (and I also have a subscription for Analytics), I have been with them for close to 10 years, and unfortunately, I

• Item/service subtotal

  Just discovered & really pleased that we can drag to re-order the line items in Sales orders & Invoices, a very nice feature which doesn't seem to be documented? It would be nice to be able to insert a subtotal as a line item to complete this great feature

• Converting Sales Order to Purchase Order

  Hi All, Firstly, this code works to convert a sales order(SO) to a purchase order (PO) via a button, however I am running into an issue when I convert the SO where the values from the line items are not pulled across from the SO to the PO. The ones in

• how to Solve Conflict Invoices in Zoho POS

  Hello Team, I am facing a repeated issue in Zoho POS while saving a sale that contains service-based items. My products are intentionally created as Service (Non-Inventory) items because I do not want to track stock for them. However, every time I try

• 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

• Copy, Paste, Highlighted text

  when i copy paste text it gets highlighted. Fix this.  WTF is with this black highlight ? Fix copy pasting. Some people pay for using this mail service. 

• Pricing Strategies: #6 Common Mistakes while Configuring Pricing

  "Why does this month's billing feel messy again?" That was the exact line Priya muttered while staring at the spreadsheet full of edited pricing, one-off discounts and mismatched subscription details. Her business was growing, but the pricing machine

• Publish to LinkedIn via API

  Hi, Is it possible to publish a job opening to LinkedIn (paid job slots) if creating a job opening via api / deluge function? Or is the user required to manually publish via the job boards process? Many Thanks Adrian

• Next Page