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Zendesk
- 30-day free trial
- 100+ integrations
- Omnichannel support
- Intelligent AI usage
- No self-hosting
- Only ticketing support provided
Zendesk is a cloud-based customer support platform that enables organizations to deliver seamless and personalized assistance.
Zendesk allows you to communicate with your customers via email, phone, chat, social media, or self-service alternatives, and handle their concerns quickly and effectively.
But is Zendesk the best solution for your company? In this review, we’ll look at Zendesk’s benefits and drawbacks, as well as its price plans and how it stacks up against other customer support software options.
Keep reading to find out whether Zendesk can match your requirements and expectations.
SMB Guide’s Verdict for Zendesk
SMB Guide conducted a deep-dive into the software features of appointment scheduling software to best rate it. We use a wide range of evaluation criteria for the softwares we review.
Based on our analysis, I’m giving Zendesk an overall score of 8.6 out of 10.
We use a wide range of evaluation factors when assessing products and services. Please visit the SMB Guide evaluation criteria page for further information.
Pricing & Plans
Zendesk offers four plans for its customer service software suite, ranging from $25 to $149 per agent per month. Each plan includes different features and capabilities to suit the needs and budgets of remote businesses.
Zendesk also offers a 14-day free trial for all plans and a freemium plan for up to three agents.
Suite Team
This is the most basic plan that provides essential tools for remote customer support.
Price
- $55 per agent per month (billed annually)
- $69 per agent per month (billed monthly)
Features
- Omnichannel support across email, chat, phone, social media, and web
- Ticket management
- Pre-built analysis and dashboards
- Macros
- Triggers and automations
- Digital onboarding and adoption resources
Who it’s for: Small teams with basic needs who want to provide fast and efficient support across multiple channels.
Suite Growth
This is the next-level plan that adds more features and functionality to handle increasing ticket volumes and customer expectations.
Price
- $89 per agent per month (billed annually)
- $115 per agent per month (billed monthly)
Features
- Multiple ticket forms
- SLA managements
- Light agents
- Customer Satisfaction Ratings
- Multilingual support and content
- Self-service portal
- Define business hours
Who it’s for: Teams who need to manage rising ticket volumes and provide more personalized and proactive support.
Suite Professional
This is the advanced plan that enables remote teams to optimize their service operations and improve their efficiency and productivity.
Price
- $115 per agent per month (billed annually)
- $149 per agent per month (billed monthly)
Features
- Customized and live analytics
- Skill-based routing
- Access to Sunshine conversations
- Advanced AI add-ons
- HIPAA enabled
Who it’s for: Teams needing to optimize their service operations and leverage AI and automation to improve efficiency and quality.
Suite Enterprise
This is the premium plan that empowers remote teams to create personalized service experiences and scale their support globally.
Price
- Customized package
Features
- Customizable live dashboards
- Sandbox
- Advanced data privacy and protections
- Customized agent roles
- Dynamic, contextual workspaces
Who it’s for: This plan is best for teams and companies needing to create personalized service experiences and scale their support globally.
Real-Time Messaging & Canned Responses
Zendesk offers real-time messaging features that allow users to communicate with customers and prospects instantly via chat.
The software delivers fast and reliable chat performance, ensuring that messages are sent and received without delays or interruptions.
Zendesk also provides canned responses, which are pre-defined templates or saved replies that users can use to streamline their responses and improve their efficiency during chats.
Users can create and manage canned responses from the Zendesk dashboard, and customize them according to their needs.
Users can also personalize canned responses by inserting dynamic variables such as the visitor’s name, location, or product of interest.
Coworkers receive communication notifications even when they are not in the CRM since the system integrates with collaboration applications like Slack and Teams seamlessly.
Live Chat AI & NLP
Zendes’s live chat AI and natural language processing (NLP) features enable users to leverage chatbots to automate and enhance their chat support.
Zendesk’s chatbots can understand and respond to user queries accurately, using natural language and conversational flows.
The chatbots can handle complex conversations, such as collecting user information, providing answers, resolving issues, or escalating to human agents when needed.
Users who have opted for the Professional and Enterprise plans can opt for advanced AI features like industry and organization-based AI customization and AI intent automation,
Intelligent triage, macro suggestion for admins, and more.
Zendesk’s chatbots are built on top of the Zendesk platform, which means that they can be easily integrated with other Zendesk products like Support, Guide, and Chat.
The chatbots can also be integrated with third-party applications through APIs.
Customizable Chat Widgets
Zendesk allows users to customize their chat widgets, which are the chat windows that appear on the end user’s website or mobile app.
On higher plans, users can modify the appearance and functionality of their chat widgets to suit their brand and website design.
Companies with Professional and Enterprise plans have advanced customization features like personalized live analytics, customized agent roles, and even private custom integrations.
You may personalize user dashboards with relevant information to help sales staff better understand a particular client before speaking with them.
Users can also change the colors, fonts, logos, and positioning of their chat widgets. You can also configure automated greetings and pre-chat forms for their chat widgets, which enable them to collect visitor information such as name, email, phone number, or any other custom fields.
Users can use this information to segment and target their visitors based on their attributes or behavior.
Visitor Tracking & Analytics
Zendesk provides visitor tracking and analytics features that help users gain insights into their visitor behavior on their website or mobile app.
The software has built-in reporting capabilities that allow organizations to monitor critical customer support metrics including response times, resolution rates, and customer satisfaction.
These insights can help businesses discover areas for development and optimize their support procedures.
You can use these analytics to understand their visitor needs, preferences, pain points, and expectations to help them serve your customers better.
Plus, you can tailor your support and marketing strategies, as well as identify potential leads for proactive engagement.
User Interface and User Experience
Zendesk prioritizes easy and rapid cross-departmental collaboration. The user interface is elegant, contemporary, and simple to use, with a dashboard displaying essential data, tickets, and tasks.
The user experience is also intuitive and user-friendly, with tools including ticket forms, macros, triggers, automations, and workflows to assist agents in rapidly handling and addressing client concerns.
Zendesk also provides customization options, such as the ability to remove the “Zendesk” or “Powered by Sunshine Conversations” branding (on Professional and Enterprise subscriptions, respectively), themes, widgets, and applications, allowing customers to personalize the program to their individual requirements and tastes.
Zendesk also offers a streamlined onboarding experience, including guided tutorials, videos, and webinars to assist users get started quickly.
Integrations and Compatibility
Zendesk integrates with a broad variety of tools and systems widely used in customer service.
It works nicely with prominent CRM, marketing, analytics, and support applications including Zendesk Sunshine suite, Slack, Jira, Mailchimp, Google Play, Zoom, and MS Teams.
Users can also use the Zendesk Marketplace to browse and install applications that enhance Zendesk’s capabilities.
Zendesk also provides APIs, pre-built integrations, and a marketplace with over 1,200 apps that let customers connect the software to other platforms and services they use.
The integration procedure is often simple and uncomplicated, with little preparation necessary.
Customer Support
Zendesk provides a high level of customer support to its users. Their support team is available 24/7 and is responsive and helpful, with an average first response time of 24 hours.
Users can contact the support team via email, live chat, or phone, depending on their plan and location. However, note that you first need to send a support request ticket using the Zendesk platform to get a callback or response.
Zendesk also offers vast self-help resources, such as documentation, knowledge base articles, FAQs, and community forums, that answer common questions and issues.
Moreover, Zendesk provides training courses, certifications, and best practices that help users learn and improve their skills.
Zendesk — Unique Features
Zendesk is undoubtedly one of the most renowned live chat software in the market. Here’s what makes it a tier above the rest.
Omnichannel approach
Zendesk allows users to manage and track customer interactions across multiple channels, such as email, phone, chat, social media, and messaging apps.
This helps users provide a unified and consistent experience for their customers across different touchpoints.
Zendesk sunshine suite
The Zendesk Sunshine suite is Zendesk’s open and flexible CRM platform that allows users to connect and manage all their customer data from any source.
Users can create custom objects and events to track any aspect of the customer journey, such as products purchased, preferences, feedback etc.
Users can also use Sunshine Conversations to build rich messaging experiences across any channel.
What the Experts Say About Zendesk
Zendesk has several reviews on how it helps in customer support for its customers on the following platforms:
- 4.4/5 stars at Capterra (3,500+ reviews)
- 4.3/5 stars at G2 (5,000+ reviews)
- 8.2/10 stars at TrustRadius (900+ reviews)
We have done quite well. We have already more than 2000 Tickets attended with the tool in our 2 subscriptions. It has allowed us to keep a good control of our service and has allowed us to improve response times and quality of service, since the reports help to keep each Ticket impartially between us and the clients.
Oscar A., Manager – Verified Capterra review
Overall, Zendesk is an easy-to-use, reliable CRM platform that integrates well with most popular order processing platforms, webstores, shipping logistics services, and can handle intricate operations such as Subscription administration, phone calls, live chat support, and more. Also, the reporting features available offer alot of flexibility to create reports that are helpful for your business and goals in Customer Support. I chatted on Zendesk daily and love the way it handles live chat support for Agents.
Patrick W., Tech Support Agent – Verified Capterra review
Zendesk Alternatives
If you are looking for a Zendesk alternative, you might want to consider the following options.
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4.5
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4.5
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4.0
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$20/user/mo - $59/user/mo
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Free - $800/mo
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LiveChat
LiveChat is a top live chat software that lets you engage with your consumers in real time. It also works with other tools like email, CRM, social networking, and more.
LiveChat includes a straightforward UI, customizable widgets, sophisticated reporting, and automation capabilities. LiveChat is more economical, starting at $20 per agent each month when invoiced annually, and includes a 14-day free trial.
LiveChat is ideal for organizations who want to boost conversions, revenues, and client loyalty without spending a lot.
Start 14-day free trial of LiveChat today!
HubSpot Live Chat
HubSpot Live Chat is another famous live chat software that is integrated into HubSpot’s CRM platform. It allows you to communicate with prospects and customers through your website and deliver tailored service.
HubSpot Live Chat integrates seamlessly with the Hubspot suite of tools, allowing you to gather leads, plan meetings, send follow-up emails, and measure your success.
HubSpot Live Chat is best suited for companies looking to include live chat into their inbound marketing strategy. Their plans start at $18 per month when invoiced yearly.
Get started with HubSpot Live Chat for free
Smartsupp
Smartsupp is a simple and economical live chat software that can help you engage your visitors and increase revenue. It includes features like e-commerce integration, chatbots, visitor statistics, and more.
Smartsupp features a straightforward pricing approach that begins at $19.5 per agent per month when paid annually, and even has a free plan for one agent with up to 100 chats per month.
Smartsupp is ideal for small organizations looking to use live chat as a feedback tool and enhance website usability.
Other options: Best Zendesk Alternatives
Getting Started with Zendesk
Zendesk is a powerful and versatile customer service software that can help you provide better support to your customers.
If you want to try Zendesk for yourself, you can sign up for a free trial.
FAQs
What is Zendesk?
Zendesk is a cloud-based customer service software that helps businesses provide seamless support across multiple channels, such as email, phone, chat, social media, and self-service.
What are the main features of Zendesk?
Zendesk has a wide range of features that cover different aspects of customer service, such as Agent Workspace, CX-powered AI, Sunshine CRM platform, and more.
What are the best alternatives to Zendesk?
The top alternatives for Zendesk are Freshdesk, Gorgias, and HubSpot Live Chat. The best alternative for you depends on your requirements.
Related reading:
LiveChat is a complete customer service platform that delights your customers and fuels your sales.
Zendesk
Zendesk is award-winning customer service software trusted by 200K+ customers.
Product Brand: Zendesk
4.3
Beatrice is a seasoned productivity writer with a knack for uncovering game-changing productivity hacks that simplify life routines. Armed with a triple major in Commerce, Accounting, and Insurance, she also runs her own digital consulting firm. You'll usually find her immersed in crafting captivating literary novels and traveling the world.