Smarter Week

How to automate it

How to automate “wait on other teams for an answer to give the customer”

Here are 2 ways to spend less time on this, best first. Each comes with steps you can follow today.

20 min
typically, every day
30%
of the time can be automated
Some setup
to set up

Fix 1 of 2

Process fixBest fix

Agree response times and one channel for internal questions

Questions to other teams get stuck in DMs. A single channel or queue with an agreed response time, and a named owner each week, cuts the waiting.

Typically saves about 30% of the time45 min to set up
  1. 1Create one channel or queue per team you rely on (billing, product, engineering).
  2. 2Agree a response target, for example four working hours.
  3. 3Ask each team to name a weekly on-call person for support questions.
  4. 4Track repeat questions and turn the answers into internal articles.

Tools: Slack or Teams channels · Jira Service Management · Zendesk side conversations

Fix 2 of 2

Software feature

Link tickets to Jira or Linear issues instead of retyping them

The Jira, Linear and Azure DevOps integrations create the issue from the ticket, link every affected customer to it, and show status changes back in the helpdesk.

Typically saves about 40% of the time45 min to set up
  1. 1Install the Jira, Linear or Azure DevOps app in your helpdesk.
  2. 2Agree a bug template with engineering (steps, expected, actual, account, screenshots).
  3. 3Create or link the issue from inside the ticket.
  4. 4Link new reports of the same bug to the existing issue instead of filing new ones.

Tools: Jira integration · Linear integration · Azure DevOps integration · Zendesk, Intercom or Freshdesk

Who does this task

Roles in our library that list this as one of their common tasks. Each guide covers the rest of that role’s week.

Customer Support AgentCustomer Success Manager

HourLeak · the 8-minute work audit

How many hours does this cost you?

The free 8-minute check works out where your week goes and gives you your top fixes. The team scan does the same for everyone and adds it up, so you know which leaks to fix first.

Take the free check Scan my team, $49

Answers are anonymous. Leaders only see team totals.

Other common tasks for Customer Support Agents