How Headout Streamlines and Unifies Internal Support Across Slack and Zendesk with ClearFeed

1. Operational Tasks: Issues related to daily operations, such as booking management, activity updates, and vendor communications.
2. Marketing and Product Changes: Requests for content updates, product changes on the website, and marketing campaign support.
3. Finance-Related Queries: Handling invoices, payment processing, and financial discrepancies.
4. HR Requests: Employee-related issues, such as payroll problems, document requests, and internal policy questions.

Initially, Headout's internal support operations were fragmented, with teams using various tools such as Email, Slack, Trello, and Google Sheets to manage tasks and internal communications. This fragmentation led to inefficiencies and difficulties in tracking and managing internal requests, hindering the company’s ability to deliver consistent service.

Headout transitioned to Zendesk as its ticketing system for structured and comprehensive support management to streamline its internal processes.

Managing Slack Chaos

While Zendesk allowed Headout to consolidate all its Support requests in one platform - employees preferred working in Slack for real-time communication and cross-team collaboration within the organization. While Slack allowed greater collaboration, fast speed, and great mobile access - the company began facing challenges as it expanded.

1. Influx of requests in Slack: With an increasing number of employees and Slack channels - support requests originating in Slack proliferated - creating a disorganized environment that hindered effective tracking and closure of requests.
2. Platform silos: The absence of integration between Slack and Zendesk created platform silos. This disconnect made it challenging to track and manage support queries effectively across different tools.
3. Lack of consolidated queues of Slack-based requests: With the expansion of Slack-originated requests, the team lacked a unified view from which they could manage all support requests and ensure everything was resolved promptly.
4. Unclear request handling: There was no clarity on where to submit requests on Slack - or who was working on a specific request reported in Slack, the request status, or how many requests were being resolved on a particular day.

These challenges highlighted the need for an integrated helpdesk across Slack and Zendesk - that would combine the ease of handling internal requests in Slack while tracking tickets seamlessly in Zendesk. 

Headout first implemented Halp to streamline support operations in Slack. However, Halp's stagnant roadmap and eventual shutdown prompted Headout to evaluate several tools in the market before eventually adopting ClearFeed.

The ClearFeed Advantage

After implementing ClearFeed, Headout has streamlined and enhanced internal support workflows, driving efficiency across teams. With hundreds of employees using Slack to raise and solve support requests, ClearFeed powers the entire support flow within Slack, ensuring smooth operations and effective support management.

• Unified view of support requests: Before ClearFeed, tracking and prioritizing support requests was chaotic, often leading to lost messages. ClearFeed's Triage Channel centralizes requests coming in from different Slack users in a Collection for efficient response management. There is a unified view of support requests and tickets across 20+ collections and 18+ Triage Channels.
  

• Two-way sync between Slack and Zendesk: Support teams can work from either Slack or Zendesk with all conversations including attachments, status updates, and private comments in sync in real-time across both platforms.
• Effective routing of Tickets: With ClearFeed, employees at Headout can create tickets with a single click or using Slash commands in Slack. ClearFeed handles the routing of these requests to the appropriate channel in Slack and ensures they are directed to the correct queue in Zendesk. This streamlined process ensures that all tickets are efficiently managed and reach the right team members for resolution.
• Creating and Importing Forms from Zendesk to Slack: The team can raise Zendesk tickets directly from Slack. The system is configured to prompt employees across departments to fill out Zendesk Forms from Slack, ensuring all necessary information is captured. 
  
  ClearFeed supports multiple Zendesk Forms, allowing the Headout team to modify forms with standard and custom fields. They have created over 70+ Forms for different use cases, enabling efficient ticket creation in Slack and ensuring all necessary information is captured.
  
• Multiple Zendesk Domain Connectivity: ClearFeed integrates three different Zendesk domains within Headout’s single Slack workspace, centralizing ticket management across departments in a familiar Slack environment.
  

• Manage sensitive requests in Slack: Headout handles a variety of sensitive internal requests, particularly from HR. With ClearFeed's Private Ticketing feature, these requests are managed discreetly and securely within Slack.
  
• Single App to manage all support intake: ClearFeed acts as a single window for employees to get work done across different teams while staying on Slack. Employees can raise tickets, get updates, and filter open tickets directly from the ClearFeed app. This simplifies the process by eliminating the need to figure out whom to contact or which channel to use and helps keep track of open tasks and follow-ups.
  
• Low-learning curve: The Headout team quickly adapted to the new system, reducing downtime and enabling effective platform use from the start. This ease of use has been crucial for maintaining productivity and minimizing disruption during the transition.
  

Results

The implementation of ClearFeed transformed Headout’s internal support workflow. Employees could raise tickets through Slack, and discussion threads could be converted into tickets, ensuring unified support and efficient query resolution.

• Efficient Handling of High-Volume of Internal Requests: With ClearFeed's Slack integration, Headout has transformed its support capabilities, ensuring all internal Slack channels are being adequately monitored and responded to. The team effectively manages requests from hundreds of employees across ~20 Triage Channels, demonstrating a robust and efficient internal support system.
  

• Optimized Team Collaboration: The adoption of ClearFeed resulted in better collaboration between the internal teams. Now, all team members, not just support agents, participate in the support process without needing additional light-agent Zendesk licenses. This broadens the collaborative environment, enabling subject matter experts to contribute directly to issue resolution.

• Streamlined Operational Workflows: By reducing manual effort for ticket categorization, assignment, and updates, ClearFeed facilitates smoother operational workflows. This allows teams to focus more on resolving issues efficiently rather than getting bogged down by administrative tasks.
  
• Scale Without Extra Resources: ClearFeed streamlined Headout's internal support, enabling the team to handle more requests efficiently without needing extra staff. This improvement ensured high service standards and allowed Headout to provide excellent services to its customers.
  

Wrapping Up

Headout's implementation of ClearFeed has transformed its internal support system. By integrating Slack and Zendesk, ClearFeed provides a unified platform for efficient request management, enabling Headout to maintain high productivity and operational excellence. 

With enhanced visibility and more organized support workflows, Headout is now better equipped to maintain exceptional service standards, ensuring that its internal teams can focus on delivering the best possible experiences to its customers.

If you are curious to learn how ClearFeed can streamline and enhance your support in Slack, contact us at support@clearfeed.ai or book a free demo with our support experts.