The queue can be so full that it’s easy to get caught up in the noise and lose track of what should be handled first.
That’s where defining what is a priority comes in. One tool to cut through the noise is Zendesk’s ticket priority system, which helps support teams prioritize customer issues based on urgency and importance.
In this article, we’ll cover everything you need to know about Zendesk ticket priority, including how to set it up, best practices, and pro tips for getting the most out of your help desk system.
Is It Possible to Set Priority Parameters for Tickets in Zendesk?
Yes, Zendesk allows you to set priority parameters for tickets. The ability to prioritize tickets ensures that high-priority issues are addressed quickly, improving response time and customer satisfaction.
Agents can set priority parameters manually or automatically through Zendesk triggers and automations. You can also leverage tools for Triggers+ChatGPT for additional automation options.
These features help categorize incoming tickets based on the specific conditions you define, such as the ticket's subject, the customer's priority level, the contact channel, or any other custom object you have defined.
What Are Zendesk's Priority Levels?
Zendesk offers four default priority levels that help categorize the urgency of customer requests, Low, Normal, High, and Urgent.
Having four priority levels means that there are a lot of ways that you can use them to create clarity. Here are a few examples of how you can define urgency levels for your needs:
Time
As conversations become stale, or begin to reach your specific Service Level Agreements (SLAs), you can increase the priority of your tickets automatically.
Customer or Segment
As an organization, you may have different customer segments or specific customers that you would like to handle with priority.
You can identify these customers with a specific field or via their email domain when they submit a ticket. This is essential if you commit to specific SLAs for higher-paying customers.
Ticket Content
With the ticket parser app, you can automatically parse and fill Zendesk ticket fields. This means that you can define priorities based on a ticket's content, whether specific phrases or trigger words that can be used in a custom field.
Most companies pick a lower priority for things like feature requests and feedback, for example.
Contact Channel
In some cases, one particular channel may hold priority over another. For example, live chat where a customer may be waiting in real time for a resolution.
Customers typically expect a response on live chat within 5 minutes, whereas 1 hour would be considered good for email.
You can play around with these to ensure you prioritize the things important to your business.
For example, in e-commerce, you might prioritize issues affecting the purchasing process, escalate shipping delays during peak seasons, or focus on cart abandonment.
In SaaS, your high-priority or urgent cases might be issues with logging in, billing, or system availability concerns.
Zendesk Ticket Field Types
In Zendesk, ticket fields are used to collect and organize information about a ticket. Several different types of ticket fields can be utilized to understand the context of a ticket and its priority:
Text: Allow agents or automation to input detailed information.
Dropdown: Useful for setting categories like ticket priority, issue type, or customer segment.
Numeric: Can be used to store numeric values.
Checkbox: Used for simple yes/no data collection.
Date: Helpful for tracking SLAs, deadlines, or issue timelines.
By properly configuring these fields, you can better identify the information needed to prioritize tickets and route them effectively.
Custom Ticket Fields in Zendesk
Zendesk also allows for the creation of custom ticket fields to tailor the support process to your business's needs. Custom ticket fields can be added to capture unique information that the default fields may not cover.
For instance, if your business requires tracking of specific product versions or customer segments, custom fields can provide this data directly within each ticket.
Custom fields help agents better understand a ticket's context and allow for more precise reporting and workflow automation.
The sky’s the limit when it comes to custom fields and the types of information you can capture there.
Here are some examples:
Customer tier.
Account value.
App or browser version.
Type of integration.
Impacted feature.
How to Set the Priority of Tickets in Zendesk
Setting ticket priority in Zendesk can be done both manually and automatically:
Manually: Agents can set a ticket's priority by selecting the appropriate level from the priority dropdown menu when viewing or editing a ticket.
Automatically: You can set up triggers and automations to assign priorities based on certain criteria, such as keywords in the subject, the customer's email domain, or the contact channel (e.g., email, phone, or chat).
For example, a ticket from a VIP customer can be automatically set to "High" priority based on their email domain, while tickets from regular customers may default to "Normal" priority.
5 Best Practices to Prioritize Tickets in Zendesk
Set clear priority definitions
Make sure your team understands each priority level. Provide clear guidelines to help ensure that tickets are consistently prioritized across your team.
It’s often a good idea to show them how and when to overwrite automatically set Zendesk priority levels when they realize how important the reported issue is.
Use triggers and automation
Automate as much as possible to minimize manual effort.
Triggers can help automatically assign priority levels based on specific ticket attributes, which can be a powerful tool in reducing the load on your team.
In general, you want to ensure that urgent tickets are handled as quickly as possible, to reduce frustration levels on both your agents’ and customers’ sides.
Define your SLAs
Tickets that come through certain channels (such as phone or chat) may have stricter service level agreements compared to those received via email.
Define your SLAs to ensure that you can prioritize appropriately. You can also adapt SLAs based on the first response versus subsequent responses.
Regularly review ticket queues
Review and adjust ticket priorities regularly to ensure high-priority issues are being addressed promptly. Situations can change, and it is important to adjust accordingly as your business evolves.
You might scan the queue at different times of day or week, or during your busiest seasons to see if any important cases are hanging out at the bottom of the queue.
Train your agents
Proper training ensures agents know when and how to adjust ticket priorities. Empowering agents to make informed decisions helps improve response times and customer satisfaction.
How to Set Ticket Priority in Zendesk with Triggers
Triggers in Zendesk are powerful tools that allow you to automate workflows, including setting ticket priorities. Here’s how you can set ticket priority using triggers:
Navigate to the Triggers settings: Go to the Admin Center, and under the “Objects and rules” section, select “Triggers.”
Create a new Trigger: Click “Add Trigger” and give it a name that reflects its purpose, such as “Set High Priority for VIP Customers.” for example.
Define conditions: Set conditions for the trigger, such as "Ticket: Received at" or "Customer: Organization is VIP."
Set actions: Under actions, select "Ticket: Priority" and choose the priority level you want to assign.
Save and activate: Save the trigger and activate it to start automating ticket priorities.
Triggers are a great way to streamline your workflow, ensuring that tickets are prioritized correctly without needing manual intervention.
The most important thing to remember when setting triggers is that Zendesk will always run them in order.
Most teams first run any triggers to categorize tickets, then assign priorities, and then assign them to groups or agents. Aiming for an overarching structure like this makes avoiding overlapping or conflicting triggers easier.
Why Priorities Are a Key Component to Success
Getting ticket priorities right can make or break your team’s efficiency.
By using priority levels, setting up custom ticket fields, and leveraging triggers and automations, you can ensure that your support team is always focused on what matters most—addressing the most pressing customer needs promptly.
Implementing these best practices will help you provide a seamless experience. If you’re looking to optimize your Zendesk setup further, tools like the Triggers+ Platform can help streamline your workflow and enhance productivity.
For more on prioritizing tickets and managing Zendesk efficiently, start your free 14-day trial today, no credit card required.
Neal Travis
Neal is a curious learner and builder of customer experiences in scale-ups. He is the Head of Customer Experience at the Academy to Innovate HR (AIHR) and Host of Growth Support.