How (And Why) to Sync Zendesk and Slack With Automated 2-Way Updates

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Published in Product on 24/10/2023, last updated 01/03/2024.

In one corner, you have Zendesk as your go-to platform for nurturing customer relationships with your customer experience (CX) team. In the other, Slack is the fortress holding down all your internal communications. Both are crucial, but you may find yourself wondering how to keep other departments informed on customer support efforts.

Zendesk’s intuitive ticket system and user-friendly dashboard make life easier for your CX department. But at the same time, it can sometimes feel like an isolated island for your customer service agents. And while Slack is great for team chats and updates, it isn’t exactly cut out for customer-facing tasks. 

So, what if you could combine the best of both worlds into one seamless experience? That’s where a Zendesk-Slack integration comes into play. 

Unito’s two-way integration between Zendesk and Slack enables teams to efficiently collaborate and manage customer inquiries in real time. 

Let’s explore how and why a Slack-Zendesk integration is a must-have combo for seamless cross-team communication.

In this article:

• The problems with native Zendesk-Slack integrations
• Why connect Zendesk and Slack?
• Set up a self-serve Zendesk Slack integration
• Decide where to create new tickets or groups
• Set rules for which Zendesk tickets or Slack messages to sync
• Pick fields to pair between Zendesk and Slack
• What’s next after integrating Zendesk with Slack?

The problems with native Zendesk-Slack integrations

Native Zendesk-Slack integrations — the ones built right into each tool — are a bit of a mixed bag. As they currently stand, they allow you to automate routine tasks by auto-assigning tickets to specific Slack channels based on tags. They have some significant downsides.

Untailored Notifications

Sure, native integrations let you receive ticket notifications in Slack channels. This, in theory, can be helpful. 

But let’s be real — if your customer service team, for example, is getting notified for every ticket created by your engineering team, it gets overwhelming, very fast. Eventually, your CX agents either get distracted by constant notifications or flat-out ignore them. 

Both of these outcomes are a detriment to your team’s productivity and their ability to deliver a good customer experience.

Limited scope and functionality

While you can assign tickets to specific Slack channels based on tags like “technical” or “marketing”, these native integrations still often lack the depth and flexibility that modern teams need. For example, you can’t update a Zendesk ticket’s status or add comments directly from Slack the same way a two-way integration can.

Why connect Zendesk and Slack with Unito?

The functionality you get with Unito’s bidirectional sync between Zendesk and Slack is a game-changer for cross-team collaboration.

Break Down Information Silos

Your CX team in Zendesk may find themselves operating in a bubble — separate from the rest of the organization. When they need insights or approval from another department, they’d have to share links, or manually pull colleagues into tickets. 

Needless to say, the process can be slow and cumbersome, ultimately delaying responses and causing a less-than-optimal customer experience. 

Thankfully, Unito’s two-way Zendesk-Slack integration eliminates the back-and-forth, waiting for responses, and tedious sharing of information that drains productivity and efficiency. Integrating Slack with Zendesk allows quick, seamless information sharing between departments. 

Improved customer experience

With a two-way sync, your CX team can quickly consult with product managers or engineers on Slack so they can resolve customer issues much faster and with more confidence. 

Faster problem-solving = happier customers!

Better collaboration

Your team will now be able to update tickets, communicate with team members, and even escalate issues without leaving their preferred platform. 

For example, nobody on your marketing team has to go through all the hassle of learning how to create groups, or raising tickets on Zendesk — they can just stay in Slack and rely on Unito to do all the work for them. 

Why force your teams to switch between apps when they don’t have to?

Notify your team about incoming VIP tickets

With Unito, flows can create Slack messages based on Zendesk tickets or other triggers (and vice versa). This enables your CX teams to gain more control over how and when updates are shared in Slack, as well as the level of detail in those updates. 

For instance, if you have a VIP user tag on incoming tickets, those tickets can be flagged in a Slack channel for teams handling VIP customer requests. 

And if multiple teams need to be in the loop, Unito allows you to duplicate flows that will notify all of them easily. This makes sure that cross-functional teams are fully informed and can approach the situation more tactfully.

The ability to set up powerful two-way syncs without writing a single line of code, and being able to tailor them to your specific use case, is made easy with Unito.

How to use Unito to set up your Zendesk-Slack integration

Through a few simple steps, you can connect Zendesk and Slack with automated updates so that any time a specific type of ticket is created in Zendesk, a message will appear in your specified Slack channel with information for your team.

Connect Zendesk and Slack to Unito

Log in to the Unito App and select +Create Flow.

Then, select Start Here to connect Zendesk and Slack.

Choose the Zendesk and Slack accounts you want to connect, as well as a specific Zendesk group and Slack channel.

Once that’s done, select Confirm.

Decide where Unito should create new tickets or groups

Click on the directional arrows to determine your integration’s flow direction. This tells Unito to: 

• Create new Slack messages based on new Zendesk tickets
• Create/update Zendesk tickets based on Slack activity
• Or both. 

Learn more about flow direction.

Set rules for which Zendesk tickets or Slack messages to sync

Select Add a new trigger to pick rules that tell Unito what actions in Zendesk or Slack will enable new tickets or messages to appear in the other. 

For example, you could include a rule telling Unito that only Zendesk tickets marked with “marketing” should become Slack messages. 

Find out more about setting rules.

Pick fields to pair between Zendesk and Slack

If you select auto-map here, Unito will pair up Slack channels with the title of your Zendesk Group and turn Slack messages into Zendesk tickets, which is the ideal setup for this integration. 

You can set additional mappings in this or any other Unito flow with the + Add mapping button, then Select a field to pair two fields together. 

Learn more about Field Mappings

Save and launch your Slack Zendesk integration

Hit Save and now you can test out your flow. 

Try creating a Zendesk ticket or send a Slack message from your connect accounts to make sure everything works smoothly. If it does, you may now want to sync historical work items.

To do this, head back to your rules and click the trash can icon next to the “creation date” condition. This just allows Unito to sync your old Zendesk tickets or Slack messages that match the rest of your rules.

What’s next after integrating Zendesk with Slack?

If you’ve followed the steps above, your flow will:

• Create Zendesk tickets based on Slack messages from your specified channel.
• Send Slack messages based on the triggers set in your rules. 
• Enable teams to collaborate quickly and efficiently between Slack and Zendesk with an automated 2-way sync. 

Also, now that you’ve set up a Zendesk-Slack integration, you can easily duplicate the workflow across other teams or use cases. 

For example, if you’ve just set up a flow to integrate your engineering team on Slack to your CX team on Zendesk, why not duplicate the flow and connect your dev team to your marketing team’s Slack channel? 

You can also turn your Zendesk tickets into Trello cards to offer better customer support with Unito’s Zendesk-Trello integration. Here’s a full list of Unito’s resources for Zendesk users. 

With over 30 major platforms supported, Unito makes it easier than ever to sync your data and create a powerful, all-in-one experience. Meet your targets, save time and money, drive ROI, and foster cross-team collaboration — all with one tool. Get started today in 12 minutes or less.