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Intercom vs Zendesk: A comparison of the popular customer support platforms

If you've ever looked into the topic of customer support platforms, then you've probably come across the terms Zendesk and Intercom. But what is the difference between the two systems and which one offers the most advantages?

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Zendesk: Fostering better customer relationships

Zendesk is one of the providers with the longest experience of customer service management software on the market. The software solution is aimed at support teams and companies that need reliable customer service, among other things. It is highly customizable and offers numerous optional add-ons. In addition, Zendesk's offering includes various solutions, including the core solutions, a help center, messaging tool and AI, for better customer service. As well as configuration options specifically adapted to the requirements of companies.

Overview

A key feature of Zendesk is communication with customers. But what does this look like in practice? And what are the software's interesting functions? We have summarized the most important ones for you:

  • Ticket management: Management of customer inquiries and support tickets from a central location.
  • Automation: Automated workflows and processes improve the efficiency of your customer support.
  • Omnichannel support: Enables you to integrate different channels such as email, chat, social media and telephone for seamless communication with the customer.
  • Analytics: Create reports and analyses to monitor and improve the performance of customer communication.
  • Self-service: Provides you with a knowledge base and customer portal to help customers find answers to their questions.
  • Reporting: Create reports and analytics to monitor and improve customer support performance.
  • Integrations: Integrations with various systems such as CRM, e-commerce platforms and marketing tools are possible to optimize the support process.
  • AI-based automation: Includes automated chatbots based on artificial intelligence to answer simple customer queries and relieve your support agents.
  • Help Center: Provides you with a community forum and integrated help center to help customers find answers to their questions. True to the motto: Helping customers to help themselves.
  • Collaboration tools: Fast internal and external communication thanks to collaboration tools.

Customizations

Zendesk can be customized to suit your business and your needs, for example with the following features:

  • Zendesk Explore: An analytics tool that allows you to access omni-channel analytics and analyze customer interactions.
  • Dashboard function: A function to keep track of all channels and tickets.
  • Collaboration: Gives support teams the opportunity to exchange information and share data.
  • Workflow automation/AI: Ensures that tickets are assigned to the right agents and workflows become more efficient.
  • Ticket system: Increased customer satisfaction thanks to online tickets that make customer service easier.
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Intercom: A summary of the most important functions

Intercom positions itself as a platform for conversational relationships. The focus is on personalized customer experiences that are provided to you via messenger services. Just like with Zendesk. The platform offers go-to-market teams the opportunity to carry out conversational engagement, support and marketing. It also offers self-service options such as a knowledge base.

Overview

Intercom, unlike Zendesk, is more of a messaging platform, whereas Zendesk is a comprehensive customer support system. Although there are overlaps, there are also a few differences. We have briefly summarized what these are:

  • Email marketing tools: The open rate of your emails is improved thanks to tools dedicated to email marketing.
  • Targeting: You can send targeted messages to specific customer segments based on user behavior, segmentation and other criteria.
  • Customer profiling: You have the option of creating comprehensive customer profiles and collecting detailed information about user behavior and interests.
  • Integrations: While you can optimize and personalize customer service through the various integrations with other tools and systems, there are far fewer integrations and interfaces included than with Zendesk.

Extensions

Unlike Zendesk, Intercom does not offer you typical extensions. It contains tools that can be used very easily with the help of a bot. The following functions are possible with the add-ons:

  • Product tours
  • Account-based marketing
  • Multi-channel campaigns
  • Resolution bot performance reporting

Intercom und Zendesk im Vergleich

Zendesk

  • lots of integration for support teams (approx. 1000 apps)
  • offers CRM system → Zendesk Sunshine
  • easy customization to needs
  • Four-tier pricing model
  • Free trial version available
  • Self-service function included + guide extensions + help center

Intercom

  • Less than 20 apps for integration for support teams
  • not a complete CRM software
  • more of a customized solution for smaller teams
  • four price levels, but these only apply to a certain number of users - if the number increases, more costs are incurred
  • Free version available for testing
  • Help center offer for self-service

To summarize, Zendesk is a more comprehensive platform than Intercom. It makes customer support much easier for you and helps to improve communication with customers. At atlantis dx, we offer you all-round support for Zendesk and help you get off to a flying start with the tool!

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Frequently asked questions about Intercom and Zendesk

Zendesk and Intercom are two platforms that specialize in communication between customers and companies. The focus here is on customer service.

Zendesk specializes in helpdesk tools and customer service. Intercom, on the other hand, is less comprehensive than Zendesk and enables fewer integrations.

Zendesk offers features such as helpdesk systems, ticket management, chat support, customer engagement and analytics tools. Intercom has features such as live chat, email communication, customer feedback and notifications, but Zendesk includes these as well