On this sequence, we’ll provide you with a peek behind the scenes to see how our personal workforce makes use of Assist Scout to offer nice buyer assist!
Customized fields and tags are each useful instruments for monitoring, organizing, and including context to buyer conversations. You should utilize them to filter your search outcomes and stories and even set off computerized workflows. They each have their very own distinctive strengths, so let’s check out some actual examples within the Assist Scout workforce’s personal inbox!
Tags are arrange on the account degree, so that they’re nice for monitoring issues throughout a number of inboxes. They’re greatest for information that doesn’t should be tracked on each single dialog. For instance, we solely obtain just a few functions to our Startup Program per thirty days, so we use the startup-program tag for that.
Customized fields are arrange on the inbox degree, and so they’re greatest for information you need to monitor on most conversations. Not like tags, you possibly can even set a customized subject as required, so your workforce must fill it in earlier than replying and altering the standing to “closed.” In our inbox, we’ve got a required dropdown customized subject referred to as “Request Kind” with choices reminiscent of “Function Request,” “Bug,” and “Investigation.”
Retaining issues constant
Director of assist Katie Harlow factors out, “It is essential the entire assist workforce is on the identical web page about when and create new tags or customized fields. We at all times talk about and doc new tags and customized fields as a workforce. This helps forestall confusion from tags with duplicate meanings and even typos.”
For instance, we use an ordinary naming conference after we create a brand new tag for conversations associated to a standing occasion: status-year-month-day. This helps guarantee clear and constant tagging, even throughout instances of stress.
We use tags to energy numerous views in our inbox. These assist us know at a fast look precisely which conversations should be prioritized.
One is our pressing view, which shows a duplicate of conversations which have the pressing tag.
An computerized workflow robotically provides the pressing tag to conversations primarily based on sure phrases within the physique or topic. We are able to manually add the pressing tag to conversations as nicely.
You may as well use tags, workflows, and views to prioritize the metrics your workforce is targeted on. For instance, right here’s how we’ve experimented with keeping track of conversations ready for a first response:
Do you know? We are able to export an inventory of your clients related to conversations which have a selected tag! Simply contact our assist workforce.
The All Channels Report is the place we go to see an summary of traits taking place in our account, together with the highest 50 most used tags and the proportion of conversations with every customized subject.
Director of product assist Elyse Mankin explains, “Categorizing your queue helps you perceive each qualitatively and quantitatively what’s taking place to your clients as your queue quantity fluctuates over time. In case your queue quantity all of a sudden spikes 25% in a given month, your assist and management groups will doubtless need to perceive why.
“Customized fields make it straightforward to rapidly see which buckets of conversations are inflicting that spike in quantity. It could be completely anticipated in case your workforce is presently serving to clients by means of a migration or your clients are celebrating a job nicely carried out on a brand new, thrilling product launch.
“Customized fields provide you with a place to begin to know the broader themes which might be developing to your clients. When you perceive the themes, you can begin to consider the way you may problem-solve, whether or not meaning documentation updates, extra buyer schooling sources, inner coaching, or product adjustments.”
Utilizing customized fields to drive product change
Categorizing our queue offers us concrete info to advocate for product enhancements on behalf of our clients, and that helps us make good, data-driven selections as an organization. Product supervisor Ok’Shelle Waller explains, “Customized fields are our jumping-off level for product improvement. We use stories to investigate which options we’re getting probably the most requests about primarily based on our ‘Request Kind’ and ‘Function’ customized fields.
“For instance, if I see 50% of our function request conversations are about Workflows, I can then qualitatively undergo these conversations within the inbox to get a transparent sense of what precisely clients are asking for to verify we’ve captured that in our Jira tickets, which is the place we log function requests.
“It’s a simple option to group conversations collectively, and it narrows the pool when looking out the inbox, too. Relatively than looking out the phrase ‘AI Drafts,’ I can filter my search by the customized subject ‘Function: AI Drafts,’ which is extra doubtless to offer me precisely what I’m in search of.”
Do you know? You possibly can join customized fields on to your Beacon contact kind! Be taught extra right here.
Along with data-driven product selections, reporting on traits utilizing tags helps us establish the place we are able to construct out our buyer schooling sources, from including useful directions in Docs to planning high-impact webinars.
Right here’s how our technical author, Melanie Shears, makes use of tags to enhance our Docs after we launch a brand new function:
We embrace a hyperlink within the related Docs article to open a Beacon so individuals can contact us with any questions or suggestions.
We use Beacon prefill to robotically set the topic of the e-mail to one thing like “Suggestions about [New Feature Name].”

When Melanie searches that tag, she will be able to simply discover and evaluation all the associated conversations. As soon as she’s recognized widespread factors of confusion, she’s in a position so as to add clarifying particulars within the Docs article to make it as useful as doable.
Able to dive into your individual tags and customized fields? Take a look at our Docs to get began:
Please observe: Whereas tags can be found throughout all accounts, customized fields are restricted to sure plans. Communicate along with your account proprietor if you happen to’re curious about upgrading!

