What is a business impact field and why we recommend it?

A Business Impact ticket field is very similar to the system Priority field within Zendesk. They both look the same, they work together, but each of them has their own needs and reasons for being there. Let's dive in a little deeper as to why we recommend adding this type of custom field to collect this information. 

The Backstory...

By default with Zendesk, the ticket priority field is set to being a read-only field by end-users. This means they aren't able to set the ticket priority themselves when they submit their ticket, and there's some good reasoning behind this - everyone would submit their ticket as high priority or urgent! When in reality, it may only be a minor issue compared to the bigger picture happening behind the scene. 

Why do we recommend it?

This field allows the end-user to still feel like they're giving you all the information relating to their query including how serious they think it is. It provides transparency to the agent on the level of impact that the issue is having to the customer's business on the other side of the ticket. 

The agent can then set the true priority of the ticket in accordance with their workplace needs, versus the impact level set by the customer which reflects how much of an issue this is for them. 

Creating the field

To help you with creating this custom drop-down ticket field in your own Zendesk account. We've attached a copy of the CSV file you can use to upload the drop-down field values at the time of field creation. 

• Simply create a new drop-down field by navigating to Admin > Manage > Ticket Fields > Add Field > Select Drop-down field > Upload CSV file. 
  • The upload will add in all of the values and tags for the field. You'll just need to add in the field names and set it to Editable by the end-user. 

You're welcome to download a copy of the CSV file here: