NPS Surveys – Send Feedback Requests After Tickets Close in Zendesk

Getting accurate customer feedback is vital for startups and growing businesses. 😊 One of the most effective methods to gauge customer satisfaction is by sending NPS surveys – send feedback requests after tickets close. This approach ensures you collect timely, relevant insights right after customer support interactions. In this comprehensive guide, tailored specifically for Zendesk users, we’ll walk you through building seamless automation workflows that integrate popular tools such as n8n, Make, Zapier, Gmail, Google Sheets, Slack, and HubSpot.

Whether you’re a startup CTO, an automation engineer, or an operations specialist, you’ll learn practical, step-by-step instructions for automating NPS feedback collection that will increase response rates, reduce manual work, and improve customer experience.

Why Automate NPS Surveys After Zendesk Ticket Closure?

Customer satisfaction directly influences retention and growth. According to a study, 77% of customers would recommend a company after a positive support experience [Source: to be added]. However, manually sending survey requests after every Zendesk ticket closure can be tedious, error-prone, and slow.

Automating NPS surveys post-ticket closure solves several problems:

• Timeliness: Surveys reach customers immediately after the interaction, increasing relevancy.
• Consistency: Every customer receives feedback requests without human error.
• Data Centralization: Feedback can be automatically logged into CRM or spreadsheets.
• Team Notifications: Stakeholders get alerts in Slack/HipChat for quick follow-up.

Startups, support teams, and product managers benefit from gaining real-time insights with minimal overhead.

Overview of the Automation Workflow

A typical automated NPS survey flow after ticket closure involves the following components:

1. Trigger: Zendesk ticket status changes to ‘Closed’.
2. Transformation: Extract customer email, ticket details, and prepare survey request.
3. Action: Send NPS survey via email (Gmail), log responses in Google Sheets, and notify the team in Slack.
4. Output: Analyze survey data regularly for insights and reporting.

Next, we’ll dive into building this workflow step-by-step using three popular automation tools.

Building Automated NPS Survey Workflows for Zendesk

1. Automating with Zapier

Zapier offers a no-code platform suitable for quick integrations. Here’s how to set up the flow:

1. Trigger: Use the Zendesk – New Ticket or Updated Ticket trigger filtered for status “Closed”.
2. Filter Step: Add a Zapier Filter to proceed only if ticket.status == “closed”.
3. Action – Send Email: Use the Gmail action to send an NPS survey email to the customer’s email from the ticket data. Customize subject and body with a survey link.
4. Action – Log Response: Add/update a row in Google Sheets logging ticket ID, customer info, and status.
5. Notify Team: Send a Slack message summarizing the recent survey sent.

Example Gmail email body snippet:

Hi {{ticket.requester.name}},

Thank you for contacting us. We'd appreciate if you could take 2 minutes to provide your feedback: [NPS_SURVEY_LINK]

Best,
Support Team

Common Zapier Issues and Tips: Rate limits can affect Gmail; add delays or use paid plans. Handle retries by enabling auto-retry. Use filters to avoid duplicate surveys. Sensitive data in emails should be anonymized or encrypted.

2. Automating with n8n ⚙️

n8n provides a powerful, open-source automation that allows custom workflows. Follow these steps:

1. Trigger Node: Use the Zendesk Trigger node set to watch for ticket status changes where status is “closed”.
2. Function Node: Process and filter tickets to ensure surveys are only sent once per ticket. Use the ticket ID as a unique key.
3. Gmail Node: Configure Gmail OAuth2 credentials. Map email, name, and the survey URL into the email template.
4. Google Sheets Node: Append ticket and customer data including timestamp.
5. Slack Node: Send channel message with ticket reference and survey sent notice.

Sample n8n Gmail node settings (simplified):

• To: {{$json["requester"]["email"]}}
• Subject: “We value your feedback! Please take our NPS survey”
• Body: “Hi {{$json[“requester”][“name”]}}, thanks for your ticket. Please answer our NPS survey here: https://survey.link”

Error Handling: Use n8n’s error workflow to catch failures and send alerts. Implement idempotency by storing survey status in Google Sheets or a database to avoid duplicate sends.

3. Automating with Make (formerly Integromat)

Make offers flexible scenario building with rich conditional logic:

1. Webhook Module: Set up Zendesk webhook that triggers on ticket status “closed”.
2. Router or Filters: Route based on ticket priority or type to tailor survey messaging.
3. Gmail Module: Send personalized NPS survey emails.
4. Google Sheets Module: Add new rows for each survey request.
5. Slack Module: Post notifications to #customer-feedback channel.

Make automation snippet for Gmail email body:

Hello {{ticket.requester.name}},
Thank you for interacting with us. Please take a moment for our NPS survey: https://your_survey_link.com

Scaling notes: Use Make’s iterator for batch processing multiple tickets. Set webhook timeouts thoughtfully to avoid dropped requests.

Understanding Each Step and Node

Trigger: Zendesk Ticket Closure Event

This is the entry point. The trigger listens for tickets changing status to “closed.” Depending on your chosen tool, this can be a webhook (preferred for lower latency and better event-driven workflow) or polling the Zendesk API at intervals.

Webhook vs Polling Comparison:

Trigger Type	Latency	Resource Usage	Complexity	Reliability
Webhook	Near Real-time	Low	Medium (setup required)	High
Polling	Delayed (intervals)	High (frequent API calls)	Low	Medium

Transformation Steps

Here, we prepare and customize the email content, extract the requester’s email, and attach personalized variables such as ticket ID or product name.

Use expression syntax specific to your tool (e.g., n8n’s handlebars, Make’s placeholders, Zapier’s variables) to dynamically create email content.

Action Nodes: Sending Emails and Logging Data

• Gmail Integration: Ensure OAuth2 scopes include https://mail.google.com/ to send emails. Avoid sending duplicate surveys by tracking ticket IDs.
• Google Sheets for Data Storage: Maintain a spreadsheet with columns: Ticket ID, Customer Email, Timestamp, Survey Sent, Response Received, Score.
• Slack Notifications: Notify support managers immediately when a survey is sent, so they can prepare for possible follow-ups.

Scaling and Performance Considerations

• Queues & Concurrency: Use your automation platform’s built-in queue features or split workflows to handle large ticket volumes without loss.
• Retries with Backoff: Implement exponential backoff on transient API failures (e.g., Gmail 429s) to avoid rate limits.
• Idempotency: Maintain a database or sheet log to check if a survey was already sent before sending again.

Security and Compliance

Protecting customer PII (Personally Identifiable Information) is critical:

• Secure Storage: Use encrypted storage for API keys and sensitive data.
• API Scopes: Restrict tokens to minimum required permissions.
• Data Privacy: Mask or anonymize customer data when logging if possible.
• Audit Logging: Keep logs of automation activity for compliance and troubleshooting.

Comparison of Automation Platforms for NPS Survey Workflows

Platform	Cost	Pros	Cons
Zapier	Free tier; paid plans from $29/mo	Easy setup, large app library, low code	Limited customization, task limits
n8n	Free self-hosted; cloud from $20/mo	Highly customizable, open-source, strong error handling	Requires setup and maintenance
Make (Integromat)	Free tier; paid from $9/mo	Visual flow designer, advanced filters, iterator support	Scripting limitations, webhooks setup complexity

Data Storage Options: Google Sheets vs Dedicated Database

Option	Cost	Pros	Cons
Google Sheets	Free with Google account	Easy setup, accessible, no server required	Limited concurrency, data volume constraints
Dedicated Database (e.g. PostgreSQL)	Setup + hosting costs	High scalability, data integrity, access control	Requires management and technical expertise

Monitoring and Testing Your Automation

• Sandbox Testing: Use test Zendesk accounts and emails to verify flows before production.
• Run History: Monitor automation run logs daily for failures or anomalies.
• Alerting: Configure email/slack alerts on errors for rapid incident response.
• Versioning: Maintain version control on code snippets or workflow configurations.

Frequently Asked Questions

Conclusion: Next Steps to Optimize Your Customer Feedback Loop

In this guide, you learned how to build robust automations for sending NPS surveys after Zendesk tickets close. From triggers to integrations with Gmail, Google Sheets, Slack, and CRMs, these workflows help startups speed up feedback collection and improve customer experience.

Remember to choose the automation platform that fits your technical needs, implement solid error handling, and follow security best practices. Regularly analyze the collected data to drive meaningful improvements.

Ready to take your customer feedback to the next level? Start designing your customized NPS automation today and transform every Zendesk ticket closure into a valuable insight opportunity.