Smart links let you quickly access other applications or web pages from your Zendesk Sell account. If you have systems that use a unique URL ID, you can use smart links to dynamically link to them from your leads, contacts, and deals in Sell.
Configuring smart links
You must configure smart links before you can use them, and you'll also need to create a custom field to hold the unique identifier (see Creating and managing custom fields).
You need admin rights to configure smart links.
To configure smart links
- Click the Settings icon (
), then select Customize > Leads for leads, Customize > Contacts for contacts, or Customize > Deals for deals.
- If you haven't done so already, on the Fields tab, create a custom field to hold your unique identifier. For example, we've used a custom field called YouTube video.
Note: The custom field used for storing a unique identifier must be a "Single Line Text" field type (see Creating and managing custom fields).
Each YouTube video has a unique identifier at the end of its URL, for example:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ. This would be the unique identifier that you enter into the custom field on your contact card. - Select the Smart links tab.
- Click Add Smart Link to start setting up your new link.
-
Give your smart link an App name and URL.
For example, if you were setting up a smart link for YouTube, the App name might be YouTube and the URL would be:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v= - Click Insert merge tag to add the custom field that you've used to store the unique identifier.
- Choose where the application should open. Click either the Open in new window or Open inside Sell.
- Click Save to save the new smart link.
- On a contacts page, add a value to the new custom field, for example, dQw4w9WgXcQ.
You'll see a new Smart Links button appear on the right side of your lead, contact, or deal page and you'll see the new smart link as a clickable link. Click the link to take you directly to your application or web page.
Examples of using smart links
You can see one example of using smart links to link to a video site like YouTube in Configuring smart links.
Tracking ID example
A common example for using smart links is to track shipments. For example, you could set up a custom field called Tracking ID on each deal. The field would be updated with the tracking ID when a shipment is made. A URL link including this ID would take you to the tracking details page provided by the courier. You could then create a smart link so that you can click the tracking ID and view the shipment progress for that deal.
Reporting and billing system example
Some customers use smart links to connect to reporting systems or ERP billing systems. For example, you could set up a custom field called Reporting system. The field would contain an external ID, for example, 123990092. A URL link including this ID would take you to the reporting details page for that contact. You could then create a smart link so that you could click your company's equivalent of:
https://abcinc.tableau.com/views/customer/123990092/dashboard
to view the reporting details.
Using smart links from a mobile device
You can access smart links from your Sell mobile app (iOS or Android) to quickly jump to other apps or web pages on your mobile device.
Click Smart links from the app, and you'll see the list of smart links you have configured. Click to access the application or web page.
7 Comments
Hi Sophie
Can you please give another example of using Smart Links? (Not from the ones mentioned above)
Also with the App Store introduction do you see this being used more?
Thanks
Adrian
Hi Adrian,
Thanks for reaching out! Another common example of Sell users utilizing the Smart Links would be for tracking shipments. For example, you may have a custom field named "tracking ID" on each Deal that is filled when a shipment is made; a URL link including this ID would take you to the tracking details page provided by the courier. You may then create a Smart Link to append with the "tracking ID" field.
Let me know if you would like to discuss further, or reach us at support@zendesk.com if you run into any specific issues using Smart Links!
Cheers,
Adrian Remedios
Here is another example for you:
Some of our customers use Smart Links to connect to BI/Reporting systems, ERP Billing Systems. For example, an external ID 123990092 is stored as a custom field in Sell, and the url is your company's equivalent of: https://abcinc.tableau.com/views/customer/123990092/dashboard).
I'll get the actual article updated with this info too.
@...
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Any examples on how to programmatically populate either the "Tracking ID" or "External ID" value to the custom field in Sell?
Hi Nick,
You can use our API to get additional details about custom fields, including ID. Here is a link to our API documentation on custom fields: https://developers.getbase.com/docs/rest/reference/custom_fields
Laura Hippert | Zendesk Sell Specialist | Senior Customer Advocate
Visit our Support Center
Call us at +1 888-670-4887 (press 1 for Zendesk Sell), Mon-Fri, 8am-5pm, Pacific Time
Hi Sophie,
Can we use Smart Link to configure SSO(single sign on) for external sites.
Cheers.
Hi Malay, Smart Link is just a simple URL link with a possible variable value taken out of a Custom Field in Sell. This link is just opened externally and that's it. We don't believe this even matters as logging in (whether through SSO or in any different method) is controlled by the external app, so Smart Links can't work with SSO.
Let me know if you have other questions.
Austine Hipol
Customer Advocate | Zendesk Sell
Zendesk Sell CRM
Visit our Support Center
Contact us:
+1 888-670-4887
support@zendesk.com
(Mo-Fr, 8am-5pm, Pacific Time)
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