After a great start to 2021, The Zendesk Community Team wanted to recognize one of our Community Moderators - Chandra Robrock! For those that don’t know, Community Moderators are super-users of the Zendesk family of products that use their Zendesk experience to help other members of our community. Check out our About the Zendesk Community Moderator Program article to find out more!

Hailing from Atlanta, Georgia, Chandra’s contributions to the community have been nothing short of amazing – from helping users with Explore reports to providing in-depth guides or workflows around the Zendesk products suite. Here are just a few of the awesome tips and tricks Chandra has taken the time to share with us:

• How To Create a Slack Notification When a Ticket View Reaches a Specific Threshold
• How to “Pause” the Next Response SLA Target on Tickets
• Creating a notification to identify tickets that are stuck at the back of the queue due to no SLA being applied

Please  join us in giving a well deserved round of applause and congratulations to Chandra!

Let’s get to know Chandra:

How did you come to work with the Zendesk product?

Back in 2013, I was hired as the Community Manager for a four person startup. One aspect of my job was to lead their customer operations which, at the time, was a new role for me. We used Zendesk’s Startup plan, but since I hadn’t used a ticket software prior, my usage of the software was pretty simple.

After realizing how much I loved working in customer operations, I decided to pursue that full-time and was hired as the first Customer Experience Manager at another tech startup. When I first joined, we were using a different ticketing software and I eventually became the primary Admin of that software. We had a variety of different teams using the ticketing software and it wasn’t really meeting each team’s unique needs, so I eventually began evaluating other softwares to see if there was a better solution for our company. 

Zendesk ended up being the only software to check all of the boxes in terms of the features and functionalities we were looking for - no other software even came close to offering what we needed at the time. It’s safe to say that I’ve been a huge advocate for Zendesk ever since.

How does your community involvement help contribute to your professional career?

At every company I’ve worked at, I’ve always been looked up to as the in-house expert on Zendesk. The Community Moderator program seemed like a great opportunity to become more of a public-facing expert in the software, while also allowing me to highlight some of the awesome things I’ve been able to implement within Zendesk over the years, a few of which can be found here.

What advice would you give someone who wants to level up their skills in working with Zendesk?

Truly understanding how triggers and automations work is a great place to start, as both of these features can drastically help improve your team’s efficiency and ensure that your Zendesk instance is working like a well-oiled machine. 

Also, if there is someone that you look up to as a Zendesk expert in your network, let them know that you’re interested in leveling up your skills in this area. I’m sure they would be happy to help share their knowledge with you or answer any questions you might have. 

The Zendesk Community is also an incredible resource.

What made you want to join the Community Moderator Program?

I learned about the program through a Customer Success Manager that I had worked with at Zendesk in the past. We were chatting and I had mentioned how I was always helping my colleagues find ways to use the software in unique ways to help solve specific problems, and was currently brainstorming ways in which I could help other customers do the same. He recommended the Community Moderator Program and the rest was history.

What makes you want to remain part of the program?

First and foremost, helping other customers find even more value out of Zendesk. I always think back to my first Community Manager role and wonder: “If only I had known then what I know now about Zendesk, how much more efficiently could I have provided customer service?” This would’ve allowed me to spend more time on the other aspects of my job.

Tell us about some of your favorite activities/hobbies!

I’ve really enjoyed cooking lately. This year, I’ve been committing to trying at least one new recipe each week rather than always cooking the same go-recipes. Even though we’re just a few weeks into 2021, I’ve already found some great new staples.

I also enjoy spending time with friends/family or hiking when the opportunity presents itself. My favorite hike so far has been the trails at Castle Rock State Park in California.

Any final thoughts you would like to share with other community members?

Take advantage of the Zendesk Apps Marketplace. There are a ton of great (free) apps that really allow you to supercharge the Zendesk software. You can even build an app of your own.

Thanks, Chandra!