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How to use Gmail as a Helpdesk with a Shared Inbox

By February 25th, 2024No Comments

Managing client relationships is necessary for every company. And certain essential tools, such as a Helpdesk, are absolutely core to maintain good relationships with customers. The aim is to solve customers’ issues and, of course, make them happier. Hence, the need to fin the ideal help desk Gmail tool. For instance, creating a helpdesk Gmail shared inbox.

Here at Drag, we have tried different Helpdesk software, in different shapes and models. But our main point of discussion in this article is – could there be an alternative to independent software? Maybe Gmail, in itself, could be a helpdesk. For businesses working in Google Workspace, this can be quite a convenient shortcut.

There’s also the matter of practicality. While external software can help teams go through customer support tickets faster, they still have to log out of their own mailbox and go to the customer support one to check for incoming messages. Then, forward it to themselves or  another team member.

In short, the ideal solution for a Gmail helpdesk would need to include a way for people to have incoming email fully accessible for the whole team. That’s why a helpdesk Gmail shared inbox might be the actual solution. Here, we will discuss about shared inboxes, their use cases, and how to use them inside Gmail to support customers.

Turn Gmail into your Team’s Workspace.

  • 2.5x faster email responses.
  • 20 hours less spent per month, per team member.
  • 40% more deadlines achieved and happier teams.
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The Email – Ticket cycle

Picture a Helpdesk ticket for a regular customer support team. What does it look like? For us, it seems like an email converted into a ticket. After the customer support team finds a solution for this card, it is turned back into an email. So, the current process is: Receive an email > Transform it into a Helpdesk card > Find a solution > Send a response back as an email.

helpdesk work

The question is: why do we have to transform an email into a card in another software, then turn back to email to provide customer support? When you think about it, it becomes easier to understand why it is a problem.

This is known as context-switching, a common office practice that halts productivity. In short, when workers have to switch between tools and platforms to finish each individual tasks, they lose momentum. On the flip side, if you integrate and manage every step on the same tool, work will become more productive.

Help desk Gmail x communication

There’s another barrier: team collaboration. Not only does the email-ticket cycle break productivity, it also allows for misinterpretation, lost tasks and lack of accountability. For instance, when a team member logs into the customer support account and transforms a message into a ticket, unless they signal it (with Gmail labels, e.g.), others won’t know what is or isn’t being done and by whom.

With the time-sensitive nature of customer support tasks, it’s common that teams don’t keep their inbox well-labeled and tidy. In turn, there’s not enough accountability, some tasks are forgotten and few things are truly reported.

Then, what if you power up your email with a team inbox feature? With team inboxes and the right features, your team will be able to collaborate in real-time, in the same space. All you need is a Helpdesk shared inbox that works inside the place they spend the most time: Gmail.

The tools your mailbox needs needs to be a Helpdesk Gmail shared inbox

Email is a universal tool and is probably the core of your work. We do spend a lot of our time using it. However, sometimes we don’t realize how we can manage our email better and how your inbox can be much more useful for your business.

There are multiple versions of Helpdesk support tools. Most are specific software, which requires you to sign in every time you use it and new information to process. The result? Having to seek support multiple times a day because the system is not as intuitive as it could be. This, of course, halts productivity and takes a longer time to master.

Wouldn’t it be better to embed your Helpdesk system right into your Gmail, mixed with other functionalities? That way, users could simply log into their accounts and dedicate time to their tasks, not learning to work with a complete new software. Here’s an example:

helpdesk gmail shared inbox

Having a specific set of features available in your Gmail will make your productivity flow better. A few features that could transform your inbox into a full-fledged helpdesk Gmail shared inbox are:

  • Delegation and management of tasks, so everybody know who is working on what
  • The visual look of the whole process and segmentation of tickets per stage;
  • Shared view and collaboration for teams;
  • Easy access to vital user information such as Company name or telephone number;
  • KPIs tracking, such as response time;
  • Automation of the process, making it easy to reply to customers;

Now your team won’t need to take extra steps when working with Helpdesk because they’re usually collaborative systems, so how can we work together with an email-integrated Helpdesk?

How to build a helpdesk Gmail shared inbox

Drag shared boards are easy to understand. Your support emails are cards in a shared workspace right inside Gmail, that can be viewed in a List, Email Preview or a Kanban board.

email assignment gmail

Not just that, but also pipeline customization, customer status tracking, and team inboxes collaboration. Just to mention a few things you can do right from inside Gmail:

  • Assignment of tickets
  • Customer info
  • Visual status tracking (kanban boards, color code, shared tags)
  • Internal chat and @mentions
  • Shared email templates
  • Shared drafts
  • Automations
  • Reports and analytics

These features work perfectly well together and will leave you in a more dynamic, visually appealing, and easy understanding inbox.

Forget about extra tabs, extra apps, additional passwords, extra headache. Everything works inside your inbox. Simple and plain as that.

How to set up your helpdesk Gmail shared inbox

You can turn Gmail into a Helpdesk shared inbox in just a few click with Drag. First, make sure you have our Drag Chrome Extension installed. Then follow the steps below.

add incoming email

  1. Create a new Shared Inbox board and link it to the email address associated with your Helpdesk (eg. [email protected]).
  2. Invite your customer support team to the board.
  3. Customize the board for your workflow (eg. rename columns, create tags, set up email replies to automatically come from support@ email address).
  4. Automate your work by creating email templates, automated email sequences and automations.

You can learn more about how to use Drag as a Helpdesk in Gmail here.

Why you need a helpdesk Gmail

Drag is simple, and its interface fits perfectly as a help desk Gmail, and we want you to have the best experience, so you can also provide excellent services. Intuitive tools can boost your teams’ work fast as a rocket. Even better, we can keep it all into your existing email.

Curious to see how a Helpdesk shared inbox works in Gmail in practice? Read how Boosted Commerce is building a 100+ brand platform, using Drag for smooth and consistent Customer Support. They handle 100s+ of monthly customer conversations in multiple languages and have achieved 100% faster integration of Customer Support systems from their newly acquired brands with Drag.

helpdesk shared inbox

Turn Gmail into a Help Desk.

  • 2.5x faster email responses.
  • 20 hours less spent per month, per team member.
  • 40% more deadlines achieved and happier teams.
Try for Free
Samantha Anacleto

Author Samantha Anacleto

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