Shopmonkey revs up customer support with Zendesk

For auto repair shops, time is money. From managing appointments to tracking parts and communicating with customers, efficiency is critical to keeping operations running smoothly.

That’s where Shopmonkey comes in.

Shopmonkey provides a cloud-based, all-in-one auto repair shop management platform designed to streamline workflows and give shop owners complete visibility into their operations. Serving everyone from single-location garages to multi-site enterprises and franchises, the company supports a wide range of customers across the automotive service industry.

But as Shopmonkey scaled, its support team struggled to keep up.

“We serve everyone from owner-operators to large enterprise groups,” says Steve Hart, Director of Customer Support at Shopmonkey. “That means the complexity and expectations around support are high. We needed a system that could keep pace with that.”

An unstructured system with unreliable data

When Hart joined Shopmonkey, he immediately saw an opportunity to transform the company’s support function.

“I walked into an environment where every team—support, marketing, enablement—were all using Intercom for everything,” he explains. “Support metrics were rough. Customers were frustrated—and reporting didn’t make sense.”

Data inconsistencies made it difficult for the team to understand performance or make informed decisions.

“Running the same report two days in a row gave totally different results,” Hart says. “One report said we had 200 calls that week, another said 400. You couldn’t trust any of it.”

There was also no reliable way to trace a customer’s full journey—from initial contact to resolution—or understand how requests were routed across the team. Without trustworthy data, the team couldn’t accurately measure performance, forecast demand, or plan for growth.

At the same time, Intercom’s conversation-based structure created operational challenges. Chats could reopen months later, making it difficult to manage workflows and maintain accountability.

“My vision was to build a true support structure,” he says. “Tier 1 and Tier 2 support, consistent ticket tracking across every channel, and processes we could actually rely on.”

Choosing a platform built for support

As Shopmonkey evaluated alternatives, the team considered solutions from Front, HubSpot, and Freshservice.

“My main focus was finding a platform that would allow us to build the right structure and then grow with us,” he says.

Zendesk quickly emerged as the clear choice.

“It was instantly obvious,” Hart says. “The structure, workflows, and admin experience were exactly what we needed. By the second demo, our IT team knew—we were in.”

“It was a relief,” he adds. “Finally, a platform that made everything we were trying to build actually possible.”

A fast, self-service transition

Shopmonkey completed its migration to Zendesk quickly.

“We moved over our entire support environment in about two months,” he says. “And we did most of the work ourselves.”

Using Zendesk’s intuitive tools, the team built and configured its environment without needing significant engineering support.

“With the admin experience, there wasn’t a lot of heavy lifting,” Hart explains.

A Zendesk partner provided guidance and supported a Salesforce integration, but the implementation remained largely in Shopmonkey’s control.

“The biggest focus during migration is really your data,” Hart says. “As long as you have a clear understanding of your workflows and the customer experience you want to create, it’s not a big mountain to climb.”

Because Zendesk required minimal engineering involvement and offered flexible configuration, the team was able to design and launch a scalable support operation largely on its own. And when needed, the team could rely on Zendesk for guidance.

“Everyone at Zendesk has been great to work with,” Hart says. “Our sales rep was great to work with. The SE was very knowledgeable and answered all our questions. It really was a seamless process from start to finish.”

From conversations to structured ticketing

With Zendesk in place, Shopmonkey transformed how it delivers support.

“The difference is night and day,” Hart says. “We went from unstructured conversations to a true ticketing system.”

Instead of treating support as disconnected conversations, every request is now managed as a structured ticket—with defined statuses, automations, and accountability built in.

“Zendesk allows us to run support like a true business function,” Hart says. “Not just conversations—but a system with rules, workflows, and measurable outcomes.”

The team introduced clear processes across channels—including phone, chat, email, and web—along with a formal Tier 1 and Tier 2 support model. As a result, every interaction is tracked, routed, and resolved efficiently, improving both internal efficiency and the customer experience.

“Support, Success, Payments—everyone is working in Zendesk,” he says. “It’s become a shared platform across teams for managing customer interactions.”

Today, Shopmonkey’s globally distributed support team of approximately 25 agents supports customers across multiple channels, with clearly defined roles and responsibilities.

Clear metrics and measurable results

With Zendesk, Shopmonkey now has full visibility into performance.

“We now have a single pane of glass for all our metrics,” Hart says. “We can track key KPIs like first response time, resolution time, and CSAT, and actually trust the data to make decisions.”

For the first time, the team can also forecast demand and plan resources with confidence—turning support into a proactive, data-driven operation.

Since implementing Zendesk, the team consistently maintains a sub-five-minute average first response time on chat, while customer satisfaction scores (CSATs) are in the low to mid-90 percent range.

“Historically, we were in the mid-80s. Now, we are seeing a 5-10 percent increase since making the switch,” Hart adds. “And we’re seeing 65 to 70 percent of tickets resolved in a single interaction—that’s a huge win for both our customers and our team.”

AI built into the workflow

Shopmonkey is also leveraging Zendesk’s native AI capabilities to further enhance efficiency and scalability.

“It’s very important that AI is native and built into a platform,” Hart says. “You’re not relying on something that’s bolted on and hoping it will work effectively. Having one single platform that does it all—with AI interwoven into everything–that’s the most effective way to do it.”

“We started with the out-of-the-box AI agent and Copilot,” Hart explains. “It was incredibly easy to set up and immediately helped our agents respond faster.”

The team is now expanding into automated workflows and deeper integrations with internal systems to handle common requests and reduce manual work.

“We’re intentional about how we use AI,” Hart notes. “It’s not about adding AI for the sake of it—it’s about applying it where it actually improves the experience.”

“At the same time, our customers still value human interaction,” he adds. “AI gives our human agents more time to focus on developing that personal connection with our customers.”

A foundation for future growth

With a strong operational foundation in place, Shopmonkey continues to evolve its support strategy—expanding automation, refining workflows, and scaling efficiently.

“At the end of the day, it’s all about the client experience,” says Hart. “And that’s how we knew.”

Zendesk’s recent acquisition of Forethought ensures that Shopmonkey will continue to lean into an AI-powered future.

“I’m very excited about the addition of Forethought into the family,” Hart adds. I was very impressed with their platform, and I’m always looking at ways to leverage more AI.”