What does the Zendesk ticket integration do?
When Zendesk is connected to Claimlane, every claim or return a customer submits through your B2C self-service portal automatically creates a matching ticket in Zendesk. Claimlane still runs the actual claims and returns process, including workflows, refunds, and replacements, while Zendesk gets a ticket your support team can see and reference, so nothing falls outside their normal inbox even though Claimlane is doing the work behind the scenes.
This integration only covers how the two systems talk to each other technically. If you're still weighing whether Zendesk or Claimlane should own the actual conversation with the customer, see Why use Claimlane with your ticketing system? first, since that decision affects how you configure the flow below.
How to connect Zendesk to Claimlane
In Zendesk, go to Admin Center, then Apps and integrations, then Zendesk API, and select Add API token.
[Screenshot: Zendesk Admin Center, Apps and integrations, Zendesk API, Add API token]
Copy the token, together with the email address of the Zendesk user who created it and the base URL of your Zendesk account, for example https://yourcompany.zendesk.com.
Share these three values with Claimlane using Share secrets, as described in How to securely share API keys and credentials with Claimlane. Label them clearly, for example "Zendesk client ID", "Zendesk client secret", and "Zendesk base URL", so they're easy to identify later.
In Claimlane, open the relevant B2C flow and scroll to the bottom of the first screen, then select Zendesk as the ticketing provider.
[Screenshot: B2C flow settings, bottom of first screen, Zendesk selected as ticketing provider]
Enter the client ID as the account email followed by /token (for example [email protected]/token), the client secret as the token itself, and the base URL including https://.
Set up a Zendesk trigger to notify customers
Claimlane's own confirmations live on your self-service portal, not in Zendesk, so most teams add a Zendesk trigger to email the customer as soon as their ticket is created.
In Zendesk Admin Center, go to Objects and rules, then Triggers under Business rules, and select Add trigger.
[Screenshot: Zendesk Admin Center, Objects and rules, Triggers, Add trigger]
Name the trigger Claimlane and set its category to Notification.
Under conditions, set Channel is Web service and Ticket is Created, and add Tags contains at least one of claimlane. Add a language tag such as en if you want separate triggers per language.
Under actions, choose Email user (requester) and write the subject and body of the confirmation email.
Tips and troubleshooting
Token ownership: the API token belongs to whichever Zendesk user created it, which isn't necessarily your main support address. Make a note of which account it's tied to before sharing it.
Base URL format: always include https:// at the start of the base URL. Leaving it off is a common reason the connection fails.
Sharing credentials: never send the token by email, chat, or a shared document. Use Share secrets as described above so only authorized Claimlane admins can access it.
Multiple languages: if you support several languages, set up one trigger per language tag so each customer gets a confirmation email in their own language.
FAQ
Does this integration create tickets for B2B claims too? No, the Zendesk ticket integration is configured per B2C flow and creates a ticket when a consumer submits a claim or return through your self-service portal.
Can Zendesk own the entire conversation with the customer instead of just receiving a reference ticket? Yes, that's a setup choice rather than a separate integration. See Why use Claimlane with your ticketing system? for the two ways teams typically split this.