Zendesk vs ServiceNow: What is the Difference?

Today, small and large businesses are looking for the best business solution to deliver exceptional customer service. And CRM can easily improve a company’s sales by up to 29%. With the help of the right platform and trained employees, the company will be able to adjust its strategy, fix any pitfalls, and work towards achieving its goals. Our Zendesk vs ServiceNow comparison addresses the emphasis on improving customer relationship management.

So, what are the differences between Zendesk and ServiceNow as business software? What are the pros and cons of each one? And which one will work best for your business? Keep reading to learn more about both platforms.

Zendesk Overview

Zendesk is a leading cloud-based customer service software founded in Denmark in 2007. As of now, there are more than 205,000 live websites that currently use Zendesk.

According to the company, with the help of Zendesk, you can increase customer satisfaction by 25%. This is one of the key reasons why this platform is quite popular.

The platform offers IT and ticket tracking features to improve the experience of customers and customer service representatives. It also offers excellent integration with social media, messaging apps, and a lot of integrated business solutions.

ServiceNow Overview

ServiceNow is a business workflow automation solution founded in California in 2004. It’s a cloud-based platform that helps anybody create and follow tasks, regardless of their level of experience and the size of the company.

This platform mainly focuses on IT services, with special features to facilitate work in HR, process and case management, customer support, and security. With its ability to create tickets, ServiceNow is also popular as a field service management platform for customer relationship management. There are more than 20,000 companies that use ServiceNow, and most of them are from the US.

Compare Zendesk vs. ServiceNow

When you compare Zendesk and ServiceNow, you’ll be able to pick the right platform for your business. But first, there are a few common features that both applications share.

Zendesk and ServiceNow: Common Features

• Both applications are cloud-based SaaS solutions.
• These applications work with any browser or device, so they’re quite accessible.
• Every system comes with macros that help issue pre-made messages to help both users and customers understand how the platform functions.
• Both platforms offer some integrated solutions, although Zendesk offers more features in this aspect.

What is the Difference between Zendesk and ServiceNow?

With only a few similarities, there are significant differences that set both Zendesk and ServiceNow apart. Understanding the differences between ServiceNow vs Zendesk will help you pick the right platform for your business operations.

Focus

Both Zendesk and ServiceNow can indeed serve CRM purposes, but the primary focus of each platform is different. Zendesk is a popular option for ticketing, with unique integrations and supported apps that tackle other issues. So, you’ll have to pay for these bundles to be able to access the features they offer.

ServiceNow’s primary focus is asset management, app development, and workflow automation. In a single app, ServiceNow allows the user to monitor product and asset management cycles, in addition to issuing tickets for customer support.

User-Friendliness

Although both platforms are popular among tech-savvy users, Zendesk is definitely more user-friendly. Zendesk shows simple tabs that allow less experienced users to find what they’re looking for easily. So, for less tech-savvy users, Zendesk is better than ServiceNow.

ServiceNow, on the other hand, offers several dashboards with individual tasks and subtasks. As a result, for a first-time user, it’s easy to miss some of the features of ServiceNow because it has a more significant learning curve.

Support

Zendesk and ServiceNow offer efficient customer support solutions to users with multi-channel management features. In addition to the regular communication channels, Zendesk provides a comprehensive customer portal, including a knowledge base and several in-person and online training options. Nevertheless, as a user, you should know that to access all these customer support features, you should subscribe to a higher tier of Zendesk.

Exporting Data

This feature is vital if you want to move from another platform to ServiceNow or Zendesk. ServiceNow is the winner in this arena as it allows users to import and export their data from an Excel spreadsheet and export it to a PDF.

Zendesk will allow you only to export tickets to an XML file and import via the API. Moreover, this option is only available after subscribing to a higher plan. So, you need to consider the format used to import and export your data before committing to a platform like Zendesk or ServiceNow.

Integration

Integrating a platform with different apps is necessary to improve the workflow and user/customer experience. Zendesk wins with multiple integrations that aim to offer users better and more features. Here are some of the best-integrated apps for Zendesk and ServiceNow.

Zendesk

• Proactive Campaigns for Zendesk. It is a messaging app that allows a marketing employee to segment customers in your Zendesk database and sends mass emails with a single click. It also streamlines replies and sends automatic personalized follow-ups on behalf of the user.
• Email Tracking for Zendesk is a practical email activity tracking app. It helps you determine your emails’ open and reply rates to assess your email campaign’s success. The app allows users to be more proactive with solid leads to convert them to paying clients.
• Video Reply for Zendesk is an app that can help you better introduce and follow up with business deals as it can be used in various settings. It’s mainly used in demos when trying to sell your products and services. It can also be used to create how-to guides. When it comes to CRM, video replies help build trust and can resolve tickets faster.
• GDPR Compliance for Zendesk is an app that follows up with General Data Protection Regulations. So, make sure the users of Zendesk aren’t breaking any laws. This app removes users’ personal data without affecting the essential information that can be used for business reporting. It also deletes all personal data from your Zendesk account for compliance.
• CRM and Deals for Zendesk is an app that nurtures leads and is more affordable than other Zendesk integrations. It allows users to get a clear view of how your business deals are evolving and standing to make better decisions.
• UpChat for Zendesk. The app integrates with Zendesk Support and Zendesk Chat, allowing employees to communicate in real-time with customers and leave important notes about them. UpChat saves the company’s time and resources as all information is stored in Zendesk Support.

ServiceNow

ServiceNow, on the other hand, comes with extra built-in features since it has a broader scope. Yet, there are some helpful apps that integrate with ServiceNow for a better user experience.

Email Tracking for ServiceNow is an app that counts the time a recipient spends to open your email and send an immediate reply. The app allows the company to detect which emails have higher open rates to improve or modify an advertising or marketing campaign.

Zendesk vs ServiceNow: Pricing

It’s hard to determine the winner in the ServiceNow vs Zendesk standoff when it comes to the pricing aspect. Zendesk and ServiceNow have two different pricing models. Zendesk offers specific monthly and annual quotes with three different tiers to suit businesses of all sizes. All services can be tested for free, and more features are available with the higher tier.

ServiceNow differs as the app’s price depends on the company’s size and industry. So, if you want to buy ServiceNow, you have to contact the company for a custom quote that includes the features you want to use.

Does Zendesk integrate with ServiceNow?

You can integrate Zendesk with ServiceNow in a few easy steps. However, it’s essential to check the nature of the documents you’re integrating, as apps don’t support the same documents. Luckily, Zendesk offers documentation that explains such integrations to help you manage your business operations flawlessly with Zendesk-ServiceNow integration.

Which is better, Zendesk or ServiceNow?

There’s no clear winner in the Zendesk vs ServiceNow comparison, as each software offers different advantages. This is why it’s important to understand the scope of every platform to pick the one that works best for your company.

If your main focus is CRM, Zendesk will be your beneficial platform. It’s an easy-to-understand service desk software and comes with all the features that you might need to deliver an excellent customer and user experience.

ServiceNow has a wider scope, as it’s mainly used for product and asset process management. You can still use it for CRM, which offers better importing and exporting solutions when you’re moving from a current platform to ServiceNow.