Customer support ticket routing is a mess for a lot of teams. Too many tickets end up with the wrong agents, things fall through the cracks, and customers get frustrated. If your team is using chatbots to handle incoming support requests—but you’re still stuck sorting tickets by hand—there’s a better way.
This guide is for support managers, ops folks, or anyone who wants to actually fix ticket routing without spending months on a massive IT project. We’ll cover how you can use Landbot—a no-code chatbot builder—and Zapier to build an automated, flexible ticket routing system that actually works. No code, no huge budget, just a little setup and some honest advice about what’s worth your time.
Why automate ticket routing, anyway?
Support teams are under constant pressure to do more with less. Manual ticket triage burns out your agents and annoys customers. Automation can help, but only if it’s actually set up to match your real-world needs.
Here’s what good routing can do for you: - Tickets get to the right person or team the first time. - No more “who owns this?” chaos in your inbox. - Faster responses, happier customers, and less agent burnout.
But it’s not a silver bullet. Bad automation just makes things worse, faster. So let’s avoid that.
What are Landbot and Zapier? (And why use them together?)
Landbot is a no-code chatbot platform that lets you build web, WhatsApp, or Messenger bots. It’s point-and-click, not “write Python scripts for hours.” You can collect info from customers as they start a chat—issue type, urgency, customer tier, whatever you want.
Zapier is the duct tape of the SaaS world. It connects apps without code, so you can send data from Landbot to your ticketing system, email, Slack, spreadsheets, or anywhere else.
Why use both? - Landbot handles the customer conversation and gathers all the right info. - Zapier takes that info and does something with it—like routing the ticket to the right team or auto-assigning it.
If you’re already using a ticketing system (Zendesk, Freshdesk, HubSpot, etc.), Zapier can usually plug right in.
Step 1: Map out your routing rules before you touch any tools
Don’t jump into Landbot or Zapier yet. First, figure out what “right routing” actually means for your team. Otherwise, you’ll just automate your existing mess.
Questions to ask: - What info do you need from the customer to route a ticket? (E.g., product area, urgency, account type) - Who (or what team) should handle each type of request? - Are there “VIP” customers who need a different path? - Any requests that should never be handled by a bot?
Pro tip: Write your routing rules down in plain language or a simple spreadsheet. If you can’t explain your rules to a new hire, your bot won’t get it either.
Step 2: Build your Landbot flow to capture key info
Now, set up your Landbot chatbot to collect the details you need for routing. Don’t ask for everything—people hate forms. Stick to what’s essential.
Common fields: - Name and email (if not already known) - Issue category (let them pick from a list) - Urgency (simple “Is this urgent?” works) - Customer ID or company (for B2B) - Free-text description of the problem
How to do it: 1. In Landbot, start a new bot using a support template or from scratch. 2. Add question blocks for each piece of info you need. 3. Use conditional logic (Landbot calls them “rules” or “branches”) to ask follow-up questions only when needed. 4. At the end, use a “Zapier” block or webhook to send the collected data to Zapier.
What works:
- Keeping the chat short—get just enough info to route, not to solve.
- Using quick replies/buttons instead of open text where possible (less messy data).
What doesn’t:
- Asking open-ended routing questions (“How can we help?”) and expecting Zapier to parse it.
- Overcomplicating the bot. If it feels like an interrogation, people will bail.
Step 3: Set up your Zapier workflow(s)
Now the fun (or, honestly, sometimes tedious) part: connect Landbot to your ticketing system with Zapier.
Basic flow: 1. Trigger: New conversation in Landbot (use the Zapier integration in Landbot, or send a webhook to Zapier). 2. Action: Add a filter step in Zapier to route based on the data Landbot collected (e.g., if “issue type” is “billing,” send to billing queue). 3. Action: Create a new ticket in your support tool, assign to the right team or agent. 4. Optional: Send a confirmation email or Slack message.
Tips: - Use Zapier’s “Paths” or “Filters” to split tickets by category, urgency, or customer type. - Test each path with real data—don’t assume your first draft works. - Add error handling: If routing fails, send a fallback alert to a shared inbox or manager.
What works:
- Starting simple, then adding more rules as you see where tickets actually go.
- Logging all routed tickets in a spreadsheet (Google Sheets, Airtable) for easy auditing.
What doesn’t:
- Trying to handle every edge case in Zapier. For rare situations, route to a human for manual triage.
- Giant, spaghetti Zaps with 20+ steps. If it feels fragile, it probably is.
Step 4: Test it like you’re a customer (and break it on purpose)
Don’t just trust your setup because Zapier says “Zap turned on.” Run through the flow as if you’re a customer, and try to break it.
Checklist: - Does the bot ask for the right info, in a way that makes sense? - Are tickets going to the right queue or person, every time? - What happens if someone gives a weird answer, or skips a question? - Do you get notified when something fails, or does it disappear into the void?
Pro tip: Have someone not involved in building the bot test it. They’ll find the weird edge cases you missed.
Step 5: Go live, but monitor closely (and keep iterating)
Once you’re confident, roll it out—but don’t walk away.
- Monitor the first week: Check where tickets are going. Are there bottlenecks or repeat misroutes?
- Gather agent feedback: Are they getting the right info up front? Anything missing or confusing?
- Update your rules: If you see common mistakes, tweak your Landbot questions or Zapier filters.
Remember, “set and forget” is a myth. Good routing needs tweaks as your team, products, or customer base changes.
Honest takes: Where this setup shines (and where it falls short)
What works well: - Fast to set up—most teams can do it in a day or two. - No dev required, so you can own it without IT. - Flexible: add new rules or paths as you need.
What to watch out for: - Zapier gets expensive with lots of volume. If you’re routing thousands of tickets a day, pricing can sting. - Landbot is great for simple flows; if you need heavy-duty NLP or deep integrations, it can feel limited. - No system will ever catch 100% of edge cases. Accept that some manual triage is still needed. - If your data is messy (e.g., customers type “Biling” instead of “Billing”), routes might fail. Use buttons, not open text, for key choices.
Ignore the hype: No, this won’t “revolutionize” support, and it won’t eliminate the need for good agents. But it will save time and reduce headaches if you keep it simple.
Wrapping up: Keep it simple, improve as you go
Automating ticket routing with Landbot and Zapier isn’t magic, but it’s a solid, practical upgrade for most support teams. Start small, focus on your real bottlenecks, and don’t get distracted by fancy features you don’t need.
Once you’ve got basic routing down, then think about smarter bots, analytics, or AI if you really need it. But honestly? Most teams just need to get the basics right.
Iterate, listen to your agents, and don’t be afraid to change things up as you learn. Simple, working automation beats a complex mess every time.