Add a customer before they write in
Create a customer profile for phone orders, VIPs or wholesale buyers with just a name, email or phone, plus a private note only your team sees.
Last updated 2 min read
Most customers appear in Hushdesk on their own, the first time they write in. For people you already know, such as a VIP or a wholesale buyer, you can create the profile in advance.
Before you start
- Who can do this: agents, admins and owners.
- Plan: all plans.
- What you need: at least a name, an email or a phone number.
Step by step
- Open Customers.
- Press Add customer. The dialog explains: "For people who haven’t written in yet: phone orders, VIPs, wholesale. A name, email or phone is enough."
- Fill in Name, Email and Phone as you know them.
- Optionally add a Note (only your team sees it).
- Save. A message confirms Customer added.
What happens next
The customer appears in the list and has their own page. When they email or chat from the same email address, those tickets join this profile, and your note is there for whoever answers.
The addition is recorded in the audit log.
When to add customers by hand
| Situation | Why |
|---|---|
| Phone or in-person orders | So the first email is recognised |
| VIPs and influencers | Note how to treat them |
| Wholesale buyers | Note their terms and contact |
| A customer's second email address | Note the link to their main profile |
How later messages find the profile
When a new email arrives, Hushdesk looks for a customer with the sender's address. If you added one, the ticket joins that profile, and your note and fields are there for whoever answers. A customer added with only a phone number cannot be matched to emails, so add the email address as soon as you have it.
Tips
- Add an email address whenever you can; it is how future messages are matched.
- Use customer fields for facts you track for everyone, such as VIP status. See Create customer fields.
- To write to them straight away, open their page and use Create ticket. See Create a ticket for a customer.
Troubleshooting
"Add at least a name, an email or a phone number"
Fill in at least one of them.
"That email doesn’t look right"
Check the address for typos.
"A customer with this email already exists"
Open the existing customer instead.
"Could not add the customer"
Something stopped the save. Try again.
"Viewers can look but not change anything. Ask an admin for agent access."
Viewers cannot add customers.
Frequently asked questions
Why add a customer by hand?
For people who have not written in yet but you want to recognise when they do, such as phone orders, VIPs, press contacts or wholesale buyers. When they later email or chat from the same address, their messages land on the profile you created, with your note already there.
What details do I need to add a customer?
At least one of a name, an email address or a phone number. Everything else is optional. Add a note if it helps, for example wholesale account, net 30 terms. The note is private and the form reminds you that only your team sees it.
What happens if the email already belongs to a customer?
Hushdesk will not create a duplicate. You see A customer with this email already exists, and nothing is changed. Search for the address in Customers to open the existing profile and update its details or note there instead.
Can I import a list of customers?
Not from a file today. Customers are added automatically when they write in or order, or one at a time with Add customer. Importing customers along with their ticket history from Gorgias is planned for when the production database is live.
Who can add customers?
Agents, admins and owners. Viewers can browse and search customers but cannot add them. Every new customer added by hand is recorded in the audit log with the name of the person who added it, so admins can always see where a profile came from.
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Related articles
- Find a customer in the Customers listSearch everyone who has contacted you by name, email or phone, sort by name, tickets or date, and page through the list 20, 50 or 100 at a time.
- Read a customer's profile and historySee everything about one customer on one page, their tickets and orders on a timeline, details, note, tags, customer fields and total spent.
- Create a ticket for a customerStart an email conversation with a customer from their profile with Create ticket. Their reply lands in the same ticket, already assigned to you.
- Create customer fields for facts about customersKeep facts about each customer, such as VIP status, usual size or preferred contact, in text or dropdown fields that show on every customer page.
Still stuck?
Chat with the Hushdesk team. A person answers on every plan.