How to set up Zendesk automation multi-step reminders in 2026

Stale tickets are the silent productivity killer in support teams. You have all been there: a ticket marked "Pending" waiting for a customer response, sitting untouched for days, sometimes weeks. Agents forget to follow up. Customers forget they opened the ticket. Eventually someone has to manually dig through the queue, send a reminder, and hope for a response.

This is where multi-step reminder workflows come in. Instead of relying on memory or manual checks, you can build an automated system that nudges customers at strategic intervals, then either closes the ticket or escalates it back to your team. The industry calls this the "bump bump solve" pattern: first reminder, second reminder, then resolution.

In this guide, we will walk through building a complete multi-step reminder workflow in Zendesk. You will learn how to set up the automations, configure the triggers, and test everything before it goes live. We will also look at how AI tools can enhance this workflow beyond what native Zendesk automations can do alone.

What are multi-step reminders and why use them?

Multi-step reminders are an automated sequence of follow-up communications triggered by time-based conditions. When a ticket sits in "Pending" status for a defined period, the system automatically sends a reminder to the requester. If there is still no response after another interval, it sends a final notice. After a third interval, the ticket is either closed or reopened for agent attention.

The "bump bump solve" pattern works because it balances persistence with politeness. The first bump is helpful: "Just checking in, did you see our response?" The second bump adds urgency: "We have not heard back and will need to close this soon." The solve action (closure or escalation) keeps your queue clean while giving customers a clear path to reopen if needed.

Without automation, this workflow requires agents to manually track pending tickets, remember follow-up schedules, and craft individual reminder messages. For teams handling hundreds of tickets weekly, this becomes unsustainable. Automated reminders reduce manual workload, ensure consistent communication timing, and improve resolution metrics by preventing tickets from stalling indefinitely.

Use this workflow when tickets frequently stall waiting for customer input, when you need consistent follow-up timing for SLA compliance, or when you want to reduce the mental load on agents who currently track pending tickets manually.

What you'll need before starting

Before building your multi-step reminder workflow, confirm you have the following:

• A Zendesk Suite Team account or higher (Support Team plan includes automations but lacks some advanced features we will reference)
• Admin access to Automations and Triggers in the Admin Center
• Basic understanding of how tags work in Zendesk (we will use them to track reminder state)
• Approximately 30-45 minutes for initial setup and testing

The workflow we are building uses Zendesk's native automation and trigger features, so no additional apps or integrations are required. However, if you are on the Support Team plan ($19/agent/month annually), note that some features like multiple business hours and advanced routing are only available on Suite plans.

Step-by-step: Building your multi-step reminder workflow

Step 1: Create the custom ticket field

First, you need a way to identify which tickets should enter the reminder workflow. We will use a custom checkbox field that agents can toggle when they need a follow-up sequence.

Navigate to Admin Center > Objects and rules > Tickets > Fields. Click "Add field" and select "Checkbox." Name it "Enable reminder" and set the tag to "email_reminder". This tag is what our automations will look for.

Add this field to any ticket forms where agents might need reminder functionality. If you have multiple brands or ticket types, consider whether all of them need this feature or if it should be limited to specific forms.

Step 2: Build the first reminder automation (48 hours)

Now create the automation that sends the first reminder. Go to Admin Center > Objects and rules > Business rules > Automations and click "Add automation."

Name it "Send email reminder after 48h" so it is clear what this automation does.

Set these conditions:

• Status category Is Pending
• Hours since pending is greater than 48
• Tags contains email_reminder

Set these actions:

• Email requester with your first reminder message (we will cover message templates in the next section)
• Add tag "email_reminder_1st"

The tag addition is critical. It marks that the first reminder has been sent, which prevents the automation from running again on the same ticket and creates a condition for the second reminder.

Step 3: Build the second reminder automation (96 hours)

Create a second automation for the final reminder. Name it "Send final reminder after 96h."

Set these conditions:

• Status category Is Pending
• Hours since pending is greater than 96
• Tags contains email_reminder_1st
• Tags does not contain email_reminder_2nd

Set these actions:

• Email requester with your final reminder message
• Add tag "email_reminder_2nd"

The "does not contain email_reminder_2nd" condition ensures this automation only runs once per ticket. Without it, the automation would fire every hour after the 96-hour mark, spamming your customer.

Step 4: Build the auto-close or reopen automation (144+ hours)

The third automation handles the final action. You have two options here, depending on your support philosophy.

Option A: Auto-solve the ticket

This closes the ticket after sufficient waiting time. Some teams prefer this to keep queues clean, with the understanding that customers can reply to reopen.

Conditions:

• Status category Is Pending
• Hours since pending is greater than 168 (7 days)
• Tags contains email_reminder_2nd

Actions:

• Set status to Solved
• Add tag "reminder_closed"

Option B: Reopen for agent follow-up

This brings the ticket back to agent attention for a personal touch on stalled tickets.

Conditions:

• Status category Is Pending
• Hours since pending is greater than 144 (6 days)
• Tags contains email_reminder_2nd

Actions:

• Set status to Open
• Add tag "reminder_open"

Choose the approach that fits your team's capacity and customer expectations. Auto-solve is more scalable but can frustrate customers who genuinely missed the reminders. Reopen ensures nothing falls through cracks but adds ticket volume back to your queue.

Step 5: Create triggers to stop reminders on customer reply

Here is where many workflows break: when a customer replies, you need to stop the reminder sequence immediately. Otherwise, your helpful response might be followed by an automated "We have not heard from you" message, which looks terrible.

Create three triggers to remove reminder tags when customers engage:

Trigger 1: Early response (before first reminder)

• Conditions: Status category changed to Open, Tags contains email_reminder, Tags does not contain email_reminder_1st
• Actions: Remove tag "email_reminder"

Trigger 2: Response after first reminder

• Conditions: Status category changed to Open, Tags contains email_reminder_1st, Tags does not contain email_reminder_2nd
• Actions: Remove tags "email_reminder" and "email_reminder_1st"

Trigger 3: Response after second reminder

• Conditions: Status category changed to Open, Tags contains email_reminder_2nd
• Actions: Remove tags "email_reminder", "email_reminder_1st", and "email_reminder_2nd"

These triggers fire immediately when a customer reply changes the ticket status from Pending to Open, cleaning up the tags so the time-based automations no longer match.

Step 6: Create a view for reopened tickets

If you chose the reopen option in Step 4, create a view so agents can easily find these tickets.

Go to Admin Center > Views > Add view. Name it "Auto-reopened reminder tickets." Set the condition to Tags contains "reminder_open". Consider adding a column for "Hours since pending" so agents can see how long each ticket has been stalled.

This view becomes your team's daily checklist for tickets that need personal follow-up after the automated sequence has run its course.

Message templates for your reminders

The content of your reminder emails matters as much as the timing. Here are templates you can adapt:

First reminder (48 hours):

Hi {{ticket.requester.first_name}},

We wanted to follow up on your recent request ({{ticket.title}}). We have not heard back from you yet and want to make sure you received our last message.

If you still need help, just reply to this email. If your issue is resolved, no action is needed.

Thanks, {{current_user.name}}

Second reminder (96 hours):

Hi {{ticket.requester.first_name}},

This is a final follow-up regarding your request ({{ticket.title}}). We have not received a response to our previous messages.

If we do not hear back within the next 2 days, we will close this ticket. You can always reply to reopen it if you still need assistance.

Best regards, {{current_user.name}}

Auto-close notification (if using Option A):

Hi {{ticket.requester.first_name}},

We are closing your request ({{ticket.title}}) due to inactivity. If you still need help, simply reply to this email and we will reopen your ticket immediately.

Ticket reference: {{ticket.id}}

Best regards, {{current_user.name}}

Use Zendesk's placeholder system to personalize these messages. Common placeholders include {{ticket.requester.first_name}}, {{ticket.title}}, {{ticket.id}}, and {{current_user.name}}.

Testing and troubleshooting your automations

Before going live, test your workflow thoroughly. Zendesk provides a "Preview match for conditions" feature in each automation. Use it to see which existing tickets would match your conditions.

Check the automation logs regularly after launch. Go to Admin Center > Objects and rules > Business rules > Automations and click on each automation to see its execution history. Look for:

• Tickets that should have received reminders but did not (usually a tag condition issue)
• Multiple reminders sent to the same ticket (missing "does not contain" conditions)
• Reminders sent after customer replies (trigger not firing or tag not removed)

Common issues and fixes:

Start with longer timeframes (72 hours instead of 48, for example) and shorten them once you verify everything works correctly. This gives you a larger window to catch issues before customers are affected.

Limitations of native Zendesk automations

Native Zendesk automations work well for straightforward reminder sequences, but they have constraints you should understand:

• Hourly execution: Automations run once per hour, not in real-time. A ticket hitting 48 hours at 10:05 AM will not get a reminder until the next automation cycle, potentially at 11:00 AM.
• Processing limits: Each automation processes a maximum of 1,000 tickets per hour. High-volume teams might hit this ceiling.
• Messaging limitations: The native "email requester" action only works for email tickets. If you use Zendesk Messaging for WhatsApp, Instagram, or web chat, you cannot send reminders through those channels without using the Sunshine Conversations API, which requires development work.
• Complex setup: Even a simple three-step reminder requires three automations, three triggers, a custom field, and careful tag management. More sophisticated workflows get unwieldy quickly.
• No A/B testing: You cannot easily test different message versions to see which gets better response rates.

These limitations do not make native automations unusable, but they create friction as your needs grow more complex.

Enhancing reminders with eesel AI

If you have hit the limits of native Zendesk automations, or if you want more intelligent reminder workflows, eesel AI offers an alternative approach.

Instead of building multiple automations with tag-based logic, eesel AI lets you define reminder behavior in plain English. You describe when to send reminders, what they should say, and when to escalate, and the AI handles the execution. This turns a six-step configuration process into a single prompt.

More importantly, eesel AI brings context awareness to reminders. Native Zendesk automations only know "this ticket has been pending 48 hours." eesel AI can understand "this ticket is pending, the customer asked about a billing dispute, and the sentiment of their last message was frustrated." This lets you route sensitive tickets to human agents even if they have not hit the time threshold, or skip reminders entirely for VIP customers.

The simulation feature is particularly valuable for reminder workflows. Before going live, you can run eesel AI against your historical tickets to see exactly how it would have handled them. This answers questions like "Would this have sent a reminder to that angry customer who was about to churn?" without risking real customer relationships.

Our Zendesk integration works alongside your existing setup. You can start with native automations for simple reminders, then layer in eesel AI for complex escalation logic or sentiment-based routing as your needs evolve.

Start automating your Zendesk reminders today

You now have a complete multi-step reminder workflow running in Zendesk. Your tickets will automatically receive follow-up nudges at 48 and 96 hours, then either close or reopen based on your preference. Your agents no longer need to manually track pending tickets, and your customers get consistent, timely communication.

The workflow you built today will handle the majority of stalled ticket scenarios. As your support operation grows, you might find yourself wanting more sophisticated logic: conditional reminders based on ticket priority, different sequences for different customer segments, or integration with your CRM for account-based escalation rules.

When you reach that point, consider how AI-enhanced automation could complement what you have built. The simulation capabilities alone can save hours of testing and reduce the risk of customer-facing errors. Whether you stick with native Zendesk automations or explore AI enhancement, the goal is the same: keeping tickets moving and customers informed without burning out your team.

Ready to see what intelligent automation looks like? Try eesel AI free for 7 days and run a simulation on your historical tickets to see how context-aware reminders could work for your team.