When new contact created in Zoho Desk, add to Mailchimp list and trigger welcome sequence

Each new Zoho Desk contact is added to your Mailchimp audience, then a custom event is recorded on that member so a Mailchimp customer journey can start your welcome emails.

Zoho Desk

Mailchimp

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3 steps Setup ~5 min Used on 1.5k sites Free to import

What this workflow does

People who first reach you through support often never make it onto your email list. This workflow takes each contact created in Zoho Desk, adds them to Mailchimp, and records an event on the new member that a Mailchimp customer journey can use as its starting point.

The Zoho Desk trigger fires when a new contact is created, for example when someone emails your help desk for the first time or an agent adds them. The contact's details, such as name and email, are passed on.

The first Mailchimp step adds the person to the audience you pick, or updates them if the email is already a member. The second Mailchimp step records a custom event for that member. FlowMattic describes this action as useful for triggering customer-journey automations, and that is how the welcome sequence starts: you build a journey in Mailchimp that begins when a member gets this event, and the journey sends the emails.

You set up both Mailchimp steps yourself. After import you choose the audience, map the Zoho Desk email and name, and give the event a name that matches the one your journey listens for. Support contacts didn't necessarily sign up for marketing, so decide whether they belong on your audience at all, and check Task History after a test contact.

Onboarding emails for new support customers

A software company sends a three-email getting-started series to anyone who opens their first Zoho Desk ticket, started by the event this workflow records.

Help centre tips after first contact

A service business points new help desk contacts to its knowledge base articles through a short Mailchimp journey instead of repeating the links in every reply.

One audience for sales and support contacts

A shop keeps people who only ever contacted support in the same Mailchimp audience as buyers, so its product updates reach both groups.

How this workflow runs

What happens at each step once the workflow is on, and what you need before you import it.

Step 1Trigger
Zoho Desk New Contact
Fires when a new contact is created in Zoho Desk. The contact's name, email and other details are passed to the Mailchimp steps; run a test to see which Zoho Desk fields you can map.
Step 2Action
Mailchimp Add New Member
Adds the contact to your Mailchimp audience, or updates the member if they already exist. The step ships unmapped: choose the audience and map the Zoho Desk email and name into it.
Step 3Action
Mailchimp Add Member Event
Records a custom event on the same Mailchimp member. Map the email from the Zoho Desk contact and enter the event name your Mailchimp customer journey starts on; the imported step has no value for either.

What you need

FlowMatticCore
Zoho Desk AccountAccount
Mailchimp AccountAccount

After importing, map your own data. To keep the template universal, not every step is pre-filled. Open each step in the builder and connect your accounts and fields (channels, lists, sheets, recipients) before you switch the workflow on.

Make it yours

Changes worth making after you import it.

Create the customer journey in Mailchimp first, with a starting point based on a custom event, and use exactly that event name in the Add Member Event step.
Put a Filter between the Zoho Desk trigger and the Add New Member step that continues only when the contact's email is not empty, since a Zoho Desk contact can be saved without an email address.
If only some contacts should get marketing email, check a Zoho Desk field such as the account in that same Filter between the trigger and the first Mailchimp step. The field is an example to change.
Create a Zoho Desk test contact with your own email address, then check in Mailchimp that the member exists and that your journey started for them.

Questions about this workflow

Will FlowMattic send the Mailchimp welcome emails for me?

No. It adds the member and records an event. Mailchimp sends the emails from a customer journey you build that starts when a member gets that event.

What if the Zoho Desk contact is already in my Mailchimp audience?

The Mailchimp member is updated rather than duplicated. The event is still recorded, so check your journey settings if existing members should not start it again.

Is every new Zoho Desk contact added, or only some?

Every new contact starts a run. To leave some out, put a Filter between the Zoho Desk trigger and the first Mailchimp step on a field you choose.

Are contacts that already exist in Zoho Desk included?

No. Zoho Desk contacts that were created before the workflow went live never start a run. Export older contacts from Zoho Desk and import them into Mailchimp separately if you want them too.