Company: Parakar
Industry: HR & Payroll Services
Scope: 24 teams across 10 countries
Challenge: Fragmented communication, lack of visibility, inefficient workload distribution
Solution: Zendesk implementation with support from Premium Plus
Focus areas: Operations, internal collaboration, scalability, future automation
Before implementing Zendesk, Parakar relied heavily on shared mailboxes across multiple teams. This created several operational challenges:
Inefficient workload distribution: Teams struggled to divide incoming requests effectively
Lack of visibility: No clear overview of incoming request types or volumes
Complex internal collaboration: Long email threads across departments (e.g. Operations, Finance) slowed down resolution
Limited data insights: No structured way to understand workload drivers or recurring issues
As Niki Janssen, Project Manager at Parakar, explains:
“We knew teams were very busy, but it was very hard to grasp what actually came in and what made it so busy.”
Parakar selected Zendesk to centralise communication and introduce structured ticketing.
However, implementing Zendesk independently was not considered realistic:
The platform’s flexibility required expert guidance
Configuration decisions had long-term operational impact
Internal teams lacked the time and expertise to design the right setup
“We could have never done this on our own… to set the basics and implement it in the right way.”
Premium Plus was recommended by Zendesk and chosen as the implementation partner due to:
Strong expertise in Zendesk
Local presence and language fit
“This was a very collaborative project. Parakar was closely involved in defining their workflows, and together we translated those into Zendesk. That back-and-forth is essential, especially when standard setups don’t fully apply.”
Saskia Clappers - Premium Plus, Zendesk Expert
Parakar’s use case differed from standard customer support environments:
Ongoing client relationships rather than one-off tickets
Multiple departments (Finance, Payroll, Operations, Sales)
Country-specific teams with different workflows
Complex internal processes and exceptions
This required a bespoke implementation approach, rather than applying standard best practices.
Key elements of the implementation:
Mapping and documenting a wide range of use cases
Designing workflows for both simple and complex scenarios
Structuring teams and groups (24 teams in total)
Configuring routing and assignment logic
“The best practices you usually have might not be the best practices for us… we had to figure out along the way what the right setup would be.”
Premium Plus worked closely with Parakar to iterate and refine the setup throughout the project.
Moving from shared inboxes to Zendesk required behavioural change across the organisation.
Key challenges:
Initial resistance from some teams
Different levels of adoption across departments
Need to explain the value of structured workflows
What worked:
Internal “ambassadors” driving adoption
Gradual onboarding across teams
Keeping the external client experience unchanged during transition
“Some teams were sceptical at first… but many got used to it very quickly.”
After 4–5 months of using Zendesk, Parakar is already seeing operational improvements:
“Collaboration between multiple teams on one ticket is way easier… that saves a lot of time.”
Parakar deliberately focused first on data quality and structure, rather than immediate KPI reporting.
“We needed these months to get the figures right… now we are building the baseline to track improvements.”
This approach ensures future reporting is meaningful and actionable.
Parakar is now entering the next phase of its Zendesk journey:
Key priorities:
“We want to reduce simple recurring questions and spend time on more complex ones where we can really help our clients.”
The combination of AI and structured knowledge is expected to:
Throughout the project, Premium Plus provided:
What stood out most:
“The communication was easy… and we always had insight into what was being done and by whom.”
“What I like about this project is that the team sees Zendesk as something that evolves. We started with the basics, made sure the foundation was solid, and now we’re working together on dashboards, automation, and AI. That step-by-step approach makes a big difference in long-term success.”
Saskia Clappers - Premium Plus, Zendesk Expert
For CX, EX, Operations, and IT leaders, Parakar’s experience highlights a few important points:
1. Shared inboxes don’t scale
As organisations grow, lack of structure leads to inefficiency and limited visibility.
2. Implementation quality matters
Getting the setup right early avoids long-term operational issues.
3. One size doesn’t fit all
Zendesk must be tailored to your organisation’s workflows, not the other way around.
4. Focus on data foundations first
Reliable insights depend on clean, structured data.
5. Automation and AI require preparation
Knowledge base and categorisation are critical before scaling automation.
Parakar strongly recommends working with an implementation partner:
“Especially in the beginning… make it easier for yourself and get help to set it up properly.”