Case Study: Spartan Race cuts response times with Zendesk Support

Spartan Race dramatically cut their response times with Zendesk Support

Spartan Race grew from a single race in Vermont into a global lifestyle brand running events in more than 30 countries, and its support operation quickly outgrew a basic ticketing system. By 2016, customer service director Aja Varney was managing a team of 15 agents handling as many as 270,000 emails per year, plus regional teams, while the company needed a better way to support registration and race logistics questions.

With Zendesk Support, Spartan Race added reporting, SLAs, triggers, and live chat to better manage volume and measure satisfaction. The team cut social ticket response times to 20 minutes or less, held email volume flat for two years despite growth, and recorded a 15% efficiency gain from the Shopify integration. Zendesk also helped drive a 27% increase in retail sales, while live chat contacts reached a 97% customer satisfaction rating and overall customer satisfaction reached 93% positive ratings.

Spartan Race

Aja Varney

Director of Customer Service