Practical guides for running support on a small UK team.
Short, honest, hands-on guides for teams who answer customers from email. How to turn a shared inbox into owned tickets, set sensible SLAs, get your mailbox and deliverability right, run several brands from one queue, and plan a clean migration. Email-first throughout, written for small UK teams.
Written for small UK teams · Email-first, no fluff · Honest about what ships today
Start here
Run support well without a big team or a big budget
If you answer customers from a shared address like support@, info@ or accounts@, these guides show you how to make that work properly: the move from a crowded inbox to owned tickets, the email setup that keeps replies out of spam, the SLAs that keep response times honest, and how to run more than one brand.
Every guide is written for the way small UK teams actually work: a handful of people, real business hours, and not enough time to learn an enterprise platform. We open each one with the answer, then keep the sections short. Where something is not built yet, we say so rather than pretend.
What you will find here
- Getting off a shared inbox and into tickets you actually own.
- Setting first-response and resolution SLA targets, with a breaching view that surfaces overdue tickets.
- Getting your support mailbox, SPF, DKIM and DMARC right so replies land.
- Running several brands from one queue without sending as the wrong brand.
- Planning a calm migration from Freshdesk or Zendesk when the time comes.
All guides
Pick the guide for the job in front of you
Nine practical guides, grouped loosely from first move to fine-tuning. Read them in any order.
Run support on a small UK team
The end-to-end playbook: ownership, states, SLAs and reports that keep a few people on top of every customer email.
Read the guideShared inbox to support tickets
Turn a crowded support@ inbox into owned, trackable tickets, by forwarding into Solves, with no missed or double-answered emails.
Read the guideSupport email SLAs
Set first-response and resolution targets, with per-brand targets and a breaching view, then see what is overdue before a customer chases.
Read the guideSupport mailbox setup
Connect your support address the forwarding-first way, run the plain-English DNS checks, and only go live once sending is verified.
Read the guideMulti-brand support desk
Run several customer-facing brands from one login and one unified queue, with per-brand mailboxes and a wrong-brand send guard.
Read the guideFreshdesk or Zendesk to Solves
What moving across involves, what a guided import will handle, and how to plan a clean cut-over from your current helpdesk.
Read the guideSPF, DKIM and DMARC for support email
A plain-English walk through the three DNS records that decide whether your support replies land in the inbox or the spam folder.
Read the guideMigration checklist
A step-by-step checklist for moving from Freshdesk or Zendesk: what to export, what to map, and how to avoid losing history.
Read the checklistShared inbox vs helpdesk
When a shared inbox is enough and when you have outgrown it, with the honest signs it is time to move to owned tickets.
Read the guideHow to use them
A sensible order for most teams
There is no wrong order, but most small teams get the most value reading them in roughly this sequence. Start by working out whether a shared inbox still serves you. If it is time to move, turn it into owned tickets, then get the email plumbing right so your replies arrive.
- Decide if you have outgrown a shared inbox, with the shared inbox vs helpdesk guide.
- Move to owned tickets by forwarding your support address into Solves.
- Get deliverability right with the mailbox setup and SPF, DKIM and DMARC guides.
- Set first-response and resolution SLA targets, with a breaching view that surfaces overdue tickets.
- If you run more than one brand, set up a multi-brand desk so every brand keeps its identity.
- When you are ready to leave another helpdesk, follow the migration guide and checklist.
Each guide stands alone, so if you only have one problem today, jump straight to it. The migration guides are honest about timing: a guided Freshdesk and Zendesk import is coming and is being shaped with pilot teams, so the move is a planned, supported process for now rather than a single button.
Honest about what is shipped
Moving off a shared inbox by forwarding into Solves works today. A one-click import from Freshdesk or Zendesk is coming, so the migration guides describe a guided, supported move rather than a finished transfer tool. We would rather under-promise than waste your switchover.
FAQ
About the guides
Who are these guides for?
They are written for small UK teams who run customer support from email: a founder and a couple of helpers, an office manager who owns the inbox, or a few agents covering one or more brands. The advice favours practical steps you can apply on a busy week, not enterprise theory you will never use.
Do I need Solves to use the guides?
No. The guides explain how to run support well on a small team, set up support email correctly, and move off a shared inbox, and most of that is useful whatever tool you use. Where Solves does the job a particular way, we say so plainly, but the underlying advice stands on its own.
Which guide should I read first?
If you are still answering from a shared inbox like support@, start with turning a shared inbox into support tickets. If your replies are landing in spam or bouncing, read the SPF, DKIM and DMARC guide and the mailbox setup guide. If you run more than one brand, the multi-brand support desk guide is the one to read.
Can you help me move from Freshdesk or Zendesk?
The migration guides walk through what to export, what to map and how to plan a clean cut-over. A guided import for Freshdesk and Zendesk is coming and is being shaped in the pilot, so today the move is a planned, supported process rather than a one-click transfer. You can move off a shared inbox by forwarding into Solves straight away.
How often are the guides updated?
We update guides as the product ships features and as the UK support landscape changes, for example new bank holiday dates each year. Any competitor figures we mention carry a clearly dated last-verified note, because pricing and plans move.
Turn the advice into a working support desk
Start at £29 by forwarding your support address into Solves, or let us help you set it up.