Answer Variables and Placeholders

As you go through the Answers in Gladly, you might notice that some Answers have bits of text in them that seem a bit out of place, impersonal, or just plain wrong. But don’t worry. Those strange, out-of-place texts are our Variables and Placeholders, which are our way of helping you save precious seconds in your day and ensuring that the responses that go out to customers are as complete and accurate as possible.

What are Variables

Think of Variables as a shortcut that helps pull in context-specific information you have in Gladly.

For example, using the variable ‘Customer’s First Name’ in an Answer pulls in the Customer’s name as shown in their profile so that generic template Answers can be automatically personalized for the Customer you’re helping.

Customizing Variables

Variables and their output are managed on the Answer page in the Variables tab. The list of variables you have access to is not customizable, but you can select a default output for each variable instead of the automatic output. For example, if an Answer uses the Customer's First Name variable, it will automatically use the Customer's name as shown in their profile. But if there's no name in their profile, it will use the default value set on this page (e.g., Value Customer). 

What are Placeholders

Placeholders are mandatory fields an Agent must fill in before an Answer can be sent to a customer or, if used in a Note or Task, before that Note or Task can be added.

Placeholders are usually used when an Answer contains unique information that — unlike Variables — can’t be pulled from Gladly’s database and so needs some human input. Making them mandatory reduces the chances of responses being sent out incomplete or missing key information.

Placeholders can also be used to remind Agents to acknowledge or empathize with Customers. This is especially useful for issues that must be resolved for the Customer.

Use Agent 'External Name' variable

Agents can configure an external name in their Gladly profile to help provide some anonymity. When set, Answers using the Agent's Name and Agent's First Name variable are replaced by the external name configured in their profile. You must first activate external names on the Users settings page to allow this.