Russell Hendrix achieves a 95% NPS score with Zoho Desk

Overview

After migrating from Zendesk to Zoho Desk, Russell Hendrix consolidated multiple support environments into a single platform and improved workflow management across departments. The migration enabled the company to preserve nearly ten years of historical records, simplify ticket handling, and implement AI-powered automations.

The company

Founded in 1944, Russell Hendrix stands as Canada’s premier distributor of commercial foodservice equipment and smallwares. The company solidified its position as a dominant national B2B partner through the landmark merger of two industry giants—Russell Food Equipment and Hendrix Hotel & Restaurant Supplies—creating a unified powerhouse operating coast to coast. Serving a diverse clientele that ranges from independent cafés and major restaurant franchises to large-scale institutional facilities, Russell Hendrix differentiates itself by providing end-to-end, value-added services. These comprehensive offerings include commercial kitchen design, project management, technical maintenance, and custom stainless steel fabrication through its proprietary Quest brand.

The challenge

Russell Hendrix decided to move away from Zendesk because the platform was too expensive for the functionality the company was using. Many of the capabilities they needed required additional paid add-ons, which increased operational costs significantly.

The organization also faced workflow limitations inside Zendesk. One of the biggest challenges involved handling side conversations and forwarded email discussions. It was difficult to manage separate conversations with vendors and customers without accidentally exposing information to the wrong recipients. This created operational inefficiencies and increased the risk of communication mistakes.

Another major challenge involved maintaining two separate Zendesk instances due to differences in pricing and functionality. Managing separate environments added complexity and created administrative overhead across departments.

The migration itself also presented technical and operational challenges. Russell Hendrix needed to preserve approximately nine to ten years of historical ticketing data, including customer invoices, contracts, and vendor communications. The company specifically noted that Canadian record retention requirements required certain records to be retained for up to eight years, making data preservation a critical part of the migration process.

In addition, the organization wanted a platform that could support future expansion into other business applications. Heather Pepe, the Director of Enterprise Applications, at Russell Hendrix, stated that the availability of other applications within the Zoho ecosystem was one of the reasons the company considered Zoho Desk as a long-term solution.

The solution

Russell Hendrix uses Zoho Desk across multiple operational teams, including customer service, IT, returns processing, and accounts payable. They handle both internal employee requests and external customer communications through channels such as email, live chat, and phone support. They loved how tickets in Zoho Desk have a conversational layout, unlike Zendesk.

Different departments use the platform for different operational needs. Customer service teams manage incoming customer requests and live chat interactions, while accounts payable teams process vendor invoices through the system. Zoho Desk also supports English and French workflows and routes tickets based on customer requirements, workflows, and language needs.

Migration planning and implementation

Russell Hendrix migrated from Zendesk to Zoho Desk with support from implementation partner AariaLife and the Zoho migration team.

The organization documented every macro, trigger, automation, workflow rule, and business process in spreadsheets before recreating them inside Zoho Desk. AariaLife recreated the Zendesk configuration, including workflows, automations, and triggers, while the Zoho migration team handled the transfer of historical data.

Because the company maintained nearly a decade of ticket history, the migration process involved multiple staged migrations and validation cycles. The team first migrated smaller portions of historical data for testing before proceeding with larger migrations and final cutover activities.

The organization also consolidated both Zendesk environments into a single Zoho Desk instance, simplifying administration and allowing all departments to operate from one centralized platform.

Department setup and workflow management

Russell Hendrix uses Zoho Desk departments to manage workflows across multiple operational teams while maintaining all users within a single platform instance. Each department is configured with customized workflows based on its operational requirements. Customer service teams use Zoho Desk to handle customer emails, live chat requests, and dedicated support email addresses for specific customers, while Zoho Flow automates ticket routing to the appropriate teams and enables multilingual support in both English and French.

The accounts payable team also adopted Zoho Desk to process vendor invoices, replacing a manual Outlook-based process that made tracking and follow-ups difficult. With Zoho Desk, the team gained better visibility into invoice status and automated routing for invoice handling. Additionally, Russell Hendrix implemented custom permissions that allow department-level subject matter experts to independently manage workflows, routing rules, and operational changes without relying on centralized IT support.

Workflow automations and custom processes

One of the more complex workflows involved return management processes. When return requests are submitted from the company’s system, information is automatically sent into Zoho Desk. The organization then uses workflow rules and ticket content analysis to assign return requests to the correct returns controller based on multiple conditions.

They also have additional workflow customizations in Zoho Desk that replicate functionality previously handled differently in Zendesk. Customer service teams reportedly use approximately 25 workflow rules and business triggers, while other departments maintain around 10 to 12 workflows.

The company is also working on a large blueprint-driven returns workflow using APIs and custom logic. Heather stated that the blueprint currently contains approximately 25 triggers and loops and is being refined based on team feedback.This enterprise workflow starts with the sales team initiating the return request, followed by the workflow validating that all required information has been provided, routing the request to the appropriate teams for approval, and then sharing the necessary details with warehouse teams to process the return. The workflow involves sales, inventory, procurement, and distribution teams.

Zia, Zoho Desk's AI, and knowledge management

Russell Hendrix implemented multiple AI-powered capabilities using Zia. The company uses field prediction features to classify tickets automatically and populate operational fields. This helps teams store ticket information consistently and identify recurring operational issues over time.

They have also implemented an AI-assisted workflow that prevents tickets from reopening when users reply only with “thank you” messages. This helps to reduce unnecessary ticket management overhead.

In addition, the management has built internal knowledge base content inside Zoho Desk. These articles included process documentation, architectural standards, runbooks, troubleshooting procedures, and internal operational guidance. The organization also planned to use knowledge base content for customer assistance and automated troubleshooting support in the future.

The customer additionally highlighted confidence in Zoho’s AI agent capabilities because the same AI systems used internally by support teams could eventually be used directly in customer-facing interactions.

Benefits & ROI

The migration enabled Russell Hendrix to consolidate two separate Zendesk environments into a single Zoho Desk instance, reducing operational complexity and improving visibility across departments.

The organization also improved collaboration and communication management through Zoho Desk’s email-style ticket interface. The simplified internal and external communication workflows reduced the risk of accidentally sharing information with the wrong recipients during vendor and customer interactions.

Zia-powered field prediction helps their teams classify tickets more consistently, while automated handling of “thank you” responses reduced unnecessary ticket reopen events. They also benefited from decentralized administration through custom permissions that allowed department-level users to manage workflows and operational processes independently.

Customer service teams use dashboards and reporting tools to monitor ticket volumes, staffing requirements, and workflow activity. IT teams also use SLA and escalation management features to monitor support operations. Heather stated that the blueprint-driven returns workflow currently under development is expected to reduce the number of touches required for processing return requests by at least 75% once fully implemented.

Other benefits

Reduction in repeat tickets: Since implementing Zoho Desk, the organization has seen a reduction in repeat tickets. The department setup, customized views, and email-style ticket structure help teams see responses faster and understand the context of each request more clearly.

AI-assisted support: The organization has begun using the AI Answer Bot across both IT and Customer Service teams. According to the team, this has allowed staff to move faster and handle more requests.

Customer satisfaction tracking: The organization is now tracking NPS in Zoho Desk, which it was not previously doing in Zendesk. Their NPS score after implementing Zoho Desk stands at 95%.