Overview
Summerfield Resources Corporation chose Zoho Desk to replace their call-based customer support system and increase efficiency, helping them deliver the best customer experience in the Philippines' real estate sector.
The company
Summerfield Resources Corporation, established in 1994, is a real estate company that aims to provide the best living experience for their customers. With 19+ years of experience, they've completed over 50 projects in 28 cities, making them one of the Philippines' leading real estate companies. They focus on providing customers with comprehensive amenities and comfortable living while maintaining high standards of professional service to ensure quick assistance.
The challenge
Before implementing Zoho Desk, Summerfield heavily relied on phone calls and emails to resolve customer questions. They received hundreds of phone calls, especially on weekends, which required them to always have someone stationed. The entire ticket process was time consuming and ineffective, preventing team members from focusing on other required tasks.
Engineers, for instance, would often take calls only to realize that the issue was unrelated to their area of responsibility, or they assisted a customer who hadn't paid because they had no visibility into the customer's status. This caused confusion and delays in resolving customer concerns as they had to route the ticket to the appropriate department.
Additionally, Summerfield was using one Gmail account to receive all customer questions and concerns. It was inefficient for handling customer inquiries, as everything—whether it was a support issue or a general question—was funneled through a single email. They also weren't able to label and prioritize issues or collaborate internally.
They decided to choose a solution that would support their journey toward providing enhanced customer experience. They reached out to Devtac, Zoho's premium Partner, for an effective solution. Devtac evaluated their processes and recommended Zoho Desk as the most suitable solution.
The solution
Life cycle of a ticket at Summerfield
By implementing Zoho Desk, Summerfield was able to create a more efficient ticket life cycle. Summerfield could use its own email domain for customers to submit complaints to, such as issues with leaking houses. When a customer sent an email, it created a ticket, which the sales team monitored to check for open issues. The sales team then coordinated with engineers on site to resolve the problem. Once the issue was fixed, the ticket was closed by the engineer, who could now view and close the tickets assigned to them.
The sales team not only coordinated with the on-site engineers but also took on the responsibility of forwarding tickets to the appropriate departments.
Workflow to notify the customers of their ticket status
If there was no acknowledgment or confirmation email when a customer raised a concern, they became uncertain whether their ticket was being worked on or not. To address this issue and reduce customer stress, Summerfield developed a workflow that automatically notified the customer, confirming that the concern was received and would be handled by the appropriate agent.
Another workflow was developed by the Devtac team that let Summerfield inform the customer of their ticket's status for transparent communication.
Blueprints for the finance team to keep everything in check
The finance team at Summerfield needed a structured process to track check approvals and releases to ensure timely and accurate payment processing, so the Partner created a blueprint that outlined the necessary steps:
1. Project Billing Approved: The project’s billing has been verified and approved for payment.
2. Physical Check Created: A physical check is generated for the approved billing.
3. Physical Check Forwarded: The check is sent to the appropriate department for signing.
4. Check Signed: Authorized personnel review and sign the check.
5. Ready for Release: The check is finalized and ready for distribution to the recipient.
The company also built similar blueprints for other departments. The key purpose of building these blueprints was to help the management team track the progress of each ticket and ensure that the proper business process was followed without overlooking other important tasks.
SLAs to provide quick resolution and build credibility
Summerfield wanted to ensure timely follow-ups, so they established clear communication regarding response and issue resolution timeframes within the organization. They created different SLAs (service level agreements) in Zoho Desk for each department. For example, the project management team had an SLA of 24 hours for responding to a ticket and five days for resolution, while the finance team’s SLA was 24 hours for response and two days for resolution.
Benefits and ROI
Increased productivity after implementing Zoho Desk
When we were handling things over the phone, we had two or three customer agents managing only phone calls. But with Zoho Desk, the same team members are now able to resolve queries more efficiently. They no longer need to spend all their time answering calls, giving them the bandwidth to focus on other tasks, such as documentation and other important responsibilities.
Structured ticketing process with no hassle
Summerfield has increased their efficiency, along with notable improvements in productivity and customer satisfaction. Customers now experience a more organized system, where they no longer have to make repeated calls for questions like, "Which application should I use?" or "Has the leak in my house been fixed?" Instead, they can email their concerns, which are addressed in a more structured way. This approach has been well received. Additionally, this system has made the marketing and sales teams' tasks more manageable.
Most importantly, the overall volume of calls and concerns has dropped by 80%.
The adoption rate was impressive!
Our team—including the sales team—isn’t typically quick to adopt new technology, so I was a bit concerned at first. But the fact that they were able to transition to Zoho Desk so smoothly really shows how user friendly the platform is. It wasn’t completely easy at the start, but it was definitely doable. It took about a month for everyone to get comfortable with it. The adoption rate was impressive.
- Industry typeB2C
- EmployeesBelow 50
- Type of businessReal Estate
Looking forward
Summerfield is happy and satisfied with Zoho Desk and is open to exploring its new releases. Zoho and Summerfield’s relationship is evolving steadily, setting the stage for deeper collaboration and shared success in the days to come..
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