Company at a Glance
- Founded in 2018
- >$1B valuation
- Headquartered in New York, NY
- $22B new credit activity unlocked through product
- 107K renters helped of 400K reporting to credit agencies
- Recognized on TIME100 Next, LinkedIn Top Startups, and Forbes Fintech50
The Challenge
Renters can run into many barriers to housing – ranging from economic, financial, and social challenges. But with the New York startup’s help, residents struggling to make payments can access rent relief. The business also assists property managers and building owners to report on-time rental payments to credit bureaus, which enhances renter’s credit scores.
To date, the company has helped over 107,000 renters create first-time credit scores, accessing $22 billion in new credit opportunities for car, mortgage, and student loans.
The VP of Global Customer Support oversees two teams that handle applications for and questions about the company’s rent relief – and that assists residents with rental reporting. The dozens of support agents are based outside the United States and interact with customers in English and Spanish. The VP of Global Customer Support prioritizes hiring experienced, empathetic support agents, so “interactions are professional, empathetic, quick, responsive, and to the point.”
The Opportunity
After selecting Zendesk to replace the company’s CX tech stack, the VP of Global Customer Support leveraged preferred Zendesk consulting and implementation partner Envoy, thanks to recommendations from several Zendesk executives. The VP of Global Customer Support liked that Envoy provided a succinct project plan with onboarding and ongoing, post-implementation support.
“We chose Zendesk based on the ease of implementation, ease of oversight and administration,” explains the VP of Global Customer Support. “I’m glad Zendesk recommended Envoy. They were a thought partner right off the bat, helping us use the best approach.”
The Solution
Consolidating support tools and channels into Zendesk’s omnichannel platform paved the way for greater efficiencies. Envoy assisted with the implementation of the Zendesk Suite Professional in 2023 and the company went live three months later, thanks to regular updates, reliable project management, close collaboration through a shared configuration workbook, and scenario testing.
Says the VP of Global Customer Support, “culturally, there was a really good fit; we have the same working style as Envoy. Our team understood our desired accomplishments before making custom, strategic recommendations.”
The VP of Global Customer Support’s team saw a 90% increase in answer rates, answering 95% of calls received. That’s a big deal considering half of the company’s support tickets are voice, and the other half email. The company’s first reply time also plummeted 64%, while the full resolution time decreased 34% across 10,000 monthly tickets. Additionally, the support team is delivering an impressive one-touch response rate of 80%.
Results
90% increase in phone answer rate
+10 points higher CSAT
64% shorter time to first reply
34% lower resolution time
The Future
The company also added Zendesk Advanced AI to further enhance the customer experience while simplifying and easing workflows on the agent side. Now that the company has the foundation of an external knowledge base, the VP of Global Customer Support is focused on enabling bot and messaging experiences. The company also will move all internal knowledge, so agents can use it in their tickets.
Says the VP of Global Customer Support, ““I’m really excited about AI in messaging and chat. There’s a huge opportunity for us, and we can’t wait to have another opportunity to work with Envoy.”
Additionally, The VP of Global Customer Support’s success with Zendesk has inspired additional teams at the company to use the platform, and Envoy was a trusted thought partner in educating and sharing best practices across the company as they shift their technology strategy.
“Envoy is always dynamite and just amazing,” says the VP of Global Customer Support.