Just about every company we engage with has at least one email shared folder. Some people call them group email addresses. It is typically a generic email address that goes to an email inbox that is shared with a number of users. A typical example might be [email protected] - which all the sales people have access to. The email shared folders are quick to setup and it is perceived as an easy way to manage enquiries that anyone in a team could take ownership. However is it the most productive solution?

Typical challenges that occur with these email shared folders include:

• Has someone actually taken ownership of the enquiry and responded to it? 

• What happens to the enquiry when an employee replies to it? Where is it stored or moved to?

• Employees cherry picking the best enquiries - be that the easiest questions to resolve or the one with largest revenue potential (as just two examples).

• Who replies? The employee on their personal email address or with a group email address?

• Where is the history of the enquiry stored?

• Reporting - who is taking ownership of the most enquiries? How long does an enquiry take to resolve? Are customers happy with the service they receive?

Pretty soon the simplicity of this solution is replaced with complexity and inefficiencies. This is where Zoho Desk can provide a simple but powerful solution. Instead of an email shared folder you have departments. An employee can belong to one department or multiple departments.

When an email is received, it is received by that department. Zoho Desk can automatically assign the ticket (to stop cherry picking) or employees can self assign an enquiry to themselves or a colleague.

All the history is stored with that single enquiry. Be that replies, actions, tasks, or how the enquiry was resolved. It is simple to identify if an enquiry has been responded to, or what the current status is with that particular enquiry.

Finally you have reporting. You can see all the enquiries by a specific account or customer and what status they are at. How many enquiries have been received in a set time period, and what their current status is of the, How much time is being associated with resolving enquiries. This are just some of the typical requirements we see with customers who are using Zoho Desk.

If you want to learn more or see how you can migrate from email shared folders to Zoho Desk, we are running a free seminar on the 7th of April 2020. You can sign up at our events page: events.1cloudconsultants.com.