About the Company

Our Client is one of Australia's leading providers of Deposit Bonds, financial instruments used in real estate transactions. They offer these bonds to a range of clients, including first-time home buyers, investors, and property developers to simplify the property buying process by offering quick approval and bond issuance, often within 24 hours.

A deposit bond substitutes for a cash deposit when purchasing a property. It guarantees that the buyer will pay the full deposit amount by the settlement date. Instead of paying a lump sum security deposit to a landlord, tenants can obtain a bond from Deposit Assure, which guarantees the landlord the deposit amount. The upfront costs associated with moving into a new house can be reduced by this, making renting more accessible to tenants. Landlords also benefit from it as they can rent out their property to more tenants.

This case study explores how a leading Australian deposit bonds provider specializing in real estate transactions leveraged our expertise in Zoho CRM automation to address their critical business challenges and enhance operational efficiency, client communication, and partner relationships.

Challenges Faced

Before using Zoho CRM, Our Client, a leading provider of deposit bonds, relied on manual processes, primarily spreadsheets, to manage all aspects of their business operations. This led to several challenges:

• 1. Communication Bottleneck: Manually contacting referral partners and real estate agents regarding bond issuance was time-consuming and prone to inconsistencies. This resulted in missed opportunities and strained relationships with referral partners and real estate agents.

• 2. Prospect Identification: Challenges in identifying and tracking new bond referrers and prospects for nurturing relationships. There is a lack of visibility into bond referral sources, making it difficult to track which medium generates more bond referrals. Moreover, it can be difficult to establish a strong rapport with potential referral sources quickly.

• 3. Data Duplication: Duplicate data entries created inconsistencies and hampered data analysis. Struggling with identifying and eliminating duplicate data was time-consuming and ineffective. Inconsistencies caused by duplicate data entries can lead to misleading insights and flawed decision-making.

• 4. Bonds referrer Categorization & Commission Management: Categorizing referrers based on their bond referrals to determine commission tiers was a manual task prone to errors. Manually categorizing referrers based on their bond referrals, bond amount, and determining commission tiers and calculating commissions was a cumbersome process.

• 5. Difficult to identify Inactive Referrer : Inability to track inactive referrers who stopped referring bonds (not referring bonds for six months or more) or downgraded due to low activity. This leads to lost revenue and potential customers.

• 6. Outdated Referrer Information: They could not track referrer details changes, such as company switches or resignations. Not being able to track referrer details can lead to missed opportunities for networking and potential collaborations.

• 7. Customer Feedback Channelization: They rely on manually requesting reviews via sending out text messages or emails after issuing deposit bonds, which is incredibly time-consuming. This approach has a critical flaw: during busy periods, their operations team gets overwhelmed and often misses sending these requests. By failing to collect feedback from customers, service quality and credibility are negatively affected.

• 8. Inefficient Performance Tracking: Having difficulty tracking bond referrals, premiums, and commissions by region and timeframe.The manual nature of the process can lead to errors and inconsistencies, further complicating the tracking and evaluation process.

The Solution:

Our Client (deposit bonds provider) came to us for Zoho CRM Automation to improve efficiency and productivity but also reduce human error.

To address their challenges, our Certified Zoho CRM developers have implemented several automation features within Zoho CRM to streamline and automate their business processes.

1. Automation of Manual Tasks:
We implemented Zoho Recruit to automate several repetitive tasks, including resume parsing, email communication, and interview scheduling. This allowed recruiters to focus on more strategic activities such as candidate engagement and client relationship management.

Example: When a bond is issued, an automated email is immediately sent to the relevant agent with all necessary details, followed by scheduled follow-ups to maintain engagement

2. Identification of New Bond Referrers: Building and nurturing relationships with new referrers is crucial to our client’s growth and success. We have set up some criteria to identify and flag new bond referrers and prospects automatically. This allows them to build and nurture relationships with new referrers more effectively.

By employing a tailored automated email sequence, the sales team can forge connections and educate prospective clients on the advantages of the deposit bond services. This nurtures confidence throughout the customer journey, thereby amplifying the probability of fruitful referrals.

Example: New referrers will automatically assign a tag name in Zoho CRM, enabling the sales team to prioritize and engage with them effectively. An introductory email sequence is automatically triggered to educate the referral partner about their deposit bonds services and nurture them to refer more bonds.

3. Data Duplication Prevention: We have created tasks for the contact record owner to be notified automatically if two contacts appear twice. Additionally, automated notifications were set up to alert the team whenever a duplicate entry was created, reducing redundancy and improving data integrity significantly.

Example: If a duplicate bond referrer is created in Zoho CRM, an alert is sent to the CRM manager to review and merge the entries.

4. Referrer Categorization Automation: Automated categorization of referrers based on the number of bonds they refer within a specific time period with corresponding commission rates, calculated using a commission calculator that streamlines the commission calculation process. This ensures that referrers are rewarded fairly based on their contribution, promoting transparency and trust in the commission payout process.

Note: WE have implemented our Custom-built Zoho Commission Calculator in our client’s Zoho CRM accounts for their commission calculation process. This calculator automatically calculates the commission for each referral and distributes it accordingly. It also keeps track of the referral history, allowing clients to view their commission payouts easily. Furthermore, it also provides clients with the ability to generate reports for greater transparency.

To address their challenges, our Certified Zoho CRM developers have implemented several automation features within Zoho CRM to streamline and automate their business processes.

5. Automated Task creation to Follow Up with Inactive Referrers: Multi-follow up tasks (Email, SMS, Call) will be automatically created to notify the contact record owner to follow up with referrers who did not refer bonds in the last 90 days and last six months. This proactive approach helps maintain engagement and boost referrals. The task is triggered based on the referrer's last referral date, and will be automatically assigned to the relevant contact record owner.

Example: If a referrer has not made a referral in the last six months, an automated email prompts a follow-up call from the sales team to refer more bonds. If no response is received within three weeks, the task will be automatically become inactive.

6. Referrer Information Updates: We have implemented a Wizard in Zoho CRM to collect and update referrer details whenever changes are detected, such as a change of company or their details. This ensures that records are up-to-date and accurate, eliminating the need for manual updates and reducing the risk of outdated information.

Example: An automated form is sent to referrers periodically to capture any updates to their contact details, reasons for reduced referrals, and the reason for exiting the company. The Wizard will store all the data in the CRM and alert the sales team of any changes to the referrer's details. The team can then use this information to take appropriate action and respond promptly.

7. Automation of Customer Review Requests: Automated emails and SMS messages were sent to customers upon bond issuance, with links to share their reviews. After automating the review collection process, the company saw a significant increase in the number of customer reviews received compared to the previous manual process.

By eliminating the need for manual outreach and follow-up to get customer reviews, we have streamlined the entire review request process and gathered feedback from customers in a more timely and systematic manner.

Example: Zoho CRM will automatically send an SMS to customers containing a link to a review of their services upon bond issuance. The review process allows customers to provide feedback on the bond experience. This helps the company identify areas of improvement and allows them to meet customer needs better.

8. Performance Insights: Created custom dashboards in Zoho Analytics to track key metrics like bonds issued, premium amounts, commissions (by region and timeframe), and CSM performance (bonds, revenue, commissions). Additionally, comparison reports were generated for forecasts vs. actuals and year-over-year performance. This provided valuable insights for strategic decision-making.

Results

The automation of Zoho CRM resulted in significant improvements for the deposit bond provider:

• Increased Efficiency: Automated processes reduced the time spent on manual tasks by 70%, allowing the team to focus on more strategic activities.

• Improved Relationship Management: Bond-related communications with Referral Partners and Real Estate Agents became timely and consistent, resulting in enhanced collaboration and increased referrals..

• Data Accuracy: Automated the removal of duplicate data entry in Zoho CRM helps them maintain clean and accurate records, reducing administrative overhead

• Simplified Commission Calculations: Automated categorization of referrers based on bond referrals facilitates accurate and fair commission calculations. This helps to reduce manual effort and errors associated with manual calculations.

• Increased Bond Referrals: Automated reminder and multi-followup tasks creation for inactive referrals potentially led to a rise in referrals and overall sales growth.

• Automated Review Requests: Automated emails and SMS notifications to solicit customer reviews upon bond issuance helped our client gain valuable insights for service enhancement and customer satisfaction improvement.

Conclusion

By automating their process in Zoho CRM, the deposit bond provider (our client) has successfully addressed their operational challenges, leading to significant improvements in operational efficiency, enhanced relationships with referrers and customers, improved data accuracy, and commission management.This automation not only streamlined their business processes but also empowered them to make data-driven decisions

Our client continues to innovate and evolve; Zoho CRM remains a cornerstone of their success, enabling them to stay ahead in a dynamic and competitive market landscape.

This case study demonstrates the power of Zoho CRM automation in driving business efficiency and effectiveness in the Insurance sector.