Vacation Labs goes fully remote with Zoho One

The Company

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Vacation Labs faced significant operational challenges. To reduce costs and sustain the business, they had to relinquish their beautiful villa office in Goa, transitioning the entire team to a remote working model. This shift required robust tools to maintain productivity and collaboration without compromising sales, customer support, or internal processes. Additionally, managing subscriptions, finances, and HR processes became increasingly complex as the business grew.

The key challenges included:

Customer relationship management: Ensuring a seamless process for managing customer interactions, sales, and support.

Customer support: Handling customer inquiries and issues effectively, especially in a remote working environment.

Maintaining productivity: Transitioning to remote work necessitated tools that could facilitate effective communication and collaboration among team members.

Streamlining operations: As a SaaS company, efficient management of subscriptions, invoicing, and customer support was critical.

Reducing manual processes: There was a need to automate repetitive tasks to minimize errors and improve efficiency.

Managing HR processes: Onboarding, tracking leave, and handling employee data required a streamlined HR management system.

Vacation Labs adopted Zoho One to address these challenges. The implementation was a continuous process, adapting to the company’s evolving needs. Here are the hey applications used.

Zoho CRM: Initially, Vacation Labs used LeadSquared CRM, but found it lacking in customization and usability. The transition to Zoho CRM began when a new sales head, familiar with Zoho, introduced it to the team. Zoho CRM quickly proved superior due to its customizable workflows and blueprints, which allowed Vacation Labs to align their sales processes with their specific needs.

Zoho Desk: Before Zoho Desk, customer support was managed through fragmented systems, leading to inefficiencies and difficulties in tracking support tickets. The shift to Zoho Desk was driven by the need for a centralized support system that could integrate with other tools and automate workflows. Zoho Desk allowed Vacation Labs to handle customer inquiries efficiently, using blueprints to ensure a structured support process. The integration with Zoho SalesIQ live chat and WhatsApp centralized all customer interactions, providing a seamless experience. Internal comments within Zoho Desk facilitated intra-team communication, preserving valuable knowledge and ensuring consistent support quality.

Zoho People: For HR management, Zoho People helped Vacation Labs structure and reinvent their onboarding processes. The candidate portal guided new hires through interviews, document submissions, and company policies. Zoho People also managed leave tracking, probation reminders, birthdays, and work anniversaries, automating various HR processes and ensuring efficient employee management.

Zoho Subscriptions: Implemented to manage the company’s subscription-based billing model, Zoho Subscriptions automated invoicing and payment reminders, reducing manual intervention and ensuring timely payments.

Zoho Books and Zoho Payroll: After QuickBooks exited the Indian market, Vacation Labs migrated to Zoho Books for financial management and Zoho Payroll for processing employee salaries. This transition streamlined their accounting processes and integrated seamlessly with other applications.

Zoho Meeting: Facilitating remote work, Zoho Meeting was used extensively for team huddles and customer support calls. The ability to record calls provided a reference for future interactions, enhancing support quality.

Zoho WorkDrive, Zoho Sign, Zoho Sheets, and Zoho Forms: These tools were used for document collaboration, digital signing, ad hoc checklists, and capturing KYC details, respectively. They played a crucial role in streamlining various administrative tasks.

Zoho Analytics: Enabled advanced reporting and dashboarding by pulling data from multiple Zoho One applications, which provided insights into business performance.

Zoho One has significantly enhanced Vacation Labs' ability to work remotely, streamline operations, and manage costs effectively. According to CEO Saurabh Nanda, "I don't think we would be able to work this effectively remotely if not for Zoho One and its suite of products."

Key benefits

Centralized processes: Zoho One enabled Vacation Labs to bring all of their processes, documentation, and knowledge into one interconnected system. "This centralization has made operations observable, repeatable, and monitor-able, allowing for continuous improvement," said Nandha.

Cost efficiency: According to Nandha, "Zoho One is a complete value-for-money product. It gives you a whole lot of things. You might not be using all of those tools today, but over time, you will realize that you will end up using many of them." The bundled pricing model has helped keep Vacation Labs' software costs under control.

Improved collaboration: Centralized tools and remote work capabilities have enhanced team collaboration and productivity.

Scalability and flexibility: Zoho One has allowed Vacation Labs to scale operations without incurring additional costs, supporting business growth. The ability to add users without worrying about per-user pricing has been particularly beneficial.

Enhanced customer support: Streamlined support processes and integration with various communication channels have improved customer service quality. The use of Zoho Desk for managing customer interactions has been particularly impactful.

Better decision-making: Zoho Analytics has provided comprehensive insights, enabling informed business decisions.

In the future, Vacation Labs plans to further optimize their use of Zoho One by:

• Implementing lead scoring in Zoho CRM to prioritize high-quality leads and improve sales efficiency.
• Using AI in Zoho Desk to draft responses to support tickets, aiming to reduce resolution times.
• Expanding use of Zoho Bookings for scheduled sales demos and support calls, enhancing customer interactions.
• Deepening the integration of Zoho Subscriptions to give customers more control over their billing plans through a customer portal.

Zoho One has become an integral part of Vacation Labs' operations, enabling the company to work effectively, control costs, and continuously improve their processes. The company plans to continue leveraging Zoho One to drive further growth and efficiency in the future.