Greenvelope, a rapidly-growing electronic invitation, ticketing, and event management company, offers an eco-friendly way for people to celebrate the memorable days in their lives. We talked to Sam Franklin, CEO, about the role that customer service has played in the company’s growth.

1. Why did you make customer service a priority at Greenvelope?

I started Greenvelope because I saw potential in the market for a digital invitation platform that eliminated advertisements and was sustainably focused.  I hoped that through a quality product and exceptional customer service the business would grow organically. I have a really strong belief that our growth is directly tied to the experiences that we create for customers and the positive word of mouth growth that results. 

2. How did you scale customer support as your business grew?

When we first started out, I answered all of our customer questions myself through one support email account. This worked for awhile, but as we started to grow, keeping track of cases became more and more time consuming, and emails started slipping through the cracks.  I began spending more time trying to figure which emails still needed to be responded to, than on the actual responses. This is when I knew I needed a support ticket management system that would help manage which cases were opened, pending, and resolved.

3. How does customer support contribute to the overall customer experience you offer?

It goes beyond just a fast, helpful response to a customer’s question. For one thing, we have a knowledge base, which makes it really fast and easy for customers to find their own answers. Today’s customers like to help themselves and they really appreciate the clear articles for instant answers. Additionally, we get a lot of data through our customer service system that helps us continually optimize our business processes. This is not something that is visible to customers, but Desk.com’s Business Insights help us continually improve the experience we offer, respond quicker to our customers, and ensure that customer feedback is passed on to decision makers.

4. Are you a believer in total company support?

Yes, absolutely. We are a sixteen person company so everyone needs to pitch in from time to time to help out. We can get very busy around wedding season! Our customers will even have event emergencies in the middle of the night, and if someone needs to connect with us, we want to make sure that they are covered.

5. You’re an eco-friendly company. How are you making a difference?

Greenvelope was founded on the promise of save trees, save time, save money, and our commitment to sustainability and protecting the natural environment is at the core of both our company and personal values. By creating a positive online experience with our products and service, we hope more hosts will consider sending invitations electronically for formal events. Since day one we have donated a percentage of every sale to Mountains to Sound, a non-profit organization that maintains forests in the Pacific Northwest.  We are also proud members of 1% for the Planet and hope to truly make a difference through not only our product itself, but through investment in our planet and our future. Together, we can invite a greener future.

6. What advice do you have for a startup business based on what you know now?

Use your mornings! Depending on where you live, you may commute for 30 minutes or more each way. This is at least an hour a day that can be put to “productive” use. Instead of browsing social media, listening to music, or getting frustrated by traffic, use that time to learn a new skill or become more of an expert in your space. You can use tools like Feedly to manage a list of blogs specializing on your industry or listen to book recordings surrounding your industry. I learned Photoshop by watching tutorials on Lynda.com while on the bus. If you are the one behind the wheel, there are also many great podcasts that share valuable insight. 

To learn more about how Greenvelope is providing fast, awesome customer service with Desk.com, click here.